Tag: Pattern Tests

Head over Heels Square

A new design from Pam …

Head over Heals is the new design from Pam Knighton-Haener / A Yarn of Serendipity. I had the pleasure to test this square in July.

Although I had decided at some point to do all her tests with Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4, this time I felt I didn’t have the right colours for it. So I came back to my SSDK after all. Instead of the 4 mm hook I normally use with this yarn I chose 4,5 mm this time. I think the result is better but I am still not 100% satisfied with the stitch definition.

I love the colours though. I wanted to try this combination for a long time

Cream, Apricot, Pistachio, Silver and Graphite.

Square I

For my test square I followed Pam‘s colour way 2 with some slight changes for two rounds. Hooking the square I was so fascinated by the center part that I wanted to see how it would look in another colour combination. And I also was curious how my colours would look in another arrangement. So I made a second one following my own ideas. Not sure which one I like better.

I was thinking about mounting one of the squares on a cushion cover. Unfortunately I only have one in a dark grey. So I’m already thinking about whether I should make a third square in slightly brighter colours, hm … Well, we will see!

Square Ii

Here some details

Pattern

Head over Heels Square
available on Ravelry

Designer

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity

Technique

regular crochet

Yarn

Stylecraft Special DK

Colours Square I

Following Pam’s colour way 2
A – Cream
B – Graphite
C- Pistachio
D – Apricot
E – Silver
Changes:
round 7 – colour A
round 8 – colour E

Colours Square II

Round 1 – Cream
Round 2 – Pistachio
Round 3 – Cream
Round 4 – Cream
Round 5 – Graphite
Round 6 – Silver
Round 7 – Apricot
Round 8 – Cream
Round 9 – Silver
Round 10 – Pistachio
Round 11 – Apricot
Round 12 – Graphite
Round 13 – Pistachio
Round 14 – Cream
Round 15 – Graphite

Hook

Clover Amour hook, 4,5 mm

Happy Granny Square Day

Sweet Marigold Square

Today is the international Granny Square Day!

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!

Have a lovely day 💕

Test No.3/2022 for Pam

Sweet Delusions Square

… another beautiful design by A Yarn of Serendipity – Pam Knighton-Haener and my test no. 3 out of 4 that I have completed for Pam this year. And still more to come … YAY!

The Sweet Delusions Square is featured in the BAMCAL 2022 – Crochet a Block-a-Month— on Ravelry. It’s the square for the month August.
The pattern is available as a free download on Pam’s website or as a paid pattern on Ravelry. The paid version has additional features like the very helpful round-by-roubd pictures and links that help you to navigate through the document.

For Sweet Delusions I stayed with my Hobbii Rainbow cotton 8/4 just as I had intended. I like the result and think the colours go very well together.
Although I can imagine it in different colours as well. Maybe different shades of green and a little bit of cream? Or shades of purple? There are so many possibilities!

Pattern

Sweet Delusions Square
available on Ravelry

Designer

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity

finished

14. June 2022

Technique

regular crochet

Yarn

Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4

Colours and Placement

28 Light Jeans Blue – colour A
69 Lilac – colour B
46 Old Rosa – colour C
29 Jeans Blue – colour D
97 Mist – colour E
following colour way 1

Hook

Clover Soft Touch, 2,5 mm

Finished Size

about 20 cm

If you like Pam’s designs just have a look at my other tests:

My test versions

I hope you get some inspiration!

Costa Nova Cal – Some colour ideas

Have you already seen that Ana from One Skein of Love is launching a new Cal?
It will start on Thursday, 07. July 2022. The Intro file with all relevant information is now available on Ravelry. During the Cal there is a 30 % discount on the price and an extra 20% discount for members of Ana‘s Facebook group.

Although I am one of the testers I don’t hav a blanket to show you this time. And no own colour way, sorry!
After crocheting almost exclusively test projects since autumn of last year, I needed a break. I urgently want to finish my (hubby‘s) Midnight Snowflakes blanket and a shawl I started designing months ago.
So I “only“ checked the pattern by reading, counting stitches, checking colours, diagrams and everything and reading again … checking again…

But my fingers were itching! Ana designed lovely costal motifs to pay homage to her favourite beach: Costa Nova.

So I couldn‘t help. I had to think about colours that would suit the pattern and that I would use. I thought I would show you my favourite ideas, maybe you will like some of them?

(At this point once again many thanks to Stylecraft Yarns who allowed me to use the colour samples from their website.)

