Tag Archives: Pattern Tests

Hello Spring Cal – Part 1

Hello Spring Cal, Pattern Tests, , ,

Today is the day, Hello Spring Cal starts!

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.

And here are the colours I used for part 1

hello-spring-part-1Download

Oh, I almost forgot! The pattern is available here.

And last but not least, here is a photo showing all the test versions of the One Skein of Love test team.

See you next week!

Hello Spring Cal

Hello Spring Cal, Pattern Tests, , ,

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!

Fancy Nancy

Pattern Tests,

While revising my Pattern Tests page I noticed that I still haven‘t shown my Fancy Nancy square. Shame! So I thought I would write a quick post to catch up!

Fancy Nancy is a design by Pam Knighton-Haener from a Yarn of Serendipity. I tested this pattern already in October last year.

Normally her squares are designed to use an Aran cotton yarn. I must confess not exactly my favorite yarn. At least I haven‘t found one I like to work with yet. So this time I decided to try my standard acrylic DK yarn. Just to see how it works.

I used Stylecraft Special DK in Copper, Parchment and Gold, my favorite autumn colours. I followed her colour scheme 2 and only switched the colour for the last round.

With Aran the squares should be 28 cm (11 inch) or about 30 cm (12 inch) depending on the hook size. With DK yarn my Fancy Nancy became 25 x 25 cm (about 10 inch) tall.

I am very pleased with my result although I assume a cotton yarn would work better. Pat uses a lot of trebles and double trebles in her patterns. These stitches just look better when they are blocked. Unfortunately I still have problems to block acrylic yarn properly.

Fancy Nancy Square

I started testing for Pam in September 2020 and since then had the opportunity to test four of her lovely squares. Well, five, to be correct! I just finished testing her latest design. The pattern has not been published yet, so I cannot show it. But what I can show again are the squares I have made so far.

Carter Jude Square
Margaret Square
Brood of Angels

Maybe I should get some suitable cotton yarn and make some more? One day it would make a beautiful blanket.

All of Pam’s designs are so rich in texture, they would even look great in a solid colour.

If you would like to try one of Pam’s designs just visit her Ravelry store. She also offers some of her patterns for free, have a look!

2021 is gone

Pattern Tests, This and That, ,

I am probably a bit late with my review of the past year, but better late than never, as we say. I have been working on a new test since the middle of December and hardly have time for anything else. Due to various circumstances the time frame to finish this test is more than sporty. It is a beautiful blanket but that’s all what I can tell you for now – it is a still a BIG secret.

Review 2021

Scrolling through my photos and thinking about the past year there were definitely some highlights. Like every year I was surprised how many there were and tried to capture them here.

One of the biggest highlights in 2021 was that I started my blog, otherwise I would not be sitting here writing this post right now. It all started last February on blogspot with “This and That – made by ELeni“. Later I decided to rework the blog completely and switch to WordPress. A decision I do not regret to this day.

Through the blog I got in touch with Ana from One Skein of Love. Now I test for her and am one of the admins of her Facebook group. As life goes!

From a crochet point of view 2021 had started with several tests for Dana from misssBerlin. It is always so much fun to create her little Dudes. In 2021 we had the The Succulent Dudes, The Suga’ Dudes, and The Carnival Treat Dude s. Unfortunately I did not manage to finish my Seashell Dudes, just as I did not finish my When Summer turns into Fall blanket.

My first test for Ana was the Gretchen blanket, followed by Oh So XOXO and two really big projects, Geometrics Cal and Winter Wonderland.

And in between, apart from some tests for BebaBlanket, I also worked with Pam from A Yarn of Serendipity again: The Margaret Square, Brood of Angels and Fancy Nancy, which I haven‘t shown here yet.

And, oh yes, I wrote down my own pattern, my first one, published on Ravelry. That was also quite an experience!

Quite a busy year!

And of course not forgetting the short holiday that we were able to take despite the pandemic. Something very precious in times like these. And the first peach from our little peach tree. Unfortunately we could only harvest one, the others fell from the tree before they were rally ripe. But the one was so sweet and delicious!

