I recently had the opportunity to test a new design from Pam Knighton-Haener / A Yarn of Serendipity: The Pinwheel Square.
The pattern was just released and is available on Ravelry. You will find a link at the end of this post. The skill level of the pattern is categorised as mid-intermediate. As always, the written instructions are very clear and accompanied by detailed photos for each round. Made with Aran / Worsted Weight yarn (#4) the final size of the square will be 11 or 12 inch / 28 or 30,5 cm – depending on the size of the crochet hook used. And of course, the final stitch count matches all the others from Pam’s squares.
My yarn and colours
As you may know, I often use a light weight (#2) cotton yarn for these tests. For example Schachenmayr Catania or Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4. The reason is simply that I’ve accumulated a wide variety of colours of these yarns through crocheting amigurumi, so I am happy to use them up. Besides the great colour range, both yarns also have good stitch definition.
Somehow this time I decided to go with my stash of Stylecraft Special DK.
I recently used a similar colour combination for another overlay mosaic crochet test. It was all in neutrals, and I loved the result. I was curious to see how a colour palette like that would look in traditional crochet.
Well, I am more than happy with the result!
I used a 4 mm hook and the final size of my square is 26 cm – about 10 1/4 inch. If you are interested in my colour way, here my notes.
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 on this topic from last year, you’ll no doubt know that the Legacy Blanket a design by Pam Knighton-Haener from ‘A Yarn of Serendipity’. She designed this blanket as a legacy for her grandchildren. You can read the story about it here.
The quilt consists of 12 different squares and has a wide border. When Pam finished the instructions for the border last year, she also revised the instructions for the 12 squares. So I had the opportunity to test a few of them.
I started this project sometime in July or August last year. You might remember that I found it difficult to choose the yarn and colours. And I went through quite a few trials and errors when it came to arranging the colours too. In the end, I ended up crocheting more than one square twice because I wasn’t happy with my colour arrangement. To be honest, I still had my doubts when I was joining the squares … BUT – surprisingly – once it was finished, everything fitted perfectly. I think it’s turned out really 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, winter …, you get the picture …
But here, at last, is a brief summary and a few photos:
My Yarn and Colours
My final choice of yarn and colours was
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
Lima and Merino Extra Fine are both DK-weight yarns (#3, Light Worsted). The fact that I mixed the two yarns was simply a matter of colour tones. Colour 100 – Off White looks slightly softer on Lima than on Merino, probably because of the yarn’s texture. And I preferred that
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
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 inches).
I’m sorry, but with all the changes and re-starts I’ve made, I didn’t keep track of how much yarn I used. In total, I used just over 900 g of yarn. As a very rough estimate, I’d say you’ll need almost 50 g of Off White for each of the squares, plus another 100 g or 150 g for the border. On top of that, you’ll need 2 or 3 balls each of Light Taupe and Light Sea Green. But that’s just a rough guide.
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
YAY! It took a while because I spent so much time thinking about the colours and how to arrange them … But finally … all 12 squares are finished! All tails are worked away and all squares are blocked.
These are the last three squares that were missing from my collection.
Lauren Rose
Brood of Angels
Macey Ann
I’ve just prepared the first squares to be joined together and spent a while working on the layout.
After arranging and rearranging the squares a few times, I settled on 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’m no expert when it comes to joining squares. I once used the ‘join-as-you-go’ method to join a few granny squares – but I think that’s about it. So, for the Justyce-Destany border, I’m trying my hand at the zipper-join for the first time. The pattern includes a useful link to a video tutorial showing how to do this join. But if, like me, you prefer written instructions, I’ve also found a very clear and helpful guide 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 experimented a bit with the crochet hook size at first and eventually settled on a 5.0 mm hook. I crocheted the squares using a 4 mm hook. However, with the larger hook, I find it easier to crochet even stitches when joining, which don’t end up too tight. So far, I’m happy with the result. It’s a very neat and flat join. Now on to the next squares!
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!
I was happy to help testing the border pattern. Even though my blanket isn’t finished yet, I can already give you a little sneak peek at 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.
