Pattern Tests – Page 2 – Hooked on Häkelmaschen

Magic Winter Mosaic CAL – A frosty winter colour palette

My colour palette for the Magic Winter Mosaic CAL, inspired by frosty winter mornings, with photos, row-by-row colour notes and yarn choices.

Updated on July 9, 2026

Have you seen Ana‘s¹ new CAL yet?
Magic Winter Mosaic starts on Friday, 17 November 2023. The introduction file containing all the key information is already available on Ravelry.

I had the pleasure of testing this wonderful pattern and also translating it into German.

The Magic Winter blanket is made using the overlay mosaic technique. And it also features a small section created using the tapestry mosaic technique. Of course, the instructions explain how to work both techniques.

When Ana showed me her new design for the first time, I immediately pictured a clear, cold and frosty winter’s morning, with the sun rising in a rosy glow.

“Look, the angels in heaven are baking,” my grandmother would always say on mornings like these when I was little.

Right then, I knew I wanted my blanket to capture that very moment: the quiet beauty of a frosty winter morning as the first rays of the rising sun turn the sky soft pink.

With that image firmly in my mind, the colour palette almost chose itself. White, Silver and Vintage Peach captured exactly the quiet beauty I remembered from those frosty winter mornings.

Magic Winter Mosaic CAL, yarn samples in the colours White, Silver and Vintage Peach

For me, white symbolises the cold, the snow, the frost – perhaps even the icicles hanging from the roofs. Silver, with its slightly bluish undertone, reflects the cool, diffuse light just before sunrise. And Vintage Peach brings the first warm, rosy glow of the rising sun.

The angels are baking…

I’m still very happy with how these colours capture the atmosphere I had in mind.

My work in progress

Magic Winter CAL, close-up of a crocheted section of Part 4 of the mosaic pattern

Magic Winter CAL, close-up of a crocheted section of Part 2 of the mosaic pattern

Magic Winter CAL crocheted sample folded to reveal different sections of the mosaic pattern.

Magic Winter CAL crocheted sample of Part 1 of the mosaic pattern

Magic Winter CAL, work in progress showing sections of Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the mosaic pattern

My colour placement

If you’re interested in my colour scheme, I’ve already noted down the colours I’ve used for each individual row in Part 1 of the CAL.

Notes for Magic Winter, showing my row-by-row colour placement for Part 1

My complete colour placement guide is available as download in the follow-up post. There you’ll also find the detailed yarn amounts I used.

Get the pattern

Get the Magic Winter Mosaic pattern on Ravelry

Progress with my Legacy Blanket

Last reviewed: 14 May 2026

YAY! It took a while because I spent so much time thinking about the colours and how to arrange them … But finally … all 12 squares are finished! All tails are worked away and all squares are blocked.

These are the last three squares that were missing from my collection.

Lauren Rose

Brood of Angels

Macey Ann

I’ve just prepared the first squares to be joined together and spent a while working on the layout.

After arranging and rearranging the squares a few times, I settled on the layout shown on the left. I hope it will look nice!

The Zipper Join

In the Justyce Destany Border pattern for the Legacy Blanket Pam recommends to use the Zipper Join for joining the squares.

I have to admit, I’m no expert when it comes to joining squares. I once used the ‘join-as-you-go’ method to join a few granny squares – but I think that’s about it. So, for the Justyce-Destany border, I’m trying my hand at the zipper-join for the first time.
The pattern includes a useful link to a video tutorial showing how to do this join. But if, like me, you prefer written instructions, I’ve also found a very clear and helpful guide from Raffaella from Raffamusa Designs.
Nevertheless, the beginning is a bit fiddly – at least I think so … But I am slowly getting the hang of it.
I experimented a bit with the crochet hook size at first and eventually settled on a 5.0 mm hook. I crocheted the squares using a 4 mm hook. However, with the larger hook, I find it easier to crochet even stitches when joining, which don’t end up too tight. So far, I’m happy with the result. It’s a very neat and flat join. Now on to the next squares!

Have a lovely time 💕

More Squares of my Legacy Blanket

Last reviewed: 14 May 2026

Progress with my Legacy Blanket. The joining comes closer, 11 of 12 squares are finished now. All tails worked away and most of them already blocked!
I also revised some of my colour placements and am happy with the result!

Besides Pam just released the pattern for the Justyce Destany Border .

