Tag: A Yarn of Serendipity

Finished! – My Legacy Blanket

I hope you all had a great start in 2024 and are doing well!

I’d like to start the new year by showing an ‘old’ project: My Legacy Blanket.

If you’ve read my posts about this last year, you’ll know that it is a design by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity. She designed this blanket as a legacy for her grandchildren. You can read her story here.

The blanket is made up of 12 different squares and a wide border. When Pam completed the pattern for the border last year, she also revised the instructions for the 12 squares, and I had the opportunity to test some of them.

So I started this project somewhere in July or August last year. You might remember that I had a hard time choosing yarn and colours. And also some tries and errors with my colour placement. In the end I did more than one square twice as I was not happy with my colour arrangement. To be honest, I still had doubts when I joined the squares …
BUT – surprisingly- once it was finished, everything fitted perfectly. I think it turned out pretty well and I LOVE the result!


My blanket was finished by the middle of December, but unfortunately I had no chance to take some nice pictures. We had a VERY long period with lots of rain, dark clouds, a bit of snow, fog, lots of rain again, well, you get the picture …

But now, here’s a short summary and some pictures:

My Yarn and Colours

My final choice were

  • Drops Lima – 65% Wool, 35% Alpaca (100 m / 50 g)
    • colour 100 – Off White
  • Drops Merino Extra Fine – 100% Wool (105 m / 50g)
    • colour 07 – Light Taupe
    • colour 15 – Light Sea Green

Both are DK yarns (#3, Light Worsted).
The fact that I mixed both qualities was simply a question of the colour shades. The colour 100 – Off White looks a little softer with Lima than with Merino, probably due to the structure of the yarn. And I liked that better!

My Layout and Colour Placement

I used Drops Lima in Off White as main colour and only added a few accents with Light Taupe and Light Sea Green. So, in my notes below, I just listed the rounds with the accent colours – all other rounds are worked in Off White.

If you are interested in my colour scheme you can also download it here

legacy-blanket-colour-placementDownload

Some technical aspects and measurements


My squares and the border are worked with a 4 mm hook throughout. Only for the Zipper Join and the last round of the border I went up to a 5 mm hook.

Each of my squares measures about 25 cm (about 10”). The final size of the blanket is about 90 x 115 cm ( 35,5 x 45 inch).

I am sorry, but with all my changes and redoings I did not pay attention on how much yarn I used. In total I needed a bit over 900 g of yarn. As a very rough estimation I‘d say you will need almost 50 g of Off White for each of the squares and another 100 g or 150 g for the border. Additional 2 or 3 balls of each, Light Taupe and Light Sea Green. But that’s without any guarantee.

The patterns for all these lovely squares and the border are available in Pam’s Ravelry store.

In case you missed my previous posts about this project, you will find them here

Looking at these pictures I have to say: with all its ups and downs, it was a great journey and I am absolutely happy with my make!

Have a lovely week 💕

Progress with my Legacy Blanket

YAY! It took a while because of all my doubts about the colours and the colour placements … But finally … all 12 squares are done! All tails worked away and all squares are blocked.

These are the three that have been missing in my collection so far.

Lauren Rose

Brood of Angels

Macey Ann

I have just prepared the first squares for joining and spent some time on the layout.

After some arranging and rearranging of the squares, I decided in favour of the layout shown on the left. I hope it will look nice!

The Zipper Join

In the Justyce Destany Border pattern for the Legacy Blanket Pam recommends to use the Zipper Join for joining the squares.

I have to admit, I am not a professional when it comes to joining squares. I once used the “Join as you go-method” for joining some granny squares – but I think that was it. So I had my first attempt on the zipper join when testing the Justyce Destany border.
The pattern contains a helpful link to a video tutorial that shows how to do this join. But, if you prefer written tutorials like I do: I also found a very clear and helpful one from Raffaella from Raffamusa Designs.
Nevertheless, the beginning is a bit fiddly – at least I think so … But I am slowly getting the hang of it.
I initially experimented a little with the hook size and finally decided on 5.0 mm hook. The squares are made with a 4 mm hook but with the larger hook size I find it easier to make the stitches even and not too tight. So far I am pleased with the result. It’s a very nice and flat join. Now on to the next ones!

