crochet – Page 3 – Hooked on Häkelmaschen

Random Layout – Colour Experiment Part 2

Exploring Random Colour Layouts

About three weeks ago (3 weeks already??) I told you about my experiment with random colour placement.

Originally, I had no particular purpose in mind when I started this journey. I had read about random colour placement and wanted to give it a try – that’s all.

But to be honest, I had my doubts. I had put together 15 colours. They all matched somehow, but there were still colours among them that I personally wouldn’t place next to each other. Raspberry, Duck Egg and Meadow for example is a combination that I would never have chosen myself.
So, looking at the colour combinations the random generator gave me, I couldn’t imagine to get nice results.
But after I had finished the first three or four circles, I was so amazed at the result that I really wanted to try out all the combinations. In the end I had 25 colourful circles. I turned them into small squares because I wanted to make something out of them.

In case you missed my previous post, you can read about it here. There you will also find details about the Numbers spreadsheet I am talking about below, the colours and randomizer I used, and so on.

I finally decided to make a small wall hanging out of the squares. I plan to arrange them in a 5 x 5 layout. Each square is about 10 x 10 cm, so that will make a panel of about 50 x 50 cm.

In the last few weeks, however, I have not been as fit as I would have liked to be. I have a pretty persistent cold that gets better from time to time but doesn’t quite go away. So, besides testing a beautiful square for Pam and checking and translating the final patterns for Ana’s Fall Sweet Fall Cal I didn’t have much time and energy to work any further on the hanging.
But at least I’ve managed to decided on a layout!

What about a Random Layout?

When I tried to arrange my squares in my 5 x 5 grid I didn’t really know where and how to start.

I usually have difficulties with such things. I’m hardly able to make it look random. I orientate myself far too much on what I think looks good together. So I end up with areas that look absolutely great, but also a rest that doesn’t fit together at all. Do you know what I mean?

That’s why I wondered if something like the random colour placement would also work for a layout. Could it work to arrange the squares in a random order instead of following some kind of „pattern”? It was at least worth a try!

So, again I tried the list randomizer from random.org and had a final layout in just a few steps:

1. Numbering my squares

Firstly, I assigned each square a number from 1 – 25.
This was just to make the entries in the randomizer a little easier. I didn’t have to type in all the colour combinations but only numbers.

Screenshot / extract from the table to clarify the adjacent text and illustration of the layout grid described

I simply used my Numbers spreadsheet for this. I had created this table when listing the colour combinations. It therefore had no particular order, but was listed in the order in which the results came from the random generator. I have simply numbered these entries from 1-25.

2. Drawing a layout grid

Secondly I created a grid showing my 5 x 5 layout and numbered the boxes from 1 to 25 as well. This served to clearly identify the location of my squares later on.
My grid is shown in the picture above.

You can just draw something like this on a sheet of paper. Or, if you are – more like me – the No-Paper-Type you can use Excel or Numbers. If you want to have square boxes, simply reduce the column width a little and increase the row height.

3. Randomisation

Afterwards I entered my numbers from 1-25 into the list randomizer.
If you use random.org, you can either make your entries directly on their website or copy them from an existing list in Excel, Numbers, Word, Pages, etc.

Then just hit the button „Randomize”. Wait a moment. Copy the result back to your Excel, Numbers, Word, Pages or whatever. That’s all!

As I have seen, there are also other tools that have a random generator. These, of course, may work differently.

4. Arranging the squares

The result the randomizer gave me was – surprise – a list of the 25 numbers in random order: 19, 7, 13, 24, 4, 12 …

I arranged my squares exactly in this order.

I picked square #19 (from my list I knew it had the colour combination Storm Blue, Vintage Peach, Sage) and, following my layout grid, put it on place #1. Square # 7 (Pale Rose, Raspberry, Buttermilk) moved on place # 2, and so on …

Here is the result:

Left side the layout grid with the numbers in the order the randomizer gave me. And right side the corresponding squares.

Not bad, is it?

5. Changes

I only made 3 changes by switching some of the squares to make the colour arrangement a bit more balanced. And voilà …

Left side the changes I made and right side the final layout grid.

My final Layout

Colour Details

For all those who are interested, I have listed all the colour combinations and the corresponding layout:

All colours are from Stylecraft Special DK. For squaring the circles I used the colour Graphit.