I was happy to help testing the border pattern. Even though my blanket isn’t finished yet, I can already give you a little sneak peek at the border.

For testing purposes I used two of my ›old‹ squares which I made right at the beginning of this journey: Drops Merino Extra Fine #50, Light Beige as main colour, #06 Brown Mix and #07 Light Brown for contrast. I discarded this colour scheme after I had worked the first two squares – somehow I didn’t like it. But – advantage – it gave me some ›leftovers‹ for testing the border.

And here some of my finished squares

Madux James

Brixton Carter-Lee

Marley Mae

Jalen Miles

Carter Jude

Olivia Grace

So far so good!
Lauren Rose (one of the revised ones) and Brood of Angels are still on the blocking board. The last one to finish is Macey Ann. Actually, Macey Ann was the very first Legacy Square I made. So it still has the ›old ‹ colour scheme and – besides now being part of my border patch – needs to be redone.

All patterns for the Legacy Blanket are available in Pam‘s Ravelry store.

Have a lovely weekend 💕

Em Cabal Square

Last updated 14 May 2026

I don’t want to miss the chance to show you my Em Cabal Square. I tested this pattern – designed by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity – a few weeks ago.
The Em Cabal Square is a special design for the Ravelry BAMCAL2023 – Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long, a group on Ravelry.
Every month, three different Afghan crochet squares are featured in this group. The designs are chosen by the moderators and/or group members, and you can decide whether you’d like to crochet one (or all) of them. By the end of the year, you’ll have a beautiful blanket. What a brilliant idea!

Em Cabal one of the squares for the month of October. It is a 12 inch square with 39 stitches per side. The skill level is beginning advanced. Like all of Pam’s patterns, this one also includes detailed stitch descriptions and helpful pictures for each round.

For my test version I used Drops Safran (160 m / 50 g) and Cotton Kings 8/4 (170 m / 50 g) and a 2,75 mm hook. Both yarns are 100 % cotton – soft and nice to work with.

I followed Pam’s colourway and used

A – Drops Safran, # 60, Moss Green
B – Cotton Kings, # 41, Spring Green
C – Drops Safran, # 71, Marzipan
D – Drops Safran, # 11, Strong Yellow

At first, I wasn’t sure whether the two shades of green would go together, but I’m really pleased with the result. That said, the square looks great in a single colour too!

Somehow, the pattern reminds me a bit of Florentine Tiles. What do you think?

The pattern is available in Pam’s Ravelry store.

Em Cabal Square on Ravelry

BOO!!!Licious

The year flies by … – it‘s already October! Only a few more weeks until Halloween … But still time to make some decoration …

Ana from One Skein of Love just released a new pattern which is available on Ravelry (and of course all her other shops):
BOO!!!Licious.
It is a Halloween themed pattern and combines Overlay Mosaic with Tapestry crochet.
The pattern is written to make a blanket but it is also suitable for many other things, such as cushion covers, table runners, bags, etc.

Photo credit Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love

I had the pleasure of testing (and translating) BOO!!!Licious. I created some wall hangings, similar to the ones I made with Wintry Forest.

I love the colours Ana used for her sample! The yarn is Durable Comfy, and the orange tone (Caramel) is just gorgeous. However, I wanted to showcase something different, with slightly more muted colors – foggy and spooky…

That’s why I decided to use very little orange and focused on different grey tones and a soft purple.

My Yarn

I used some yarn from my stash – a combination of Stylecraft Special DK and King Cole Baby Comfort DK – with a 4 mm hook.

Stylecraft Special DK (100 g – 295 m / 322 yds)
- 1063, Graphite – a little bit over 2 balls
- 1807, Hint of Silver – 1 ball
- 1836, Vintage Peach – some left overs
King Cole Baby Comfort DK (100 g – 310 m / 340 yds)
- 1731, Mulberry – 1 ball

My Panels

All of my panels are worked over 1 pattern repeat plus border stitches. Each one starts with a foundation row and ends with one final row of single crochet in the back loops. I followed the pattern layout of the BOO!!!Licious blanket, just splitting it into 3 parts. I have only omitted the last repetition of pattern 2 and 1 in panel 3. Otherwise, it would have become too long.
The panels are framed with a double border, just like explained in the pattern. Their finished width is about 29 cm / 11,5 inches.

Panel 1 – The Ghosts

It is worked over 79 rows in total and measures app. 48 cm / 19 inches, including the border.