And, after one and a half socks have been hiding in my knitting basket since the beginning of 2020, they were finally finished for Christmas. Hubby has new socks and loves them.

I am curious to see what 2022 will bring! I wish you all the best for this year!

Winter Wonderland – Round up

Pattern Tests, Winter Wonderland, , ,

After the Winter Wonderland Cal is over now I thought it might be a good idea to collect all information about my blanket in one place.

So here some basic information

Winter Wonderland Cal

11. November – 16. December 2021

Pattern

Winter Wonderland Mosaic Cal
available on Ravelry
and Etsy

Designer

Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love

Technique

Overlay Mosaic crochet

Test phase

12. October – 14. November 2021

Blanket finished

26. November 2021

Colour inspiration

Mood board by Pippin Porppycock

Yarn and colours

Stylecraft Special DK (295 m / 100 g)

White
Silver
Grey
Graphite
Lipstick

4 balls
2 balls
2 balls
3 balls
2 balls

Hook

Clover Amour Hook, 4 mm

Gauge

23 stitches, 15 rows —> 13,5 x 8 cm

Repeats

9 repeats, 183 stitches

Rows / Patterns

256 rows, Pattern 1 – 14, following the Cal pattern

Border

Double border

Finished Size

114 x 148 cm

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

And for those who are interested here my detailed yarn amounts

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

Ad my colours per row in one file

winter-wonderland-colours.-all-partsDownload

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

I worked on this project for about 61/2 weeks. It was a stressful time but I enjoyed it a lot. It was definitely my most favorite project in 2021.

Please also have a look at may journey

Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland – Part 1
Winter Wonderland – Part 2
Winter Wonderland – Part 3
Winter Wonderland – Part 4
Winter Wonderland – Part 5
Winter Wonderland – Part 6

Winter Wonderland – My colours part 6

Pattern Tests, Winter Wonderland, , ,

Part 6 is the final part of the Winter Wonderland Cal, the instructions for the border.

It is a double border that will hide all the yarn ends.
If you don‘t like double borders you can of course chose another variant. In connection with the border of my Geometrics blanket, I recently wrote how I feel about it. I don’t want to repeat myself here now, only so much: I love it! A double border is a great finish and worth the effort. At least in my opinion.

Unfortunately this time I had some difficulties with my slip stitch round. I had planned to make a two coloured border with a back layer in Lipstick and front layer in a mix of Graphite and Lipstick. So I thought a slip stitch round in red would look nice. I started my slip stitch round in Lipstick – and started my slip stich round and started my slip stich round again… And I didn’t get it neat.

I have recently noticed that there are differences in the thickness of acrylic yarns, even within a brand. In any case, the thread of my Lipstick seemed to be thicker and this may have caused the problems. I don’t know. My solution was to switch to Silver. Since I need new glasses anyway I wanted to have some contrast at the top and the bottom side to make it easier to identify the stitches when working the first round.

From then on everything went smoothly until I finished the first round of the front layer. Ana’s way of working a double border leaves a narrow line of the slip stitch round visible right next to the border. Silver looks good combined with the grey parts on top and bottom of the blanket but I didn’t like the look in the darker parts of the long sides at all. I started all over and this time worked the first round of the front layer on the long sides through both loops. Not the best solution but at least it looks a bit better.

If you follow my colour way I would advise that you use red for the slip stitch round! If you have the same problems as I had, I’d suggest that you use Grey or Graphite but not Silver or White. But keep in mind that Grey and Graphite will be hardly visible on the top and bottom sides.

winter-wonderland-colours-part-6Download

Have fun with this last section of this beautiful pattern 💕

Winter Wonderland – My colours Part 5

Pattern Tests, Winter Wonderland, , ,

Now it is already week 5 of the Winter Wonderland Cal. It is the last part before the border.

Starting with pattern 11 in part 4 of the Cal I had some time problems. Sometimes life gets pretty busy and we had urgent work to do on the house that couldn’t be postponed. To get the test finished in time I had to stop working on my blanket and checked the pattern by doing a swatch over 2 repeats.