Have a lovely time 💕

More Squares of my Legacy Blanket

Progress with my Legacy Blanket. The joining comes closer, 11 of 12 squares are finished now. All tails worked away and most of them already blocked!
I also revised some of my colour placements and am happy with the result!

Besides Pam just released the pattern for the Justyce Destany Border .

I was happy to help testing the border pattern. Although my blanket is not finished yet I am able to show you a sneak peek of the border.

For testing purposes I used two of my ›old‹ squares which I made right at the beginning of this journey: Drops Merino Extra Fine #50, Light Beige as main colour, #06 Brown Mix and #07 Light Brown for contrast. I discarded this colour scheme after I had worked the first two squares – somehow I didn’t like it. But – advantage – it gave me some ›leftovers‹ for testing the border.

And here some of my finished squares

Madux James

Brixton Carter-Lee

Marley Mae

Jalen Miles

Carter Jude

Olivia Grace

So far so good!
Lauren Rose (one of the revised ones) and Brood of Angels are still on the blocking board. The last one to finish is Macey Ann. Actually, Macey Ann was the very first Legacy Square I made. So it still has the ›old ‹ colour scheme and – besides now being part of my border patch – needs to be redone.

All patterns for the Legacy Blanket are available in Pam‘s Ravelry store.

Have a lovely weekend 💕

Em Cabal Square

I don’t want to miss to show you my Em Cabal Square. I tested this pattern – designed by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity – some weeks ago.
The Em Cabal Square was a special design for the Ravelry BAMCAL2023 – Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long, a group on Ravelry.
Every month, 3 different squares are featured in this group. They are chosen by the mods and / or the members and you can decide to crochet one (or more) of them. At the end of the year you will have a lovely blanket. What a great idea!

Em Cabal is the square for October. It is a 12 inch square with 39 stitches per side. The skill level is beginning advanced. As all of Pam’s patterns it has great stitch explanations and helpful pictures for each round.

For my test version I used Drops Safran (160 m / 50 g) and Cotton Kings 8/4 (170 m / 50 g) and a 2,75 mm hook. Both yarns are 100 % cotton – soft and nice to work with.

I followed Pam’s colourway and used

  • A – Drops Safran, # 60, Moss Green
  • B – Cotton Kings, # 41, Spring Green
  • C – Drops Safran, # 71, Marzipan
  • D – Drops Safran, # 11, Strong Yellow

First I was not sure, if the two green yarns would work together but I am very happy with the result. Although, the square also looks great in a single colour!

Somehow the pattern reminds me a bit on Florentine Tiles. What do you think?

The pattern is available in Pam’s Ravelry store.

Some new Squares

My Legacy Blanket

Do you love crocheting squares?
I really just discovered a big love for them! A square usually doesn’t take very long to complete and – very important to me – you quickly see successes. This also makes them to great ›in between projects‹.
Besides they’re great to make when the weather is still hot – you’re not trapped under a big, warm blanket. Although, very suddenly it has turned cold and autumnal over here, so this is not so important to me at the moment.

You might know that some time ago Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity designed a very special blanket as a legacy for her grandchildren. It consists of 12 different squares, representing her grand kids and her family. At the moment the instructions for joining the squares and for the border are in testing. Besides she revised the patterns for the squares and I had the chance to test some of them. A good opportunity for a new blanket. It will be only the second one I have ever made with joined squares. Unbelievable!

So far I have already made 9 out of 12 squares. Unfortunately ›made‹ does not mean that they are actually finished. Only 3 of them are blocked with all the yarn ends worked away. For another 3 I am currently rethinking my colour placement and 3 still have a lot of loose ends that need to be done.

