Tag: One Skein of Love

Geometrics Cal – Part 3

Today part 3 of the Geometrics Cal was released in Ana’s Ravelry shop. If you follow the Cal and finished part 2 you have already hooked 73 rows, only 190 rows to go until the border starts.

I have seen a lot of beautiful color ways in Ana’s Facebook group or on Instagram. And I have to say I am a bit jealous. They all are very beautiful! I often struggle with my colour choices and choosing colours for a new project is usually not the most fun part for me.

This time colour choice was easy. My plan was to make a blanket for hubby that matches my When Summer turns into Fall blanket. It therefore just made sense to use the same colours. Colours that go perfectly together and have an autumnal look. Well …

As I said, I didn’t have a finished colour scheme in mind beforehand, just a rough idea. I wanted to use Parchment as main colour. Copper, Gold and Walnut as accompanying colours and a bit of Lime as an accent. Hm … Things turned out differently …

To save time, we tested the pattern immediately after Ana had finished a part of her blanket. So when I started, I didn’t know how the entire blanket would look like, I knew only part 1 and part 2 of the pattern.
This way, it was not possible to plan any colours in advance. But I should have paid attention to how Ana arranged her colours. I did not! When we got to part 3, I realised that I had somehow started off wrong.

I suddenly noticed that I shouldn’t have started the small separating border (pattern 1) with Parchment, the colour I wanted to use as main colour. As for Overlay Mosaic you have to change colours every row, it made it impossible to use Parchment as background colour for pattern 4! Small mistake, big effect …

At this point, however, I didn’t want to suddenly change the colour sequence for pattern 1 – I had already used it a few times and it would have looked strange for me to suddenly change it. Normally I would have started again and redone the whole  blanket. But when you are testing a pattern, time is limited. I had already been working on my blanket for 9 days and was afraid that I would not be able to make up the time when I start again. I had to improvise …

And so it happened that my blanket suddenly got a slightly retro look with the combination of Lime and Walnut. I struggled with this look for a long time, but meanwhile I love it and my Gemetrics has a good chance of becoming the best-loved blanket in the house.

But enough of my look behind the scenes – here my “improvised colour scheme”

geometrics-colours-part-3Download

See you next week!

Geometrics Cal – Part 2

The first week of the Cal has already passed and Part 2 was released today.

If you are taking part in the Cal I hope you had a good start! Meanwhile I have seen a lot of lovely Geometrics versions in Ana’s Facebook group.

This is mine so far …

For pattern 3, I used Walnut and Parchment.

And I decided to keep the colour combination – Parchment, Lime and Walnut – that I had already used in the first part for pattern 1..

So, here my colours in detail.

And the pdf to download

geometrics-colours-part-2Download

See you next week 💕

Please also see

Geometrics Cal – Part 1

Finally the Geometrics Cal started

I wish you lots of fun!

This is what my first part looks like.

As I wrote in my previous post, I use the same colours for the Geometrics blanket as my When Summer turns into Fall blanket has.
When Summer turns into Fall is also one of Ana’s designs.

Ana’s original design is more in shades of blue, with a little yellow. Quite different from my colours.
I couldn’t imagine replacing each of Ana’s 5 colours with one of mine. So I didn’t follow the colour scheme of the pattern. I spontaneously decided how to place the colours and that’s how my own colour scheme came about. I’ll tell you a bit more about it in week 3 .

If you are interested in my color scheme, I will provide the colours I used for each part of the Cal here for download. I think this is much easier than listing them in the Ravelry notes.

My yarn and colours

I used Stylecraft Special DK in the colours Parchment, Walnut, Copper and Gold. I had to replace Lime with the colour Nijmegen from Scheepjes Colour Crafter. Lime was not available at that time but Nijmegen should be the same tone.

  • A / Parchment
  • B / Walnut
  • C / Nijmegen (Lime)
  • D / Copper
  • E / Gold

My blanket is worked with a 4,0 mm hook throughout.

So here we go with my colours for the first part.

You also can download a pdf, have fun!

geometrics-colours-part-1Download

The pattern for the Geometrics Mosaic Cal is available in Ana’s Ravelry shop.

Geometrics Cal – Sneak Peek

The last few weeks have been very busy.
In July, Ana from One Skein of Love asked me if I could help with another test: a blanket in Overlay Mosaic crochet that she designed for a CAL (crochet along).

Of course, I said yes!

But the timeframe was pretty tight. I started the test on July 27 and finished my blanket on September 10. So only a little over 6 weeks to crochet

  • 207 chains for the foundation
  • 54.441 stitches for the blanket
  • 940 slip stitches and 8 chains to start the border
  • 1.928 stitches plus 16 chains for the back layer of the border
  • 3.840 stitches plus 32 chains for the front layer of the border
  • and 972 slip stitches and 12 single crochet for the final round

That makes a total of 62.396 stitches – if I haven’t miscounted. PHEW!

Not included are the stitches I had to rework because my tension was off due to some yarn problems!

But never mind, it was worth it! And I am happy to show the first sneak peeks.

I wanted to make my Geometrics to match my When Summer turns into Fall blanket (I‘m still working on) so I chose the same colours and used

  • Parchment, 4 balls
  • Walnut, 4 balls
  • Copper, 2 balls
  • Lime, 2 balls
  • Gold, 1 ball

(At least that is what I have noted, hope it is correct.)

Since I didn’t follow Ana’s colour scheme, I’ll list my colour placement for each part of the Cal in the following posts.

The Cal will start on September 23 and I hope many, many people will join!
You will find more information on Anas Ravelry page.

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?

 

 

 

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.