What do you think?
Somehow I like this colour combination. It is completely different to the colours I used in my blanket and has a more rustic look which I also really like. I just used some leftovers that had on hand: Stylecraft Special DK in Parchment and Mocha combined with King Cole Comfort DK in the colour Stonewash.

After that I finished my blanket in peace. And this is how part 5 looks in my colours.

Winter Wonderland Cal – Part 5

And this is my entire blanket, ojust before adding the border.

My colour scheme.

winter-wonderland-colours-part-5Download

Have fun 💕

Winter Wonderland Pattern

My colours part 1

My colours part 2

My colours part 3

My colours part 4

Winter Wonderland – Part 4

Pattern Tests, Winter Wonderland, , ,

Week 4 of the Winter Wonderland has come. Time for the snowmen!

But before I show you the colours I used for part 4 here my

My final yarn amounts

I already listed the rough yarn amounts last week when I was still working on the border. Here some more details with all my leftovers.

I needed a total of 13 balls Stylecraft Special DK and used 1.044 g / 3.080 m of them . This is nearly the same amount that Ana used for her blanket.

But now to my

My colours Part 4

To be honest I was struggling a bit with my colour choices for this part.

After the relatively dark Graphite and Lipstick I used for pattern 8 I thought the blanket could do with something lighter again. So I choose White and Silver.
When I finished the bodies of the snowmen and started with the heads I became unsure wether this was really such a good choice. They looked kind of plump and pale.

Do you know what I mean?

But, when you test a pattern, time usually plays a major role. You have to think twice wether you rip back 15 rows or not. And as long as there is no mistake that inevitably catches the eye, you probably let it be. And so I continued even if I wasn‘t very happy about it.

I was all the more pleased when I noticed that Ana had created this little fun touch! Little shawls to dress the snowme.n. They really do wonders, don‘t they?

I made 8 little shawls in Graphite and 1 Lipstick. The red shawl is worn by snowman No. 3 (the third seen from the right). I used 40 chains and I think they are exactly the right length.

.

And here my colours for part 4

winter-wonderland-colours-part-4Download

Happy hooking 💕

Winter Wonderland Pattern

My colours part 1

My colours part 2

My colours part 3

Winter Wonderland – My colours Part 3

Pattern Tests, Winter Wonderland, , ,

Oh wow, it is already week 3 of the Winter Wonderland Cal!

I am currently working on the border. So next week I will be able to tell you how much yarn I used in total and how much is left.

I really felt a bit sad when I made my very last stitch on the blanket part and finished off. It is such a beautiful pattern and I enjoyed testing it so much. I know I say that very often. But this time it is the first time that I am 100 % happy with my colour placement. Somehow that makes it very special to me!

So here my part 3.

My colour placement

winter-wonderland-part-3Download

And some more impressions how it looked at this stage.

Have a good time 💕

My colours part 1

My colours part 2

Winter Wonderland – My colours Part 2

Pattern Tests, Winter Wonderland, , ,

I really hoped that the weather would get better here, but unfortunately this is a typical November this year. Cold, grey, rainy and foggy.

I would have liked to have taken some nice pictures of my part 2. Unfortunately I forgot when I finished with it. Now the ones that I have must be enough.

I’m currently working on the last twenty rows. Phew! I don’t think I had that yet, that a pattern was already published but I haven’t done my project yet. But sometimes it unfortunately happens that life gets in the way. I am very happy that I could at least finish the test beforehand by only doing a small swatch over 2 repeats for the last part. I only used some yarn that I just had there, but I actually like the colours very much. I really have to take a picture, my swatch looks completely different.

Yarn Update

Since I am nearly finished with the blanket now, I can also better estimate how much yarn I will need.
At the moment they are, for the blanket

  • 4 balls White
  • 2 balls Silver
  • 2 balls Grey
  • 2 balls Graphite
  • 1 ball Lipstick

And for the border an extra ball Lipstick and probably one more Graphite.

My colour placement

And here the colours I used for part 2

winter-wonderland-colours-part-2Download

I hope you have fun 💕