Tag: Mosaic crochet

Already August

Where has this year gone? Now it’s already August and I have the feeling that I can’t really finish any of my private projects. My Seashell Dudes, my When Summer turns into Fall blanket are still WIPs. My new blog is still not completely finished, let alone that I have already decided on a hosting provider.

But I have finished the test for Pam Knighton-Haener / A Yarn of Serendipity. It was quite a new experience because this time I checked the written instructions and also the videos she made for certain rounds. But more on that later when the pattern is published.

And I am working on a really big project: I am testing the pattern for a CAL that will probably start at the end of September! It will be a blanket in Overlay Mosaic technique but I can‘t reveal more yet …

I don‘t know how it is with you, but in Germany the summer 2021 is very changeable. It almost reminds me of the summers in my childhood when the climate crisis was not felt as clearly as it is now. We have quite a lot of rain and so far the heat waves that we had in the past few years have not materialized. Last year we had between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius around this time. I remember it so well because back then I tested Mosaic Christmas for BebaBlanket. That was a crazy feeling to test a Christmas pattern at 35 degrees!

Mosaic Christmas

was my second pattern in Overlay Mosaic. My first one was a placemat made with Chevron Apache Waves.I already mentioned it in this post. Mosaic Christmas is a pattern designed by BebaBlanket. It has charts for 4 different motifs, Christmas Trees, Snowflakes, gifts and an ornament that can be used as a separation.The main repeat goes over 45 stitches so the size is easily adjustable and you can create a lot of different items.

Mine was meant to be either a wall hanging or a table runner, it became a table runner.

I used Stylecraft Special Dk in Cypress and Cream. My Christmas Decoration is mostly red, so Green and White/cream is always a perfect match.

I only worked two repeats in width using the following layout

Ornaments / Christmas Trees / Gifts 
Snowflakes 
Gifts / Christmas Trees / Ornaments 

I didn‘t work a border but crocheted over the tails. Today I would just do a double border because I think it is a great finish but since it was only my second Overlay pattern I was just scared about all the tails. :D

So, as it is already August, if you are looking for a nice Christmas project, here some more pics

No Limits

Phew, another pattern test is finished: No Limits, the new pattern by BebaBlanket.

No Limits is an Overlay Mosaic pattern worked in rounds but the pattern has also an option to work in rows. There are different charts for pattern variations, 3 for working in the round and 1 for working side to side. The best is: all variations can be combined with each other. And, when working in the round you don‘t have to cut the yarn after each round. All colour changes are made in one corner and you just carry the yarn along.

My No Limits is based on pattern variation No 2. It is made with King Cole Comfort DK in the colour Truffle (colour A) and Stylecraft Special DK in Cream (colour B) with a 4,5 mm hook.

I worked according to the chart as it is drawn (up to round 30) and repeated the pattern starting with round 19. After 3 repeats I had to stop because I ran the risk that my Truffle would not be enough for another repeat. I finished the pattern with one more round 19 in colour A and a round of back loop single crochet, also in the colour A.

My finished No Limits measures 80 cm in a square, big enough to cover my knees and lap on a chilly day.

A lovely pattern that is also suitable to play with colors a bit. But I especially like the corners. 

Oh So XOXO

is the new pattern by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein Of Love.
At the end of last month, Ana asked me if I could test this pattern. As she wanted to release the pattern in the middle of July I didn’t have enough time to make a complete blanket.  So I first tested just one repeat by crocheting a small swatch with 45 stitches and 44 rows and started the blanket afterwards. 

Oh So XOXO Pattern

Oh So XOXO is an Inset Mosaic crochet pattern. For Inset Mosaic two rows (front and backside) are worked with one color. The yarn is not cut at the end of a row, so no tails to deal with.

The pattern is a repetition of two stripes with two different motifs. One repeat comprises 28 stitches and 44 rows so the size is easily adjustable.It is Ana’s fist inset pattern and has written instructions with detailed row by row pictures and also a chart.

My Oh So XOXO journey


I mostly use DK yarn for blankets and I absolutely love to use It for Overlay Mosaic. So of course I used Stylecraft Special DK for my test swatch… And made a new experience!
For my taste DK yarn might be a bit too thick for Inset mosaic, at least for my taste. My swatch didn‘t have the fluffiness that Overlay has and felt pretty stiff even when working with a bigger hook …

Although I actually wanted to use yarn from my stash I made up my mind and ordered some thinner yarn,  Drops Love You 7. The same quality that Ana used for her design.

