Finally it is done! Today I gave the finished Midnight Snowflakes blanket to hubby. Just in time for his birthday next week!
Besides all the testing and other projects it took a little over a year to get it finished. I started it on 16. January 2022. And I still remember how hard it was to choose the colours! Oh dear! You can read all about my colour odyssey here. Hm, I still can see it in white and grey though …
But I really love how it turned out, I loved working on it andI love the colours!
It is made with Scheepjes Color Crafter, Rotterdam and Stylecraft Special DK, Duck Egg. With a border in Duck Egg – only the joining round made with Rotterdam.
You probably know this feeling when a long project is finished. You feel a bit empty – at least I do. I have to think about something new to work on in between! Yet no idea what it will be…
If you got inspired – the Midnight Snowflakes pattern is available here
Radiance is the newest pattern from Ana from One Skein of Love. She released it last week and I was just able to finish my test version and take some pictures.
The original pattern is for a blanket made in Overlay Mosaic technique. Ana’s blanket is about 100 cm x 134 cm. With a repeat of only 24 stitches the size of the blanket is easy to adjust. As usual her pattern has written instructions in US terms, a chart and a lot of row by row pictures. Ana used one solid colour and a colour changing yarn. You can have a look at her design in her Ravelry store, and of course you can get the pattern there too.
I turned my test version in a cushion cover.
It is worked over 3 pattern repeats in width and 4 repeats in height.
For the border I first added a row of slip stitches on the long sides of the panel. Then folded it in the half (so that there are 2 repeats from the height in front and two in back) and sewed the sides together.
I added a border on both sides, hiding all yarn ends and the my sewing. The border is made of 6 rounds single crochet in back loop.The opening at the bottom is – em, will be – closed with a zipper.
I used some left overs from my Midnight Snowflakes blanket – Scheepjes Color Crafter in the colour Rotterdam and Stylecraft Special DK in Duck Egg.
One of my crochet tests from 2022 I haven’t shown you yet: Wooly Friends.
I tested this lovely pattern already in April last year. Actually it is a pattern for a baby blanket. It was featured (with UK terms) in issue 125 of Simply Crochet Magazine. Ana now published the pattern herself and it is available in US and UK terms in her Ravelry store.
Through testing, I have meanwhile collected a lot of blankets – although I have already given many away. That’s why I often think about what else to make out of a pattern. With this one I had immediately a bag in mind for all my different projects – but with only a vague idea of how to do it. In the end it took almost 3 months (including holidays and other tests) to get it done, but I am more than happy with the result!
How my bag came to life
Yarn and colours used
Stylecraft Special DK (100g = 295 m) in the following colours
I started the bag with two identical panels, worked over 4 repeats.
Pattern Sequence for the panels
Foundation Row
Pattern 1
Pattern 2
Pattern 1
Pattern 3
Pattern 1
Final row of the pattern
plus 4 additional rows, just single crochet worked in back loop
Colour placement
Foundation Row
C1 – Grey
Pattern 1
C2 – Duck Egg
C3 – Plum
C4 – Silver
Pattern 2
C1 – Grape
C2 – Parchment
C5 – Grey
C6 – Duck Egg
Pattern 3
C1 – Grey
C2 – Parchment
C5 – Grape
Final Row(pattern)
C1 – Grey
Additional Rows
Plum
Grey
Duck Egg
Grey
My panels were about 40 cm in width and 42 cm in height.
At this point I first thought about joining the two panels (with all the tails inside) and lining the bag. But then I decided to give it a little more storage space for yarn. So I made an additional smaller panel that now serves as bottom and sides of the bag.
I worked this additional panel over 235 stitches in single crochet. Like in mosaic technique: each row starting and ending with a border stitch, all the other stitches worked in back loop only, cutting the yarn after each row. The tails on both sides are hidden in a small double border: front and back layer made with 3 rows of back loop single crochet. The final bottom/side panel is a little (4 stitches in total) shorter than than the main panels.