My Conclusion

Even though I initially had my doubts, a colour combination created with a random generator works surprisingly well.

It is definitely a great way to arrange colours in simpler shapes, such as Granny squares, Triangles, Hexagons. Shapes, which you want to highlight the colours more than the stitches.

Presumably this method cannot be used for every design. I could imagine that it might not work so well with detailed and structured patterns. Afghan squares or blankets where the colours serve to highlight the design. However, I haven’t tried it yet.

And random placement of different squares etc. works great as well. At least it gives you a good basis on which you can continue to work.

And, the best thing is, if you really don’t like something, you don’t have to use it. And you can make changes at any time.

In any case, the randomizer helped me a lot and was a great support. I will definitely use it again!

The only thing I would perhaps change:
For a layout, I wouldn’t number my squares (only) in an Excel or Numbers table. I would simply pin small pieces of paper (in this case: yes!) with the corresponding numbers on them. That probably makes the subsequent sorting a lot easier.
Unfortunately, I only came up with this idea afterwards. My snuffy head was probably to blame :).

See you soon, hopefully with some further progress on my wall hanging 💕

I needed a bit of colour – Colour Experiment Part 1

Experimenting with Random Colour Combinations in Crochet

Lately I’ve been having incredible difficulties putting together the colours for a project. Ok, that’s never really been easy for me. But I’ve never found it as difficult as at the moment. I thought about making a new Gretchen but I am not even able to find two colours that would work together ant that I like. It feels like I’ve already used every colour combination before – I can’t think of anything new.
Maybe I just need to step out of my comfort zone and opt for colours I don’t normally use? Yes, maybe, but that’s really difficult!

Anyway, this gave me the idea to experiment a bit with colours and try something I’ve wanted to try for a long time

Random colour placement

I’ve read about it several times, but I’ve never gone into it in depth.

If you crochet simple shapes – such as grannies, circles or triangles and so on – and work with a lot of colours, there are countless ways to arrange these colours. And – you have probably noticed that too – you can achieve different effects with the arrangement of the colours. In my eyes a colourful granny blanket, for instance, looks best, when the colours are randomly put together. But how to achieve this?

To obtain random colour combinations, you can of course first list all possible combinations of the colours you are going to use. The easiest and best way to do this is probably with an Excel, Numbers, or Google spreadsheet. But I am afraid this can also get complicated. For instance: assuming you make a motif with 3 rounds, each round in a different colour (which should only appear once), and you use 5 colours, then there are already 60 possible colour combinations. The more colours and/or rounds, the more complicated the list becomes.

I haven’t tried this yet, so it’s just theory. But beyond that, I wonder what would happen if I couldn’t use all the colour combinations for my project. I would probably choose the ones I like best. Would that influence the overall impression?

However, I wanted to try something different for a random colour combination. I had read about a website that has a random number generator: random.org. They offer different services, including a list randomizer.

For my colour experiment I had thought about crocheting circles. Each circle with 3 rounds in different colours.

My colours and the random outcome

I picked up some of my little balls of leftover yarns and added some colours from my stash that I had never used so far, such as Stone, Camel, Lincoln and Violet. In the end I had these 15 colours that I thought might look good together.

I listed all colours in a Numbers spreadsheet (shown in the picture below, first column). Then I copied this list to the list randomizer in random.org.

After hitting the button ‘Randomize’ I had the first result in no time – all my colours listed in a random order.
I copied this result back to my Numbers sheet, filling the column for Round 1 (see picture below).

Hitting the button ‘Again!’ in the randomizer and gave me another random list of my 15 colours. I copied this result back to my Numbers table filling the column for round 2.

Then I repeated this step once more to get the colours for round 3.

This way I got 15 unique colour combinations.

Unfortunately I had to realise that, based on the result, some colours would appear twice in one motif. Since I didn’t want this to happen, I repeated the steps described above a fourth time and entered the result in the ‘Substitution’ column. Now I was able to replace the duplicate colour with the substitution colour.
For example: instead of Storm Blue, Violet, Violet I used Storm Blue, Violet, Raspberry.

When crocheting, I strictly followed my list and this is the surprising result:

To be honest, I was VERY surprised at the result. There are colour combinations that I would never have put together myself. Nevertheless, I think every single one looks absolutely beautiful!

Afterwards I repeated my random selection – same steps as described above – and crocheted another 10 circles. You can see the result in the cover photo above. Here, too, I was not disappointed by a single one!!