Drops Love You 7 is a 100 % cotton yarn. A sport weight with a yardage of 170 m per 50 g.

My swatch in Stylecraft Special DK was made in the colours Grey and Cream. I really liked this combination! To get something similar for my final blanket I choosed the Drops colours Dark Grey and White. Of course the white is brighter than the Cream was and the Dark Grey is darker than the Graphite. Nevertheless I think it’s a beautiful and strong combination!

Drops Love You 7 is smooth and soft and I enjoy working with it. I am using my 3,00 mm Clover Amour hook.

My blanket will have the full size over 185 stitches and 286 rows (6,5 repeats). Without border it measures about 93 cm / 36,5 inch in width. I am currently working on the second pattern repeat, so still some way to go. But I love it! The pattern is easy to follow and very relaxing.

Here one of my progress pics

When Summer turns into Fall

is one of the projects I am working on besides testing crochet patterns.

When Summer turns into Fall – Pattern

The pattern is by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love and is done in Overlay Mosaic crochet. It was published in November 2020 and for me it was love at first sight. I already wrote about it in a previous post.

I really love Mosaic Crochet! Incredible that I only got to know about Overlay Mosaic crochet a year ago. Sometimes I still get scared when I see all the tails but I like the fact that it is only worked from the front. I think this way the stitches look so much neater. And an envelope or double border is such a great finish!

When Summer turns into Fall – Colours

As I said, I fell in love with When Summer turns into Fall at first sight. The warm, autumnal colours Ana has chosen go so well with the name of the blanket and they remind me on autumn leaves in the sunshine on one of the last warm days of the year.

So no doubt that I would make this blanket in the original colors:


Parchment, Walnut, Gold, Copper and Lime, all Stylecraft Special Dk.

The only change I planned was replacing Lime with Pistachio, one of my new favorite colors, that I bought but never used. 

Unfortunately that didn’t work at all!

In the original design Lime is combined with Parchment and the pattern comes into its own. If Pistachio is combined with Parchment there is no contrast at all, even in best daylight. Unfortunately I had crocheted almost the entire pattern 3 until I was really convinced that it wouldn’t work. So I had to redo this part of the pattern completely.

Instead of Lime I am now using Nijmegen from Scheepjes Colour Crafter. This shade is (nearly?) identical with SSDK, Lime. I chose Scheepjes as meanwhile I am able to order some of their yarns here in Germany –  that goes so much faster. Stylecraft is mostly shipped directly from UK and nowadays it takes nearly two weeks till it arrives.

Although my progress is VERY slow, I am happy how my blanket turns out! Originally I had planned to have it ready When Summer turns into Fall again. But I’m afraid it won’t work.
When I need a break from testing every now and then I crochet a few rows – it’s a very relaxing project.

By the way, my Pistachio now has also found its destination: I am just testing Ana’s new design and I am using Pistachio and Meadow. Don’t they look great together?

 

 

 

Mosaic Chevron

Mosaic Chevron

is another pattern test for BebaBlanket. She just released the pattern for this lovely chevron blanket in her Ravelry store.

I love chevron patterns. I have just dealt with this topic, so I know that there are a lot of different variations. But isn’t it amazing how you can influence the look of a simple chevron pattern by combining it with mosaic crochet?

I started with this test at the end of November last year, but I had a very slow start. I can’t say how many color combinations I’ve tried and discarded! Finally I decided to go with Stylecraft Special DK in Graphite and Duck Egg and I think this was a good decision.

The pattern is similar to the Chevron Apache Waves pattern that BebaBlanket released last year. Only the technique is different. Apache Waves is done Overlay Mosaic technique and Mosaic Chevron is worked in a technique that – in some places – is called Inset Mosaic.

In short words, the difference between both is, that Overlay is worked only from the frontside and the yarn is cut and the color is changed after every row. With Inset two rows are worked with the same color and the yarn is carried along the sides. (There are even more differences, but that is perhaps worth another blog post.)

I had the chance to test Chevron Apache Waves last year and made a place mat with this pattern.

It was my first pattern in overlay mosaic technique and so I didn‘t know much about the different border options. I just left all the tails as a fringe, which is one of the various options, and that works pretty good for a place mat or coaster.

In the meantime I have already done several mosaic patterns, both Inset and Overlay. I think Mosaic Chevron is my third blanket made with Inset mosaic technique. The result is a nice lap blanket. It measures about 74 x 102 cm.