I am afraid it is one of my bad habits: I only work away the tails when a square is completed. Yes, I have tried to improve this process! Yes, I know that it is much easier and less frustrating to do it at once!
The only thing is, when I work away the tails right away, I often find a mistake afterwards (again Yes – of course I know that I should check this beforehand – but still …). Meanwhile I am almost convinced that working away the yarn ends straight away might bring bad luck – so I just let them live a little longer.
Good things take time, as we say.

Nevertheless I love working on this blanket and I love my finished squares.

I am using a combination of Drops Lima and Drops Merino Extra Fine – both DK / Light worsted – with a 4 mm hook.
Drops Lima consists of 65 % Wool and 35 % Alpaca. It has 100 m per 50 g. Merino Extra Fine is 100 % Wool with 105 m / 50 g.
My main colour is Lima #100, Off White. The accent colours are Merino Extra Fine #07, Light Taupe (Light Brown) and #15 Light Greyish Green.

I hope the blanket will wash well. Lima can only be washed by hand but I really like the feel of the yarn. And I decided to combine the two yarns because of the colours. The colour 100, Off White, is the same for Lima and Merino Extra Fine, yet looks a bit different. Probably due to the structure of the yarn the contrast to my accent colours looks softer with Lima. And I liked this look much better.

My finished squares are about 25 cm / nearly 10 inch.

Landyn Tahj

Kinnedy Nichelle

Jalen Stanley

All patterns for the Legacy Blanket -some paid, some free – are available in Pam’s Ravelry store.

Now on to finishing the next ones!

Have a lovely week 💕

Aureole Mandala

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity just released a new pattern – Aureole Mandala.

My first Mandala

Unbelievable, the Aureole Mandala is the first mandala I have ever crocheted!
I have wanted to do something like this for a very long time. At the back of my mind, there is an idea to decorate a wall in our living room with colorful mandalas…
So I was happy when Pam came up with her pattern for testing.

My test version is made with Drops Safran. It is a sport weight yarn and has 160 m / 50 g. It is just a tiny Aureole Mandala. With my 2,75 mm hook it turned out about 17 cm in diameter, that is just under 7 inch. I will see if I can find a suitable ring to attach it. It will make a lovely wall decoration. I love the colours!

  • Colour A – # 23, Brown
  • Colour B – # 11, Strong Yellow
  • Colour C – # 71, Marzipan
  • Colour D – # 28, Orange

The pattern is rated as intermediate and available as a free pattern in Pam’s Ravelry store.
As always there are explanations for all the stitches used and helpful and detailed pictures for each round.

My second Mandala

Quite a good result: shortly after the first Mandala was done, I made a second one – hehe.
Pam had just hosted an Aureole Mandala CAL in her Facebook Group. The pattern was split into two rounds a day. So I joined in and made a second one.

This time I used a mixture of Drops Paris, Drops Love You 8, and Cotton Aran from Paintbox. All three are Aran or worsted weight yarns with 75m / 50g (Drops) and 85m / 50g (Paintbox).
Those who know me know that I am not a fan of this yarn weight. I always have a hard time with it, and I always find that my stitches look a bit messy. Well…

By mistake, this time I used a 5.0mm instead of my 4.5 mm hook. When I realised that in round 7, I decided to continue with it. It actually worked out quite well. After blocking my Mandala measures about 27 cm / just under 11 inch.

The colours for the one above are:

  • Colour A – # 17, Off White – Drops Paris
  • Colour B – # 609, Light Caramel – Paintbox Cotton Aran
  • Colour C – # 19, Apricot – Drops Love you 8
  • Colour D – # 62, Sage Green – Drops Paris

Aureole Mandala is really fun to make!

If you have always wanted to try a pattern of Pam, this one is a good opportunity!

Happy hooking!