My 25 circles are meanwhile all turned into squares. I used Stylecraft Special DK in Graphit as I thought a dark colour would showcase the colourful circles best.

Yep – a lot of tails to work away, but all done! My squares could do with a bit of blocking though. But so far I am very happy with my experiment!

Now I will have to think about the best way to join them AND what to do with them once they are joined. I can imagine either a wall hanging or a cushion cover. I’m not sure yet …

Anyway, I will let you know. And of course I will provide some information on how I made the circles / squares and what my layout looks like!

See you next time 💕

Granny Square Day 2024

Some days ago, on Wednesday, it was Granny Square Day. Em …, I can’t believe it, but I missed it completely!

Blame it on the heat, or the summer flu I’m suffering from at the moment and that is making me very tired, or whatever … I don’t know!

However. Lately I’ve been experimenting a bit with colours and colour combinations using circles and Granny Squares. In this process, I also created a little Granny. So, to honour Granny Square Day, too late or not, I thought I’d share the pattern with you.

Nothing big, but quite nice, I think.

Just a Granny

“Just a Granny” is a four round Granny Square and measures about 10 cm / 4 inch- if made with a #3 (DK / worsted weight) yarn.

I made my version using only two colours as I think it shows the pattern best.
Of course you can also use more colours or a different yarn. Using a different yarn though might affect the size of the square.

The Granny requires only a small amount of yarn and I used some leftovers from my stash. For both I used Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/6. It is 100 % Cotton and has a yardage of 105 m / 50 g. I find it best to work with a 3,75 mm hook.

I made two colour variants. The first one is made with

# 49 – Peach
# 47 – Dark Old Rose

… and the second one uses

# 65 – Apricot
# 12 – Volcano Gray

Apricot and Volcano Gray is one of my favourite colour combinations. Unfortunately it looks like #65 Apricot is discontinued, at least in the 8/6 quality.

The Pattern

Like a regular granny, the pattern mostly uses double crochet, but also includes extended treble crochet, double treble crochet, and shallow back post double crochet (all US terms).
Due to these special stitches I have categorised the pattern as „beginning intermediate”. But since it is only a few stitches and rows, I think that even an adventurous beginner can do it. Of course, the placement of the stitches is explained in the pattern. And if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

In case you’ve never heard about a shallow back post double crochet: it is more or less worked in the same way as a normal bpdc. Only the placement of the stitch is a bit different which makes it a bit less textured. The pattern includes a link to a helpful video on how to do this stitch (made not by me but by Tamara Kelly from Moogly).

You can download the free pattern here

Happy belated Granny Square Day and have fun 💕

Patterns for my Tunisian Mobile Phone Cozies

Finally I managed to write down the two missing patterns for my Tunisian phone cozies. Yes, I know, it took some time…

But all are now ready – YAY!

These little bags were created when I was experimenting a bit with different techniques in Tunisian crochet. In case you just started with Tunisian crochet they are great to practice some new techniques and / or stitches. Or perhaps they will inspire you to make something beautiful yourself in Tunisian crochet.

My little pouches are made for an iPhone 14 Pro and measure about 9,5 x 17 cm. However, the size is easy to adjust for all 4 patterns.
I used Stylecraft Special DK in different colours and a 4,5 mm Tunisian hook. You will need about 20 – 25 g of yarn for one pouch, so the patterns are also great to use up some left overs.

If you need some help or refreshment with the basics of Tunisian crochet you can find all the information here.

The special stitches that are used are explained in the respective pattern. Informations about the different methods used to change colours and decreasing stitches can be found here.

Please note: the patterns are not tested yet. So, if you find any mistakes or have any question, please don‘t hesitate to contact me.

Phone Cozy # 1

The first one is the easiest one and was already featured in a previous post.

It is made only with Tunisian simple stitch and decorated by weaving in some colourful threads.

Easy to make but great effect as I think.

Phone Cozy #2

The pattern for the second one was also already published.

This pattern uses

Tunisian simple stitch and Tunisian front post double crochet
the colour is changed in every row, always at the end of the return pass

and it has a straight flap.

Phone Cozy #3

Number 3 is my personal favorite! I love the woven and rustic look and the slanted flap!

The pattern uses

Tunisian Simple stitch
decreasing a stitch on the left edge (for the flap)
colour change at the beginning of the return pass

The first one I made – shown in the photo above – is in the colours Grey and Parchment. The second one is made in a combination of Grey and Grape.