Panel 2 – The Pumpkins

The panel has a total of 56 rows and measures about 41 cm / 16 inches.
Due to my different colour placement, I had to add an additional row of single crochet between patterns 1 and 4, respectively 4 and 1.

Panel 3 – The Spiders

Again, I had to add 2 rows of single crochet to make my colours match. This time they are a separation between patterns 1 and 6, respectively, 8 and 1.
The whole panel has 73 rows in total and measures app. 45 cm / 18 inches.

If you are interested in the details of my colour placement, I have listed them in a separate file for you to download.

boolicious Download

And here they are, in my living room over the couch …

Happy Halloween 🎃 🎃 🎃

Some new Squares – My Legacy Blanket

Last reviewed: 14 May 2026

Do you love crocheting squares?
I’ve only just discovered my great love for them! A square is usually finished in no time and – something that’s very important to me – you see results quickly. That also makes them great ‘in-between projects’.
What’s more, they’re lovely to crochet when it’s still warm – you’re not stuck under a big, warm blanket. However, that’s not so important to me at the moment as it’s suddenly turned cold and autumnal here.

You may know that Pam Knighton-Haener from ‘A Yarn of Serendipity’ designed a very special blanket some time ago as a legacy for her grandchildren. It consists of 12 different squares, each symbolising her grandchildren and her family. The instructions for joining the squares and for the border are currently being tested. She has also revised the instructions for the squares, and I’ve had the chance to test a few of them. A great opportunity for a new blanket. It will only be the second one I’ve ever crocheted from assembled squares. Unbelievable!

So far I have already made 9 out of 12 squares. Unfortunately ›made‹ does not mean that they are actually finished. Only 3 of them are blocked with all the yarn ends worked away. For another 3 I am currently rethinking my colour placement and 3 squares still have a lot of loose ends that need to be done.

I’m afraid that’s one of my bad habits: I only weave in the loose ends once a square is finished. Yes, I’ve tried to change that! Yes, I know it’s much easier and less frustrating to do it straight away!
The only problem is: if I weave in the loose ends straight away, I often spot a mistake afterwards (again, yes – of course I know I should check it beforehand – but still…). By now, I’m almost convinced that weaving in the loose ends straight away might bring bad luck – so I just let them live a little longer.
Good things take time, as the saying goes.

Nevertheless, I love working on this blanket and I love my finished squares.

I am using a combination of Drops Lima and Drops Merino Extra Fine – both DK / Light worsted yarns – with a 4 mm hook.
Drops Lima consists of 65 % Wool and 35 % Alpaca. It has 100 m per 50 g. Merino Extra Fine is 100 % Wool with 105 m / 50 g.
My main colour is Lima #100, Off White. The accent colours are Merino Extra Fine #07, Light Taupe (Light Brown) and #15 Light Greyish Green.

I hope the blanket will wash well. Lima can only be hand-washed, but I really like the feel of the yarn. And I decided to combine the two yarns because of the colours. Colour 100, Off White, is identical in Lima and Merino Extra Fine, yet it still looks slightly different. Probably due to the structure of the yarn, the contrast with my accent colours looks softer in Lima. And I much preferred this look.

My finished squares are about 25 cm / nearly 10 inches.

Landyn Tahj

Kinnedy Nichelle

Jalen Stanley

All patterns for the Legacy Blanket -some paid, some free – are available in Pam’s Ravelry store.

Now on to finishing the next ones!

Have a lovely week 💕

Old photos and a lot of Dudes

Unfortunately, I still don’t spend much time crocheting – most of the time I sit at the computer or tablet.

During the last weeks I have translated Ana’s Go with the Flow pattern, did some kind of tech editing on another pattern .
Besides I wrote down a pattern for a shawl I made for myself some time ago. The pattern is currently in the testing phase and of course I will present it here as soon as it is ready.

And every spare minute – and I definitely have too little of that – I am sorting through my old photos and revising some of the older blog posts here.

When I started with this blog I didn’t think of putting a watermark on my photos. From a legal point of view, watermarks are not really necessary, because every photo I have taken belongs to me and I have all the rights to it. No one may publish it without my permission!