Jewel Square

Last updated on May 12, 2026

Ta-Dah … – another new design by Pam!

Already in April, Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity released a new design: another beautiful Afghan square, the Jewel Square.
Fortunately I was able to help to test this pretty pattern – I am a bit late with this post though.

The Pattern

As with most of her patterns, Pam has used Aran / worsted weight yarn (#4) for this design. The finished size will be 11 or 12 inches (about 28 or 30 cm), depending on the hook size you use (4.5 or 5 mm hook).

As always, the pattern is very clearly laid out with detailed stitch explanations, helpful pictures for each round, and two different colour ways.

My Yarn and Colours

I used Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 and a 2,75 mm hook. The finished size of my square is about 20 cm / 8 inch.

As colours, I’ve chosen a soft, light grey, two different blues and a mint tone.
I bought the blue and grey tones a while ago. I planned to use them for all of Pam’s pattern tests and eventually piece the squares together into a lovely blanket – some day…. So far, it never came to it.

I still really love the shades of blue. But at the time I opted to pair them with grey as a neutral colour as the contrast with white just seemed too hard to me. Now, however, I find that this colour combination can sometimes look a bit dreary and dull, especially in photos.
So I decided to spice up the colour scheme a bit while I was working on the ‘Jewel Square’. That’s why I added the mint green.

At first, I wasn’t sure for a long time whether this was really a good idea. Perhaps it would have been better to use dark blue again instead of mint green? But now I quite like the contrast. It’s a lovely touch!

My Colourplacement

I followed Pam’s colour way 1 using the following colours

Colour A 25, Pastelmint
Colour B – 29, Jeans Blue
Colour C – 97, Mist
Colour D – 28, Light Jeans Blue

All from Hobbii, Rainbow Cotton 8/4 (Fingering weight – 170 m / 50 g)

The only change I made: I swapped the colour D for A in round 11.

In case I’ve made you curious: the pattern is available in Pam’s Ravelry store and all her other places.

Efflorescent Square

Last updated on May 12, 2026

Another test for Pam

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity just released one of her new designs: Efflorescent Square. I am happy that I was able to test it!

Efflorescence demonstrates the growth and beauty of nature’s flower bloom and the personal growth and splendor of human love.

Pam

My test piece is made with Drops Safran. It is a sport weight cotton yarn (#2) with a yardage of 160 m per 50 g.

It was the first time I’ve used this yarn and I am very happy with this choice. It is a soft yarn and nice to work with. I definitely will get some more colours. It also will be a good match with my Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4!
As recommended on the yarn label I used a 3 mm hook. But it should also work with my 2,75 mm hook that I usually use with Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4.

I didn’t follow one of Pam’s colour ways this time, but created my own. Therefor I have listed the colours for each round below.

Here are the details of my version:

Pattern

Efflorescent Square
Available on Ravelry

Designer

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity

Technique

Traditional crochet

Yarn and Hook

Drops Safran
Clover Soft Touch, 3 mm

Colours

A – 28, Orange
B – 10, Vanilla Cream
C – 23, Dark Taupe
D – 18, Off White
E – 11, Sunshine
F – 65, Pistachio

Colours per round

Round 1 – A, Orange
Round 2 – B, Vanilla Cream
Round 3 – C, Dark Taupe
Round 4 – D, Off White
Round 5 – E, Sunshine
Round 6 – A, Orange
Round 7 – F, Pistachio
Round 8 – B, Vanilla Cream
Round 9 – D, Off White
Round 10 – D, Off White
Round 11 – A, Orange
Round 12 – D, Off White
Round 13 – D, Off White
Round 14 – D, Off White
Round 15 – A, Orange

Finished Size

about 21,5 cm / 8,5 inch

Mere Curiosity

What was your biggest crochet adventure last year? Besides testing all these lovely patterns mine was Mere Curiosity!