You can download the pattern here.

Phone Cozy #4

This one is a bit more complicated but I think the stitch pattern creates a very nice effect.

The pattern uses

extended Tunisian simple stitch and Tunisian slip stitch
decreasing a stitch on the right edge (for the flap)
colour change at the end of a return pass

The colours I used are Grey and Vintage Peach for the one on the left and Grey combined with Buttermelk for the other one.

You can download the free pattern here.

Except for pattern #2, I didn’t go into detail about how I made the eyelets to close the pouches. Closing the bags really is an optional thing and not necessarily needed.

The size and position of the eyelet naturally will depend on the size and position of the button. So, here just some pictures of what I did.

But there are of course other possible methods of closing them – maybe just straps or press studs?

Used techniques

For these patterns I used the following techniques

colour Change at the left edge
colour Change right edge
decreasing left edge
decreasing right edge

You will find detailed information on how to work them here.

That‘s all for today. Hope you got some inspiration!

Tunisian Phone Cozy II

I finally managed to write down the pattern for my second phone pouch made in Tunisian crochet.

It is a bit more advanced than the first one as two colours are used. Yet, I think it is still an easy one that can be made by a beginner. If you have already mastered the Tunisian Simple Stitch, it is a great way to get to know a new stitch and to practice a way of changing colours in Tunisian crochet.

The Pattern

The pattern is based on a common Tunisian stitch pattern called Brick or Grid stitch.

This stitch is usually worked in two colours to enhance the visual effect. But I have also seen it made in a single colour, which shows off the texture well. It is made in a combination of Tunisian Simple Stitch and Tunisian Front Post Double Crochet which is also used in Tunisian mosaic crochet.

Both, the Tunisian Front Post Double Crochet and the colour change are explained in the pattern.
For the basics in Tunisian crochet just have a look here.

Again my phone cover is made for an iPhone 14 Pro.
Worked with Stylecraft Special DK and a 4,5 mm Tunisian crochet hook my cover measures about 9,5 x 17 cm.

The pattern is a 4 row repeat and works in multiples of 4 stitches plus 1. So I think the size should be easy to adjust by adding or decreasing repeats and / or rows.

There is only a little sewing as it is made in one piece. Just the bottom and the sides are to be joined.

I have fitted my little pouch with a flap. But of course you can leave that off if you prefer. In that case just bind off the complete row 23 – or whenever you have reached the desired length.

Sewing on and closing with buttons is also optional.

I had only a little curl on my flap and after adding the small border and smoothing it a bit with my fingers it lay absolutely flat.

I just thought it would look nice with some buttons.

Yarn

And finally, some information about the yarn. As said before I used Stylecraft Special DK. My colours are Grey and Buttermilk. A combination that I wanted to try for a LONG time. I am absolutely pleased with the result and think they go together very well! Even though the colours are a little difficult to capture in photos – well …

I bet other colour combinations will look great too! They just should have a bit contrast. And of course any other yarn will work as well.

Unfortunately I didn’t pay attention on my yarn consumption. I only can tell that I needed a bit over 20 g. So it will be great to use up some leftovers.

If you like this little cozy you can download the pattern here.

Have fun 💕

Tunisian Phone Cozies

As you may know, I’ve been experimenting a bit with Tunisian crochet lately.

I have mastered the basic stitches in Tunisian crochet for a long time and years ago I have also crocheted several patterns. But I never worked Tunisian crochet using two different colours or tried Tunisian mosaic crochet. I have also never looked into the possibilities of decorating a finished piece with cross stitch or weaving. And, besides a kind of ‚join as you go‘-method, I‘ve never joined pieces made with Tunisian crochet. So really time for me to experiment a bit!

The results are 4 different mobile phone covers for my iPhone that I would like to show you here. I will write down the patterns one by one, so that you can make one for yourself if you like.

In case you have never done Tunisian crochet before (or need a refresher), you can find the basics of this technique here.

Tunisian Mobile Cozy I

The first one is a really simple one and absolutely beginner friendly. It is more or less just made from a rectangle made with Tunisian Simple Stitch. No changing colors, no decreases, just some basics. So it’s a great starter piece!

My cozy – made for an iPhone 14 Pro – measures about 9,5 x 16 cm. If you need a different size, the pattern is easy to adjust.