This one is my absolute favourite

and this one was my first idea

But I also love this one

Hard to decide, isn’t it?
If you take part in the Cal I wish you a lot of fun already now 💕

New tests for Pam

This year, Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity has created some new designs and so far I have already been able to test three of them. Two are already published, so I can show them. The third one is still in the testing phase and will be released in August.

As you may know I have been unsure all the time which yarn to use. Pam’s squares are designed to use a cotton yarn in Aran weight. Depending on hook size – 4,5 or 5 mm hook – the finished size will be 11 or 12 inch – that’s about 28 respectively 30,5 cm.

When I started testing for Pam in 2020 I made my first squares with Drops Paris and Love you 8 using a 4,5 mm hook. I love the colours of Drops as they are soft and subtle but somehow I don’t like to work with Aran weight. It’s probably a matter of practice, but I’m never satisfied with the look of my stitches when I use Aran. Especially since Pam often uses trebles and double trebles. Somehow it stresses me out and I have been looking for alternatives.
So, after a short excursion to Stylecraft Special DK (not as good stitch definition as cotton and harder to block), I came to Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4. It is a fingering weight with 170 m / 50 g. Much thinner than Aran but I still think my squares are a good size at around 19 or 20 cm. I like the colours, I’m happy with the look of my stitches, I feel less stressed – I’m sticking with it.
Luckily Pam doesn’t mind me using it.

The first Square I tested this year was the

Simple Wonders Square

Pattern

Simple Wonders Square
available on Ravelry

Designer

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity

finished

06. February 2022

Technique

regular crochet

Yarn

Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4
170 m / 50 g

Colours and Placement

65 Apricot Colour A
97 Mist Colour B
13 Grayish Purple Colour C
Following colour way 1

Hook

Clover Soft Touch, 2,5 mm

Finished Size

app. 19 cm

And the second one was the lovely

Apart Together Square

Pattern

Apart Together Square
available on Ravelry

Designer

Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity

finished

06. April 2022

Technique

regular crochet

Yarn

Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4
170 m / 50 g

Colours and Placement

69 Lilac Colour A
97 Mist Colour B
46 Old Rose Colour C
Following colour way 2

Hook

Clover Soft Touch, 2,5 mm

Finished Size

app. 19 cm

If you are interested in the other squares I tested for Pam, just have a look

From left to right:
Carter Jude Square, Brood of Angels, Margaret Square, all made with Drops yarn

… and Fancy Nancy, made with Stylecraft Special DK

Have a good time

Sorbet

Sorbet is the latest pattern from Ana Morais Soares. I had the pleasure to test this beauty during May.
The original blanket is made with a colour changing yarn. Ana used Hobbii Twister, a Cotton / Acrylic mix in sport weight.

As I had to use up some of my stash, my blanket is made from DK yarn.

I actually wanted to achieve the same size with my thicker yarn as Ana did with her Twister (90 x 130 cm).
I probably miscalculated! To achieve this, I would have needed 2 more repeats in the width. My blanket is now only 80 cm wide and so I have also reduced the length slightly.
For me anyway, it’s a perfect lap blanket for sitting on the couch. The colours fit perfectly in my living room and they will also go well with my – er, my husband’s – Midnight Snowflakes (when it’s finished one day).

I am happy!

Here are some more details about my Sorbet

Pattern

Sorbet
available on Ravelry
and Etsy

Designer

Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love

Technique

Overlay Mosaic

Test Phase

03. May 2022 – 01. June 2022

Finished

05. June 2022

Yarn and Colours

Stylecraft Special DK (295 m / 100 g)

1807 A Hint of Silver
1722 Storm Blue

3 balls
1 ball

King Cole Baby Comfort DK (310 m / 100g)

1729 Glacier

3 balls

Detailed Yarn Amounts

258 g Glacier
239 g A Hint of Silver
95 g Storm Blue

Hooks

Clover Amour Hook, 4 mm
Slip stitch round: Clover Amour Hook, 4,5 mm
Back Layer Border: Clover Soft Touch, 3,75 mm

Pattern Repeats

16 repeats, 131 stitches

Layout

following the pattern for Layout 1

Pattern 1, 3 repeats
Pattern 3, 14 repeats

197 rows in total

Colour Placement

Pattern 1 and 3
C1: Glacier
C2: A Hint of Silver

Pattern 2
C1: Storm Blue
C2: A Hint of Silver

Border
Slip stitch round: Storm Blue
Back layer: Glacier
Front Layer: Storm Blue
Joining Round: Storm Blue

Final Size

appr. 80 x 113 cm

Have a lovely time 💕

Talavera Blanket

Update, January 2025:
As you can read below, the pattern was originally published in 2022 by Simply Crochet Magazine as Cal (7 parts). Ana has now summarised the complete pattern. So it is now also available in her Ravelry shop.