Colour sequence for the additional panel
Grey (Foundation)
Grey
Plum
Duck Egg
Grey
Grape
Duck Egg
Plum
Parchment
Grey
Grey
Joining
I finally joined the panels with the slip stitches for the double border, just working through both layers- bottom/side panel and main panel – at once. I have to confess: this was not my favorite part as it took a lot of patience and a lot of time to catch the correct stitches at the same time!
On the upper edge I skipped the middle 39 stitches with a chain to make the handles.
Double Borders
Front and back layers of the borders were made with 3 rows of back loop single crochet, three single crochets worked in one stitch for the corners (note: it‘s always good to use a stitch marker to mark the middle stitch). At the upper edges the double border was just continued over the chains to form the handles. All slip stitches and borders were made in Plum.
As I said, I am more than happy with the bag. After it was finally finished, I immediately started using it. Since then it has not been empty for a single day!
Have you already seen Ana‘s new pattern? It is a special gift to show her gratitude for all the love and support that has been given to her and her designs during this year. The pattern is available for free in her Ravelry shop.
The panel in Overlay Mosaic fits beautifully with the Wintry Forest pattern. Using DK yarn it will be about 40 x 40 cm. You can either sew it onto a cushion cover, like Ana did, make a wall hanging out of it, a placemat or whatever else comes to your mind. It works up quickly and is great to use up some leftover yarns.
I made my test version with Cabaret from Stylecraft yarns combined with Stylecraft Special DK in Cream. The Cabaret is from my extensive single-ball-of-yarn-collection. I ordered it years ago to check quality and colour but never found a project to use it. Forest Glade – discontinued meanwhile – has a silver metal thread running with it and the colour changes in different green shades. Unfortunately, you can’t really see the glitter in the photos.
I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do with my panel. I was thinking of sewing it onto a fabric bag. Let’s see if I can find something suitable.
The picture above shows Ana’s work – photo credit goes to her and below you can see my test version.
Today part 2 of Ana‘s Wintry Forest Cal was released. I hope you enjoy following along.
In the meantime, I have summarised all the details on my wall hangings in a table. There you will now find information about the colours I have used for each pattern and about some small additions I made.
If you are interested you can just download it below. The general information about which colours and which yarn I used I had already listed in my previous post.
If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
Today part 1 of Ana’s Wintry Forest Cal was released. Lots of fun to all who follow the Cal.
My wall hangers are finally decorated in our living room and I love them, love them, love them.
For those who are interested here some details:
My Wintry Forest Colours
I already showed you the colours in a previous post but here again:
I used
Cream, Mocha, Grey and a little bit of Denim – all from Stylecraft Special DK and Stonewash from King Cole Comfort DK (that‘s the lovely blue on the upper left)
and worked with a 4 mm hook.
I think the colours and the colour way would also make a very lovely blanket.
Yarn amounts for my wall hangers
You will find detailed information about the colours I used for each pattern in my next post as download.
Finally I can show something I worked on for the last few weeks: Wintry Forest.
Wintry Forest is the new Cal by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love. It will come in 6 parts (5 for the blanket and 1 for the border) and starts on November 10th. The Intro File with all relevant information is already available on Ana’s Ravelry page.
When I started testing it about 4 weeks ago I knew right away that I was going to make a wall decoration. But this time the decision about colour was a hard one . It cost me a lot of time and nerves.
I first thought about going only with Creme and Grey but I discarded the idea after one of my fellow testers used exactly this colour combination. My next idea was to make it colourful, changing background and contrast colour for each pattern. So I picked about 10 or 12 colours from my Stylecraft Special DK and began mixing and matching them. I ended up with a pile of colour swatches but somehow I didn‘t get the colour placement balanced. So I also discarded this idea.
The picture above shows only some of them 😀
Nevertheless I will keep my pile of swatches as I found some really nice combinations. For instance I never thought that Mocha and Pale Rose would look great together. Duck Egg and Storm Blue also are a great combination. Strong but beautiful!
