Hello Spring Cal comes to an end now, only the border to be done.
If you follow my blog you already know that I made a wall hanging working over 5 pattern repeats. When it came to the border I finally had to decide how I wanted to hang it up. I have seen quite complicated looking constructions for hanging wall decorations but I had no idea how to make them. At first I thought about attaching loops to it like you would for a quilt but there too I was unsure how best to attach them. Then I had another idea, a very easy one:
I worked the border as normal. In the final joining round I left a piece open on the upper side edges. On the last 7 stitches on both upper sides I worked the slip stitches only on the front layer without joining the two layers. The corner is worked as normal. This has created a kind of tunnel through which you can push a rod. It works perfectly!
Week 4 of the Hello Spring Cal starts, now it is already half done. Only one more part will follow next week and then it will be ready for the border.
I must apologize – again – for the poorly lit photos! The colors I chose are hard to capture anyway but on top of that we had a prolonged period of bad weather! Sorry!
It is already week 3 of the Hello Spring Cal. The time flies! However, I just felt thrown back a few weeks. We haven’t had that much snow for years. This is our old pine tree on Saturday morning, 02.April 2022. Hello Spring!
Since some people have asked me about it, I will publish my progress and my single parts here. So let us begin with my
Yarn and colours
I used Stylecraft Special DK and a 4 mm hook. My colours are
1001 White
1822 Pistachio
1027 Khaki
1081 Saffron
1723 Tomato
When I saw Ana‘s pattern I actually had a different colour scheme in mind and my first approach was somewhat different. But somehow it didn’t work, although I tried two different colour placements. I thought maybe it was too dark for a spring theme and I didn’t know how to go on. But I still love my swatches so much that I haven’t frogged them yet. And I know for sure that I will use these colours at some point! So I will keep the strips. Even if that means that I cannot determine the exact consumption of Pistachio – I forgot to weigh my yarn :).
What do you think?
In search of other colour combinations I came across a drawing with stylised flowers in two different greens on a white ground. Somehow it said >Spring< to me. To get this look I choose White and Pistachio as main colours and added a little bit of Khaki. Spiced up with a few sprinkles of Saffron and Tomato.
The days are not only getting a bit longer but also a bit warmer. The first bushes and trees are sprouting and the sparrows are preparing their nests under our roof. Spring is coming in the northern hemisphere!
Ana from One Skein of Love is celebrating the season with her Hello Spring Cal. Another project that has kept me busy in the last weeks, between Midnight Snowflakes, sock knitting, a short holiday and „normal” life.
I started testing the Hello Spring Cal in early February. The pattern is designed as a blanket and – similar to Winter Wonderland – consist of different designs that can be combined in various ways. Due to time constraints I only worked 5 repeats this time – it will be a beautiful wall decoration when I am finished.
My colours were inspired by a drawing I found on the internet: flowers in two or three different greens on a white ground. They looked so fresh and airy and reminded me immediately of spring. Unfortunately I cannot share it here due to copyrights but I tried to copy this look using Stylecraft Special DK from my stash.
I used mainly White and Pistachio combined with Khaki and a little bit of Saffron and Tomato.
The Cal will start next Monday, 21. March 2022 and runs for 6 weeks. More information and of course also the pattern are available in Ana’s Ravelry store.
Due to the lovely holiday we had last week I am still working on the border but I hope to show you more next week!
Finally I was able to start this pattern. I fell in love with it when Ana published the pattern about one year ago. Since then I have promised hubby to make him a blanket with it. When Ana lately announced her MAL I thought it was a good time to start with it.
The colours
It is always hard to choose the right colours for a blanket. At least it is for me. It is very rare that I see a pattern and immediately know which colours I want to make it in. For Midnight Snowflakes I instantly had white combined with a grey tone in mind. White for the background with grey snowflakes! But something made me hesitate. I probably knew instinctively that hubby wouldn’t like it. And so it was!
After he told me that this is much too bright (???) my idea was to switch the colours and do the snowflakes in classic white and the background in a dark grey. Looking for a yarn that might be a bit more special than my standard acrylic yarn I came across Cookie from Järbo. The colour Cloudy was exactly what I was looking for, off white changing to a soft, light grey – and on sale! From what I saw in the photos this would go great with Rotterdam from Scheepjes Colour Crafter. (Rotterdam is a dark grey, very similar to Graphite from Stylecraft Special DK.) So I placed my order.
My disappointment could not have been greater when the yarn arrived. Rotterdam was what I expected, but … You can already see it in my photos. Instead of white with a little bit of grey my Cookie is grey with a little bit of white. Much too dark in combination with Rotterdam – even hubby agreed.
I have to say, the yarn itself is great. Nice and soft with a great stitch definition. I didn’t send it back. It will be used in another project. It would certainly look good in a Winter Wonderland.
Since I did not want to order online again on suspicion I had to find another match with colours I had. Combinations with Stylecraft Special DK in A Hint of Silver or Parma Violet looked nice but were not what I had in mind. I liked the contrast with white, hubby didn’t. I even tried to create a gradient myself but either the contrast between my colours was too low or there was no gradation in between.
Finally I found Duck Egg in my stash. I like the combination of Duck Egg and dark grey and hubby agreed. This is how my choice of colour came about. To be honest, I still don’t know if hubby really likes it or if he was just so annoyed that he said yes.
The MAL runs util 28. February 2022. The pattern is available via Ravelry. Until the end of February there is a 50% discount (code on Ana’s Facebook group).
Midnight Snowflakes pattern by One Skein of Love, hooked by ELeni
Hooked on Häkelmaschen 