Mosaic Chevron – pattern

Except for the mosaic double crochet the chevron pattern is done completely in single crochet and therefor I used a 4,5 mm hook. I was afraid that otherwise it would get too tight and I don‘t like blankets that feel hard and stiff.

As color A I used Duck Egg and color B is Graphite.

I started with 166 chains, that are 7 repeats in width and mixed the pattern with plain chevron sections.

Mosaic Chevron – My Layout

My layout looks like this:

  • 3 pattern repeats
  • plain section consisting of
    • 6 rows color B
    • 2 rows color A
    • 2 rows color B
    • 2 rows color A
    • 6 rows color B
  • 3 pattern repeats, starting again with row 1
  • plain section (as above)
  • 3 pattern repeats starting with row 1

The pattern states to start with row 3 after the plain section. And when I write that I started with row 1 that‘s just a different way of writing. It means, that I did two more plain rows in color A, just to get the same color scheme I started with.

 

Mosaic Chevron – My border

Compared with my Apache Waves place mat my Mosaic Chevron had only a few yarn tails. But of course on one side the carried yarn is visible. So I was looking for a plain and simple border, just to hide the threads.

I decided to go with just one row of single crochet in Graphite, worked with a 4 mm hook.

Here my scheme:

  • Top: following row 1 of the chevron pattern
  • Left side: one single crochet in every row
  • Bottom: following row 1 of the chevron pattern but without skipping stitches and the „tips“ worked in the chain spaces
  • Right side: one single crochet in every row
  • 3 single crochet in each of the four corner stitches

I really enjoyed working on this pattern. It is easy to memorize and relaxing! And the graphic result is great in my eyes!

 

 

Besides Testing

Besides Testing

Most of my crochet time is spent for testing. Right now I am working on three different tests for BebaBlanket. I have committed to make a small blanket for each of them. And misssBerlin will also soon have another test that I would like to take part in.

One of the tests for BebaBlanket has definitely to be finished in early April as the pattern probably will be released later that month. Luckily I am nearly finished with it. There are just two more repeats and a small border to do.

The pattern is a combination of mosaic and plain crochet. I started it last December but I first took some time to make a few color swatches. I am always unsure about the color combination, it is really so bad! Finally I decided to use Stylecraft Special DK in Graphite and Duck Egg and so far I love the result.

The other two tests have to be finished in early July respectively August.

It‘s such a shame that I can‘t show it all yet!

But what I can show are some kind of private projects that I definitely want to finish this year, besides all the testing, just for me. At least there are these two:

When Summer turns into Fall

A lovely blanket by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein Of Love. It is done in Overlay Mosaic technique.

I fell in love with this blanket the first time I saw it and had to get the pattern. I like these autumn colors she used and so I will make it in the original color scheme. But it also will look great in other colors. Meanwhile I have seen it in many different shades and another favorite of mine is a two colored version in pastel tones.

The blanket consists of three different patterns that are repeated several times. It is also easy to customize. I am most excited about the patterned border because I have never made something like this.

The Seashell Dudes

Another pattern by misssBerlin. This time not a test, but a lovely Christmas gift 💕.

The Conch, Sea Urchin and Ammonite are a super maritime decoration and they immediately reminded me of the Northern Sea, one of my favorite holiday places.

I started this project at the end of January. After finishing the three Dudes I began with the Conch but didn’t get further than a few rows. That was exactly when the test for the Succulent Dudes started….I am afraid that I will have to make new Dudes – once again – as the planned Seashell Dudes are now gathering on a sideboard in my living room wearing the Succulent caps.

A fate like this overtakes most of my Dudes!

At least my colors are set for this project! I will use Scheepjes Catona, in color 505 Linen, for the Dudes. The caps will be made in Catona, color 528 Silver Blue, and Schachenmayr Catania in 263 Soft Apricot and 257 Bast.

That‘s all?

Of course not! But it depends on what else has to be done this year – in testing and besides testing. Spring has just come in the northern hemisphere and there will be a lot of gardening and also home renovation is a never-ending topic for us.
But before I get bored …

… I already have yarn for the Meadow Embossed Crochet Bag by Natalia Kononova from Outstanding crochet. It’s Scheepjes Catona in the colors 387 Dark Olive and 395 Willow.


And there is another pattern for a blanket waiting. The Beach Walk Blanket by Marion Mitchell from Woolthreadpaint.I spotted it on Instagram and it also immediately reminded me of the Northern Sea.Honestly, I don’t think I will be able to do it this year. On the other hand, it is all done in Granny squares. So I suspect would be a nice summer project when it will actually be too hot to work on a big blanket. So maybe I could at least have a start…. I will keep you up to date!