If you are new to Tunisian crochet, please take a look at the detailed explanations first:

Working a Foundation Row in Tunisian crochet
Anatomy of stitches
Tunisian Simple Stitch
Binding off

Materials

Small amount of Stylecraft Special DK, colour 1005 Cream
some leftover yarns in different colours
4,5 mm Tunisian crochet hook
scissors
yarn needle

If you decide to use a different yarn or if you want your phone cover to be a different size, you will have to make a few adjustments:

you will probably have to adjust the number of chains you cast on.
My phone is 7, 2 cm wide and 0,8 cm heigh. I made my chain about 9,5 cm long which is equal to: 1 times the width of my phone plus 2 times the height plus 0,5 cm (7,2 + 1,6 + 0,5 cm). The 0,5 cm are just to give it a bit ‚room‘ for joining.
you will probably also have to adjust the number of rows you work. You can easily measure this while working, your crochet piece should have twice the length of your phone. Just wrap it around your phone from time to time and you will know when you have to stop.

Stitches / Abbreviations

FwP	Forward Pass
RtP	Return Pass
TSS	Tunisian Simple Stitch Insert hook from right to left under front vertical bar of the next stitch, pull up a loop and keep it on the hook
yo	yarn over

Pattern

Foundation / Row 1
- Cast on 16 chains loosely
- FwP: Start in the 2^nd chain from hook and pick up a loop from the back bar of every chain – 16 loops on hook
- RtP: don’t turn your work, just work from left to right now
  yo and pull through the 1^st loop on the hook, *yo and pull through the next 2 loops on hook, repeat from * until there is only 1 loop on hook
Row 2
- FwP: working from right to left, skip first vertical bar, 14 TSS, work end stitch (16 loops on hook)
- RtP: work Standard Return Pass like explained above
Row 3 – 43
- repeat row 2
Bind off

My rectangle measured about 9,5 cm in width and 32 cm in length.

Decorating

Now you can start decorating your cozy by „weaving“ different yarns under the vertical bars of the Tunisian Simple Stitches.
If you like to do it similar to mine, here is what I’ve done:

I used some left over yarns from King Cole Comfort DK in the colour 1729, Glacier and Stylecraft Special DK in 1390, Clematis and 1064, Mocha.

I started in row 23, counted bottom up. (If you are unsure how to count the rows, this picture will help.)

Thread a needle and bring the yarn up under the horizontal bar of the last stitch (end stitch) on the left side (pic 1). Weave the yarn under the front vertical bar of the next stitch in the same row. Then go up a diagonal line, always going one stitch to the right and one row to the top (pic 2) until you reach the right edge (pic 3).
Continue doing the same with the next thread, starting in the same row but one stitch to the right (pic 4).
Gently sew away the loose yarn ends on the back.

Finishing

I simply joined the edges with a row of slip stitches. I used my main colour, so my stitches are nearly invisible. But it also can be a nice effect to use a contrasting colour.
Just fold the rectangle to the half. If you did 43 rows the middle will be row 22. Grab both loops of the first / last stitch of rows 21 and 23 and start with your first slip stitch. (Row 22 stays unworked.) . Go up the edge until the last stitches are joined. Finish off and work away the tails. Do the same on the other side. Finished!

I hope you enjoyed it 💗

Time flies …

I don’t know where the time is. This year just seems to be flying past me … We’ve just been on holiday, got a new car, celebrated Easter and now it’s already May – my birthday month …

To be honest, I haven’t done that much crochet recently. At least not much I am able to show right now.
I am still playing around with Tunisian crochet. So far I have never worked with two colours in Tunisian crochet. So I am just practicing different techniques and I’m curious to see what effects you can achieve with it.

Besides, I am currently working on a shawl in Tunisian crochet, designed by Rachel Henri.

Comme un Air de Printemps

means Spring is in the Air in English and is available on Ravelry.

I love the construction of this shawl! It is more ore less worked in strips that are connected as you go. Therefore you even don‘t need a Tunisian crochet hook. A normal hook is absolutely sufficient as long as it is long enough to carry 12 stitches or so.

I am using a 4-ply sock yarn with 76% Cotton. The colours are a soft mixture of grey, pink and lilac. Unfortunately they do not show so well in my picture.

And I was also able to do two small tests.