In the last year Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity has started a design group within her group of testers. Late last summer, I finally started to develop a design together with her. The result was Mere Curiosity.

What an adventure and what fun! Each of us designed a few rounds and then passed on the design to the other to continue.
Most of the work – I knew that already – was writing down the pattern with all it’s details like abbreviations, stitches used etc. Finally the pattern was tested in Pam’s test group in December. I’m just making the last little changes and then the pattern will be available in my Ravelry store, stay tuned!
We will donate the proceeds from the sales to Unicef to help Ukraine.

The finished square has 39 stitches per side and fits to Pam’s other squares. The final size of course will depend on the yarn and hook size you use.

For our samples we had the following results

Pam’s square from the pattern

Aran / Worsted Weight / #4

4,5 mm hook

24 cm / 11”

My sample from the pattern (the blue one)

DK / Light worsted / #3

3,5 mm hook

24 cm / 9,5”

The two samples shown below

Sport weight / #2

3 mm hook

21 cm / 8,5”

Fingering weight / #1

2,75 mm hook

20,5 cm / 8”

Mere Curiosity in Colourway 1

is made with Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 , a 2,75 mm hook and measures about 20,5 cm / about 8”.

Colour A – Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 – # 64 Dark Powder Rose
Colour B – Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 – # 50 Light Coral
Colour C – Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 – # 02 Natural White

Mere Curiosity in Colourway 2

Is made with Schachenmayr Catania, a 3 mm hook and measures about 21 cm / 8,5”.

Colour A – Schachenmayr Catania – # 427, Scampi
Colour B – Schachenmayr Catania – # 263, Soft Apricot
Colour C – Schachenmayr Catania – # 437, Sunkissed
Colour D – Schachenmayr Catania – # 402, Reseda

For this square I followed Pam’s colourway and only swapped colours C and D for rounds 7 and 8.

I hope you like Mere Curiosity as much as we do!

… and another pattern test for Pam – The Sage Advice Square

Last updated on May 13, 2026

In August 2022 I was able to test another pattern for Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity: the Sage Advice Square, another lovely Afghan square.

The pattern

The Sage Advice Square was designed using an Aran / worsted yarn weight (#4). Depending on the hook size it is supposed to be either 11 x 11 inches (using a 4.5 mm hook) or 12 x 12 inches ( using a 5 mm hook). That makes approx. 28 cm respectively 30.5 cm in the square.

The design is full of texture and features a variety of stitch combinations. It was absolutely fun to test it!

The skill level is rated as easy intermediate.

The paid pattern includes round-by-round pictures that show the stitch placement and clarify instructions. It also has an ‘easy navigate’ function that allows you to switch from written instructions to pictures or stitch explanations without any scrolling.

Besides there is a free version – without the additional features – available on Pam’s website.

You’ll find the links at the end of this post.

My yarn choice

My plan to use Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 for all the test pieces I make for Pam (with a view to eventually piecing all the squares together into a beautiful blanket) is slowly fading away. Once again I had the feeling that I didn’t have the right colours in my Rainbow Cotton stash to do justice to this lovely design.

So I used a yarn that I’d actually ordered to try out for a completely different project: Drops Muskat.
Drops Muskat is a mercerised cotton yarn, classified as DK yarn (#3) with a yardage of 100 m per 50 g. It comes in 45 colours and has a lovely shine that gives it a bit a vintage touch (at least in my eyes). It does tend to split a bit, so you have to be careful when crocheting, but I’ve worked with yarns where this was even worse. And in my opinion, the end result is well worth the effort.

Some more details about my version

Yarn

Drops Muskat
100 % cotton, #3

Colours

following colour way 2
A — 81, Clay 
B — 61, Light Beige 
C — 85, Mustard 
D — 24, Taupe

Hook

Clover Amour Hook, 4 mm

Finished Size

approx. 25 x 25 cm (about 10 inches)

Patterns Links

Sage Advice Square on Ravelry

A Yarn of Serendipity website