Credits:
The photos shown on the tablet in my pictures are the cover photos from the patterns The Seashell Dudes by misssBerlin and When Summer turns into Fall by One Skein of Love
Many thanks to Dana (misssBerlin) and Ana (One Skein of Love) for the permission to use them.

Mix and Match

My latest test …

This is my preliminary result of the lastest test from BebaBlanket, Mix and Match. I still have to decide about the border, but so far I am very happy with the result.

Tiramisu yarn

The yarn for this blanket was sponsored by Stenli yarns, a Bulgarian company. I am very glad about that! Thank you!

Tiramisu is a Cotton Merino Mix and comes in 450 g bobbles.
I already used it for my Greek Islands blanket and fell in love with it. It is soft and smooth to work with. (And I am NOT saying this because it was sponsored) It is considered to be a DK weight. Personally I think it is a bit thinner, so I used a 3,5 mm hook.

Both blankets I made with Tiramisu have a comfortable weight and a nice drape.


My Mix and Match journey

The pattern alone makes Mix and Match a good match to my Greek Islands blanket. Therefore I wanted to use not only the same yarn but also similar colors. For my Greek Island blanket I used Denim (my favorite color) as main color. The second color (it had no name, sorry) was color changing from beige to brown. So for my Mix and Match I decided to go also with Denim combined with the color Sea Shore, a combination of brown, creme and light blue. 

Stenli yarns are not available in any shops here in Germany. You have to order online, directly from the web-shop located in Bulgaria. That means: orders always take some time … I really was happy when my yarn arrived in November.The disappointment couldn‘t have been greater when I started with the test. What I didn’t realize when placing the order online was the fact that the color Sea Shore has not only color changes from blue over beige to brown. A white thread runs through each of the colors and therefore the brown in particular becomes very “busy”. It distracted the geometrical shapes of the pattern completely.

I had no choice but to reorder yarn – this time a harmless, solid beige – and started again at beginning of December.

Like in my Greek Islands I wanted to use Denim as base color (color A), but then the next problem arose: especially with design 3 there was kind of an optical illusion for me that drove me mad. 

The upper stripe shows my first attempt with Denim as color A. Even triple-checking the pattern didn’t help, my eyes kept seeing mistakes. I had to switch the colors and to restart for the second time. Does this only happen to me? 

So, admittedly my start was not the best! But the tide has turned! And t was worth the whole effort for me!

Mix and Match crochet pattern

Mix and Match is done in Mosaic Crochet, the so called Inset Mosaic. I don’t know if this in an official name or just a creation by the Facebook group, where I first read about it. In contrast to the Overlay Mosaic technique two rows are always worked in one color. The work is turned after each row – so worked from front- and backside – and there is no need to cut the yarn.

The pattern includes 4 different designs (squares) with identical stitch counts, so you can combine them any way you want. Or just follow one of the 5 suggested layouts that are also part of the pattern.

I choose layout 4, consisting of 3 designs arranged in 3 different ways. The complete layout has 6 squares in width and 9 in height. 

My blanket turned out about 98×117 cm without border, and I used about 500 g Denim (color B) and 465 g Beige (color A) so far.

The pattern is easy to follow but challenging. You have to work very carefully, otherwise you might mix up the designs. I often had to go back two rows to correct a mistake.

But again: the result was worth the effort!  The pattern is available on Ravelry.

 

Temperature Blanket, Part 2.

My Temperature Blanket…

is – I am afraid – more a None-Temperature blanket!

As I already wrote in a previous post, at the end of last year BebaBlanket designed a Mosaic Temperature Blanket for 2021. It is run as a free cal and you can still join in. You’ll find the pattern here on Ravelry.

I was one of the testers and as it was only a quick, small test to check the pattern I just used some leftover yarns from my stash.

Not only do I have a lot of leftovers in my stash but also some balls of which I have only one per color. As I mostly order my yarn online I just bought them to see how the color looks like. In addition there are a few single balls that were once intended for a blanket that I never made. All in all this makes a pretty large one-ball-per-color-collection. 

When taking the photos for the test I fell completely in love with my little test swatch. So I decided to use up at least some of my single-ball yarn collection and follow the pattern for some months. Doing one row per day but not following any temperature curve, so I call it my None-Temperature Blanket.