Easy Come Easy Go

is the new pattern by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity that was just released. Her the link to Ravelry, but it’s also available her other platforms.

I was happy to test this pattern a few days ago and am very pleased with the result.

My version is made Stylecraft Special DK and a 4 mm hook. I followed colourway 1 – Pam offers two different ones in her pattern – and replaced the colours as follows

Colour A – 1067 Grape
Colour B – 1026 Apricot
Colour C – 1240 Soft Peach
Colour D – 1832 Mushroom

First I was a bit unsure about this colour combination but I think it worked quite well. However, I am sure this square will also look great in just one colour.

The finished square has 39 stitches per side. Of course the final size will depend on the yarn you use. Mine measures about 26 cm / 10 inch.

At the moment I’m thinking about making a wall hanging from different afghan squares. This one would be a good start. Let’s see….

Dream, Sparkle, Shine

I also helped testing a new pattern designed by Ana. Her lovely Dream, Sparkle, Shine.
Ana had chosen a great colour combination from Hobbii Mocktail yarn.

The pattern is available on Ravelry too.

I had no suitable colour changing yarn in my stash so I had to experiment a bit with my Stylecraft Special DK.

Photo credit: Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love

This turned out to be more tricky than I thought and I was not quite able to achieve the effect I had in mind. That‘s why I made only a smaller piece over a few repeats.

I used Cream as background colour and always used the 5 contrasting colours in the same order. I love the colour combination! (Although I didn’t get the desired effect and although a bit more contrast might be better for mosaic crochet.)

Background – 1005 Cream
Colour A – 1064 Mocha
Colour B – 1844 Toy
Colour C – 1832 Mushroom
Colour D – 1218 Parchment
Colour E – 1240 Soft Peach

Originally I wanted to make a cushion out of it, but then I had another idea. I had a simple cotton bag, a promotional gift from a pharmacy, with logo on one side. My patch had the perfect size to fit on the front side. So I made a small border – just one round of single crochet – and sewed it on. Voila – a new project bag.

And that’s all there is for today! Have a lovely time 💕

Pinwheel Square

Another test for Pam

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.
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. Something like Schachenmayr Catania or Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4. The reason is just that I have accumulated a lot of these yarns by crocheting amigurumi and can go with my stash. Besides they have a great colour range and a good stitch definition.

Somehow this time I decided to go with my stash of Stylecraft Special DK.

I have just used a similar colour combination for another test in overlay mosaic. Just all in neutrals. I loved the result and was curious how it would look in regular 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.

Happy hooking 💕

Oh look – A Snowbird …

Em … to be honest, I had no idea what kind of bird a snowbird is as we don’t have them in Europe. I had to ask Google and the answer was that nowadays many different birds in Canada are called snowbirds and indeed, Google showed me a lot of different pictures. But originally “Snowbird” was the name for a Junko. Do you know them?

However, I would like to introduce you to my new flatmate: little Snowbird.

This cute snowbird is part of the pattern Winter Birds 2 from @natura_crochet. I spotted it on Instagram last year. It was sometime before Christmas, so I got it myself as a present.
The pdf is more like a booklet than a single pattern. It is beautifully designed and contains patterns for three different birds: Kingfisher, Waxwing and a Chickadee – plus the Snowbird as a bonus pattern. All birds are very colourful and wintery styled with hat and scarf.

I used Schachenmayr Catania and Wenco DIY (a German brand) with a 2,25 mm hook. Both are 100% Cotton sport weight (#2) yarn with a yardage of 125 m / 50 g.

My colours are:

429 – Anthrazit / Catania
434 -Nebel / Catania
258 – Erdbeere / Catania
206 – Honig / Catania
51, blau / DIY

Head – Anthrazit
Body – Nebel, Erdbeere
Wings – Blau, Nebel, Anthrazit
Tail – Blau, Nebel, Anthrazit
Legs – Anthrazit, Honig, Erdbeere
Beak – Anthrazit
Hat / Scarf – Honig

I made some small adjustments to the hat and the scarf. I made the scarf a little shorter and narrower and the hat a little wider – it just worked better with my yarn.

I have to confess, I was a little hesitant about sewing the parts together. I don’t have much experience in assembling such small parts. So they So they have been lying in my basket for days (weeks?). But the placement etc. is well explained in the pattern and all went well!

I am absolutely happy with the result. Just started the Waxwing …

Have a lovely time 💕

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-placement Download

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 💕