Unfortunately, some of my photos have already been found on other, sometimes dubious, websites where people try to earn money with patterns that are not theirs.
This is so annoying, especially for the designers concerned!!
I know that a watermark on the photos won’t save me from that in the future either. But it makes it easier to prove and I just feel safer doing it. Especially as some of my photos – mainly with blankets – are not so unique. I have seen photos from Winter Wonderland blankets, done in my colourway, where I first had to think about whether they were mine or not. So I just make the effort!

But I digress!

Dudes, Dudes, Dudes

While sorting my photos I realized how many of the Dudes patterns I tested during the last years. The Dudes are very, very cute Amigurumi designed by Dana from missBerlin.

She writes about these patterns:

The little Dudes live among us, but only a child at heart can truly see them. They are bald and shy, so they cover their heads and half of their faces with whatever they find in their surroundings.
These endearing amigurumi/crochet dolls are faceless little fantasy creatures. They are educational dolls for learning and for play-therapy, as well as unique collectible decorative figurines. The Dudes’ minimalist features, inspired by the Waldorf approach, are designed to stimulate the imagination, and their pocket size is suitable for those little hands to make the perfect companions.

I think it was back in 2019 when I fell in love with her designs, discovering the Pumpkin Dudes.

Maybe you have already seen some of the designs I tested for Dana here on my blog – the Succulent Dudes, the Suga’ Dudes or the Carnival Treat Dudes.

All the others I never wrote about, because I tested them before I started this blog. It’ a shame! So I thought I could at least share some photos here.

Here my collection – so far …

Theses cuties are all made with #2, Sport weight yarn and around 10 cm tall. I mostly use a 2,5 mm hook, sometimes a 2,25. My favorite yarn for the Dudes themselves is Scheepjes Catona in the colour 505, Linen. For the caps I either use Scheepjes Catona or Schachenmayr Catania. But any other yarn works as well.

The first Dudes pattern I tested were the Woodland Dudes.

The Cap of the PineCone Dude is still one of my favorites.

But I also love the Cactus Dudes, the little Pumpkins, the Seashells (which I haven‘t made yet) and well … all the others. Each one of them was so fun to test!

Each pattern has instructions for the Dude and comes with 3 different, themed caps. Some of the caps are really easy to make, for others you will need a bit more concentration, but every step is explained very well.

In case I could inspire you: the patterns are available in Dana‘s Ravelry or Etsy shop . Or just have a look at my Ravelry projects where I have partially listed additional info.

Go with the Flow

Ana from One Skein of Love just released the pattern for her latest design: Go with the Flow – a blanket made in Overlay Mosaic technique. The pattern is available in her shops.

Picture by Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love

Isn’t it lovely?

Actually, I didn’t want to test this pattern.
After the death of my parents-in-law we are still sorting out and dissolving their household. They didn’t live nearby and it’s a longer drive every time – so I don’t have much time at the moment … But I couldn‘t resist …

The pattern has a small repeat and so I was able to make something I wanted to do for a long time: a cover for my iPad.

I used Stylecraft Special DK with my 4,0 mm Clover Amour hook. The colours are Graphite (1063) and Pale Rose (1080). Ok, perhaps a cotton yarn would have been better for this purpose. But I didn’t have any matching yarn on hand and I also think that the colour combination suits the pattern very well.

I used Graphite as colour C1 and Pale Rose as C2. To avoid the yarn tails on both sides I just worked the body of the cover in the round.

For me, 72 stitches made a perfect size in width. Especially as I wanted the cover to be a bit bigger so that my pencil would also fit in.

Unfortunately I have no ‘work in progress’-pictures, but here a short summary of what I did.

Body and flap of the cover

Width of the cover
- 72 stitches, worked in the round = 9 repeats (no border stitches, no extra stitches)
Height of the cover
- rows 1 – 22 / 1 time
- rows 23 – 30 / 3 times
- 46 rows in total
Flap
- in continuation of the pattern but only worked over 17 stitches (1 repeat, plus extra stitches, plus border stitches) and worked in rows
- rows 199 – 219 of the pattern / 1 time

Border

To attach a small border I prepared the edges of the flap in the same way as it is done for the blanket. My slip stitches (only around the edges of the flap) are made in Pale Rose. For back and front layer I used Graphite.