The blanket is made in Overlay Mosaic technique.

I started with a foundation single crochet (fsc). Or in other words, this was the first time that I really mastered a fsc. I know, there are a lot of tutorials in the internet but somehow I never really got it.

And in retrospect I am not sure what I like better, the fsc or my normal start with a chain and a row of single crochet. 

Clearly, the advantage of the foundation single crochet is that it is easier to count, but it took me ages to get it neat and to make the stitches the same height. 

I am using DK yarn, mostly Stylecraft Special DK and Scheepjes Colour Crafter and a 4,00 mm hook.

With 159 stitches my blanket is about 92 cm in width. To get a nice size I am planning to make it about 120 cm long. That means that I will probably stop to follow the cal somewhere in August.

Because I urgently had to finish a blanket for another test I am a bit behind at the moment. I only got there until day 35 or February 4th.

The whole pattern will consist of four different designs which will be published gradually till the end of March. Design No1 and No2 are already released, design No3 will follow on February 27.

So far I only used design No1 and did 5 repeats in height. The photo below also shows my test swatch of design No2.

My main color is Parchment (Stylecraft Special DK). I used it every 2nd row and chose the other colors at random. I listed the colors on my Ravelry project page.

I should have a cup of coffee now and plan how to continue….. 

 

 

Temperature Blanket – Part 1

Have you ever made a Temperature Blanket?

I’ve never made one, but at the end of last year BebaBlanket came up with a test for her Mosaic Temperature Blanket.  It was launched as a free Cal (Crochet Along) in January and I was happy to test the four patterns she designed for it. Until then, I knew what a temperature blanket was, but I never really dealt with this subject. Through the discussions in her Facebook group I realized how diverse this topic actually can be.

Before I started this test and before I was able to observe the plans of others, my basic knowledge looked something like this:

A temperature blanket is a long-term project over a certain period of time, mostly a whole year. It is made to reflect the temperature curve at a particular location. Typically one row of the blanket stands for one day of the year and a certain color for a certain temperature.

Sounded a bit boring to me…..  I think  the temperatures in my place are not very interesting. It is not really cold in winter, it is mild in spring and autumn and in the last few years the summers have been just hot. And following one pattern for a whole year? That’s not mine …

Strangely enough, I never thought about the fact that it doesn‘t necessarily have to be my home that the blanket is about. It can just as well be the place of a family member, the place of a dear friend, a favorite holiday destination … just any place somewhere in the world …

And it is similar with the period of time that is considered. It may or may not be the current year. Basically you can use a temperature blanket to record all important times in your life. Or at least most. I searched the internet for the temperature on my day of birth and I didn’t manage to get any dates. Perhaps it’s too long ago. But it shouldn’t be a problem to go twenty or twenty-five years back. Just search for keywords like weather and history and you will get a lot of results.

Seen in this way, a temperature blanket can also be a very personal and unique gift. In one FB-group I read about a lady who was going to make a gift for her son’s 18th birthday.  She choose the temperatures form the day of his birth until his first birthday. That is such a lovely idea! Or you can mark a very special day in a special color or a special yarn!

I knew that the temperature curve can be based on the highest, lowest or average temperatures of a day. I also knew that it is recommended to use temperature steps between two and five degrees to assign the colors. But I never thought about combining for instance the highest and lowest temperature or adding details about the weather like sunny, rainy and so on.

Another essential thing I realized when I measured my test swatch and did some maths: for a temperature blanket it can be more important than usual to think about the yarn you want to use. A 365-day blanket, made with DK yarn, will become over 2 meters long. So, if you don’t want to make a queen size blanket you might want to choose a thinner quality.

And just to make the theme complete: The colors are, as always, a matter of taste. A lot of people choose rainbow colors, but meanwhile I’ve seen a lot of color schemes that deviate from it, using only blues, or only reds….. I think there is only one rule: the more colors you chose, the smaller the temperature steps and the more colorful the blanket will be. For a less colorful blanket, simply choose less colors and larger temperature steps.

So many possibilities I never thought about……

As I said, I never planned to make a temperature blanket – and I am still not going to make one. But I I fell in love with the little swatch I made when testing for BebaBlanket. And, as I also like the three other patterns she designed for the blanket,  I decided to use up my scrap yarn and follow the pattern for most of the year. I have a lot of yarn from which I have only one ball or even less, so this is a good project to finally use it up. I will show you the details and my progress in one of my next posts.

If I have piqued your interest, you find the pattern here in her Ravelry store.