I don’t want to miss the chance to show you my Em Cabal Square. I tested this pattern – designed by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity – a few weeks ago. The Em Cabal Square is a special design for the Ravelry BAMCAL2023 – Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long, a group on Ravelry. Every month, three different Afghan crochet squares are featured in this group. The designs are chosen by the moderators and/or group members, and you can decide whether you’d like to crochet one (or all) of them. By the end of the year, you’ll have a beautiful blanket. What a brilliant idea!
Em Cabal one of the squares for the month of October. It is a 12 inch square with 39 stitches per side. The skill level is beginning advanced. Like all of Pam’s patterns, this one also includes detailed stitch descriptions 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
At first, I wasn’t sure whether the two shades of green would go together, but I’m really pleased with the result. That said, the square looks great in a single colour too!
Somehow, the pattern reminds me a bit of Florentine Tiles. What do you think?
Do you love crocheting squares? I’ve only just discovered my great love for them! A square is usually finished in no time and – something that’s very important to me – you see results quickly. That also makes them great ‘in-between projects’. What’s more, they’re lovely to crochet when it’s still warm – you’re not stuck under a big, warm blanket. However, that’s not so important to me at the moment as it’s suddenly turned cold and autumnal here.
You may know that Pam Knighton-Haener from ‘A Yarn of Serendipity’ designed a very special blanket some time ago as a legacy for her grandchildren. It consists of 12 different squares, each symbolising her grandchildren and her family. The instructions for joining the squares and for the border are currently being tested. She has also revised the instructions for the squares, and I’ve had the chance to test a few of them. A great opportunity for a new blanket. It will only be the second one I’ve ever crocheted from assembled 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 squares still have a lot of loose ends that need to be done.
I’m afraid that’s one of my bad habits: I only weave in the loose ends once a square is finished. Yes, I’ve tried to change that! Yes, I know it’s much easier and less frustrating to do it straight away! The only problem is: if I weave in the loose ends straight away, I often spot a mistake afterwards (again, yes – of course I know I should check it beforehand – but still…). By now, I’m almost convinced that weaving in the loose ends straight away might bring bad luck – so I just let them live a little longer. Good things take time, as the saying goes.
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 yarns – 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 hand-washed, but I really like the feel of the yarn. And I decided to combine the two yarns because of the colours. Colour 100, Off White, is identical in Lima and Merino Extra Fine, yet it still looks slightly different. Probably due to the structure of the yarn, the contrast with my accent colours looks softer in Lima. And I much preferred this look.
My finished squares are about 25 cm / nearly 10 inches.
Landyn Tahj
Kinnedy Nichelle
Jalen Stanley
All patterns for the Legacy Blanket -some paid, some free – are available in Pam’s Ravelry store.
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.
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 Ravelrystore and all her other places.
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 (link below)
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
What was your biggest crochet adventure last year? Apart from testing all these lovely patterns shown here on my blog, mine was simply ‘Mere Curiosity’!
Last year, Pam Knighton-Haener from ‘A Yarn of Serendipity’ set up a design group within her testing group. Towards the end of last summer, I finally began working with her to create a design. The result was ‘Mere Curiosity’.
What an adventure and what fun! Each of us designed a few rounds and then passed the pattern on to the other so she could continue it. The bulk of the work – as I already knew – involved writing up the pattern with all its details, such as abbreviations, the types of stitches used, and so on. Finally, the pattern was tested by Pam’s test group in December. I’m currently making the final minor changes, and then the pattern will be available in my Ravelry shop – stay tuned! We’re donating the proceeds from the sales to Unicef.
The finished square has 39 stitches per side, making it a perfect match for Pam’s other Afghan squares. The final size will, of course, depend on the yarn weight and crochet hook size used.
We obtained the following results regarding the size of our samples
Pam’s sample, shown in the pattern
Aran / Worsted Weight / #4
4.5 mm hook
24 cm / 11”
My sample, shown in 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.
Hooked on Häkelmaschen 