In the end, I came back to my Cream / Grey idea and decided on a combination of
Cream, Mocha, Grey (Stylecraft Special DK) and Stonewash (King Cole Comfort DK).
I also added a little bit of Denim (Stylecraft), just because I fell in love with that colour and thought that it matches the rest.
It reminds me on winter – I love it!
I separated the pattern (10 different designs) into three parts and am just framing my panels with borders and make some tassels.
Hopefully I will be able to show you my completed decoration next week when the Cal starts.
The last month was a really busy one. Besides work on and in the house – we now have solar panels on the roof – I was suffering from a cold and had a severe conjunctivitis. So my cochet time was a bit limited.
Meanwhile it is autumn here in Germany. Last week we were on the road when suddenly the temperature gauge of our car went crazy. So we went straight to the garage. They wanted to keep the car there to check what the problem could be. To start with, they found nothing, probably it was due to the humidity – it was often foggy the days before – nobody knows … However, it gave us a nice walk home! It was a pleasantly warm day and we found lots of chestnuts on our way.
In my little crochet world
Ana has released her new pattern, Hope. She designed it as a homage for her father who lost his fight against cancer. I decided to make a nice shawl / wrap with this lovely pattern to keep my shoulders warm in winter. Hopefully I will be able to finish it the next few days.
Besides I started testing Ana’s new design for a winter Cal. But this is still a secret. I am planning to make a wall hanging with separate panels and all in different heights. Ana uses a yarn with a colour gradient, that much I think I can reveal. I have to go with my stash and couldn’t decide on a colour that suits the theme. So I will make it colourful. I am still struggling a bit with my selected colours and their placement but I hope that everything will work out in the end and it will look nice.
Pam from A Yarn of Serendipity also has released a new pattern: Sage Advice Square. Lovely and rich in texture as always. I will show you all details of my test version in some days.
And I started a little, more private, design challenge together with Pam. Some weeks ago she “founded” a little designing group in our test team. Now we are designing a square together. Each of us designs some rounds – absolutely exciting! I am curious to see what comes out of it and hope I can show you more soon.
I fell in love with this pattern the first time I saw it and knew immediately that I had to make it. I started it in January 2021 and no, it is not finished yet. Why?
Well, it all began with the photo above. I was writing a blog post about the projects I am working on besides testing. Mainly the Seashell Dudes by misssBerlin and When Summer turns into Fall. Since both of these projects were not very far along, I had the idea of using the cover photos of the patterns to show how they will look when finished. I therefore decided to contact the designers and ask for permission. Having worked with Dana (misssBerlin) several times before, I was sure she would agree. But I had no idea how Ana would react. Nevertheless, I simply wrote her an email. And that’s how it began! Her answer was not long in coming and of course she agreed that I could use her photo. But she also asked me if I would like to test for her once. Guess what I answered! So I found myself testing her Gretchen, the Geometrics and many more …
It is an amazing journey and I have made a wonderful friend! Only my When Summer turns into Fall has slept peacefully in a bag so far. But I will now take the opportunity of the MAL to finally get on with it! It is such a relaxing pattern and fun to work on. Wish me luck!
For this day Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love has designed this lovely square: Sweet Marigold Square. The pattern is featured in Simply Crochet Magazine. This month they will have a supplement with 52 Granny Squares patterns that will be put together into a blanket. The blanket and their fees will be donated to Operation Orphan, a non profit organization.
I had the pleasure to test Ana’s pattern earlier this year. My version is made with Schachenmayr Catania – a Sport weight (#2)Cotton yarn (125 m / 50 g) – and a 2,5 mm hook. It turned out about 12 cm.
My colours are
Colour A – 427 Scampi Colour B – 401 Apricot Colour C and D – 269 Graublau
I am curious to see the other squares from the Simply Crochet Magazine supplement!
Hooked on Häkelmaschen 