Finally I can show you the project I worked on from the mid-December 2021 until mid-January 2022: Talavera!

Talavera is a design by my friend Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love. She was asked by the Simply Crochet Magazine to design a blanket for a Cal.
The Cal has just started and part 1 is published. For further information either have a look at issue 122 of the Simply Crochet Magazine, their Ravelry page or website.

It was quite a challenge to finish this beauty in more or less 4 weeks! But so worth the effort!

For her design Ana used Caron Simply Soft, an Aran weight. As you might know Aran is not my favorite yarn weight. So I went for Stylecraft Special DK.

I already showed my colour scheme a few days ago, which – again- was inspired by a mood board of Pipin Poppycrock.

I mainly followed Ana’s colour placement but – partly by accident and partly on purpose – I have made some colour changes. So here my notes:

Pattern

Talavera Blanket featured in Simply Crochet Magazine

Designer

Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love

Started

15. December 2021

finished

14. January 2022

Yarn

Stylecraft Special DK
295 m / 100 g

Hook

Clover Soft Touch, 3,75 mm

Colours and Yarn Amounts

1240 Soft Peach4 balls
1026 Apricot2 balls
1836 Vintage Peach2 balls
1203 Silver2 balls
1009 Grey2 balls

Replacement of Colours

C1Vintage Peach
C2Silver
C3Soft Peach
C4Grey
C5Apricot

Changes

Round 19, 27, 37Silver instead of C5
Round 40Apricot instead of C2
Round 73Grey instead of C5
Round 74Vintage Peach instead of C4
Round 78Soft Peach instead of C2
Round 79Silver instead of C3
Round 85Grey instead of C5
Round 86Apricot instead of C4

finished Size

140 x 140 cm

I am very happy with the result!
It will be a gift for my mother in law and I hope she will like it as much as I do!

Hello Spring – Round up

Here a brief summary of my test for the Hello Spring Cal:

Hello Spring Cal

21. March – 25. April 2022

Pattern

Hello Spring Cal
available on Ravelry and Etsy

Designer

Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love

Technique

Overlay Mosaic crochet

Test Phase

08. February – 21. March 2022

Finished

21. March 2022

Yarn

Stylecraft Special DK

Colours

1001 – White, 3 balls
1822 – Pistachio, 3 balls
1027 – Khaki, 2 balls
1081 – Saffron, 1 ball
1723 – Tomato, 1 ball

Hook

Clover Soft Touch, 4 mm

Gauge

?

Repeats

5 Repeats, 93 stitches

Rows / Patterns

261 rows, patterns 1 to 12, following the Cal pattern

Border

Double border

Finished Size

57 x 149 cm

As always it was a lot of fun to test one of Ana‘s pattern. If you missed any parts just have a look at my older posts.

Related Posts to Hello Spring Cal

Intro
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Hello Spring – Part 6

Hello Spring Cal comes to an end now, only the border needs to be done.

If you follow my blog, you already know that I made a wall hanging working the Hello Spring pattern over 5 pattern repeats. When it came to the border, I finally had to decide how I wanted to hang it up.
I have seen quite complicated looking constructions to hang a wall decoration, but I had no idea how to do it.
At first I thought about attaching loops to it like a quilt, but even then I wasn’t sure how best to attach them. Then I had another idea, a very easy one:

I worked the border as normal. In the final joining round I left a piece open on the upper side edges. On the last 7 stitches on both upper sides I worked the slip stitches only on the front layer without joining the two layers. The corner is worked as normal.
This has created a kind of tunnel through which you can push a rod. It works perfectly!

My colours for the border

Long overdue update, July 2024:
I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. 
Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.

My colours Hello Spring parts 1- 6Download

Tomorrow I will write a short summary with all details of my test. Stay tuned!

Hello Spring – Part 5

Part 5 of the Hello Spring Cal is out. It is the last part of the blanket body. So it’s almost done. Next week the instructions for the border will follow.

Next week I will show you how I made the mounting for the wall hanging. Add on I will list my yarn amounts.

Here a few impressions of mine:

My colours Part 5

Long overdue update, July 2024:
I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. 
Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.

My colours Hello Spring parts 1- 6Download

Happy hooking 💕