Back layer
- The back layer was only worked on the sides and the top of the flap. Therefore it was worked in rows with turning the work in between.
  row 1: double crochet worked in the back of the slip stitches, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in each of the 2 corner spaces
  row 2: single crochet in both loops, (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) in the corner spaces
Front layer
- The front layer was worked in rounds over the flap and the upper edge of of the cover. To get a rounded transition from the flap to the upper edge of the body, I skipped the first / last stitch of the upper edge (directly after / before the stitches of the flap) in each round.
  round 1: single crochet, over the flap worked in back loops of the slip stitches, in the corner spaces (1 sc, ch2, 1 sc) like explained for the border of the blanket. Over the body worked in back loops of the stitches of the last round.
  rounds 2 and 3: single crochet worked in back loops, (1 sc, ch2, 1 sc) in the corner spaces of the flap.
Joining
- Back and front layer of the flap are joined with a row of slip stitches in Pale Rose. To get a consistent look I continued the slip stitches over the body. A small loop on the upper edge of the flap, made with some chains, serves as buttonhole.

Finishing

I closed the bottom of the cover with some whipstitches and a sewed on a button.

If you want to make one for your own

To get the measurements for a cover that fits your Tablet I would suggest that you make a little swatch first. For this, two or three pattern repeats should be enough. Then you can work out how many repeats you will need in width and also estimate how many rows / repeats you will need in height.
Or – and that was my way :) – you just cast on some chains and put them around your tablet. (I suppose this method will even work better with foundation single crochet but FSC still is not MY thing.) Just keep in mind that your total number of stitches has to be a multiple of the stitches of a pattern repeat.
After you have crocheted a couple of rows, put your tablet next to it and check now and then if you have already reached the required height. It doesn‘t sound very professional but it worked perfectly for me!

Two more points are important:

When starting the flap double check that the pattern is continued as it would be in a blanket. And, before closing the bottom of the body make sure that the flap is in the middle of the backside and take care that the pattern is centered. That‘s all – have fun!

Dancing Diamonds – My finished blanket

Oh dear! You may have read in my last post about the problems I was having with my hand. My wrist was obviously overstretched and a tendon was also causing me problems. A bandage helped me for the wrist, but unfortunately it didn’t work for the tendon. So it really took forever to finish the border on my Dancing Diamonds blanket. But it is done now! Sigh … I am in love …

For the border I deviated a little from Ana’s pattern. Since I used less colours overall I thought it would look better with just one stripe of Raspberry.

Here my details

For those who like to follow my colour placement and like to download a pdf – I updated the file in my previous post with all the information about the border. You can find it here

Have a nice time 💕

Jewel Square

Last updated 12 May 2026

Ta-Dah … – another new design by Pam!

Already in April, Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity released a new design: another beautiful Afghan square, the Jewel Square.
Fortunately I was able to help to test this pretty pattern – I am a bit late with this post though.

The Pattern

As with most of her patterns, Pam has used Aran / worsted weight yarn (#4) for this design. The finished size will be 11 or 12 inches (about 28 or 30 cm), depending on the hook size you use (4.5 or 5 mm hook).

As always, the pattern is very clearly laid out with detailed stitch explanations, helpful pictures for each round, and two different colour ways.

My Yarn and Colours

I used Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 and a 2,75 mm hook. The finished size of my square is about 20 cm / 8 inch.

As colours, I’ve chosen a soft, light grey, two different blues and a mint tone.
I bought the blue and grey tones a while ago. I planned to use them for all of Pam’s pattern tests and eventually piece the squares together into a lovely blanket – some day…. So far, it never came to it.

I still really love the shades of blue. But at the time I opted to pair them with grey as a neutral colour as the contrast with white just seemed too hard to me. Now, however, I find that this colour combination can sometimes look a bit dreary and dull, especially in photos.
So I decided to spice up the colour scheme a bit while I was working on the ‘Jewel Square’. That’s why I added the mint green.

At first, I wasn’t sure for a long time whether this was really a good idea. Perhaps it would have been better to use dark blue again instead of mint green? But now I quite like the contrast. It’s a lovely touch!

My Colourplacement

I followed Pam’s colour way 1 using the following colours

Colour A 25, Pastelmint
Colour B – 29, Jeans Blue
Colour C – 97, Mist
Colour D – 28, Light Jeans Blue

All from Hobbii, Rainbow Cotton 8/4 (Fingering weight – 170 m / 50 g)

The only change I made: I swapped the colour D for A in round 11.

In case I’ve made you curious: the pattern is available in Pam’s Ravelry store and all her other places.

Pattern Link

Jewel Square on Ravelry