Pattern Tests – Page 5 – Hooked on Häkelmaschen

Hello Spring CAL – Part 6

Updated on July 15, 2026

The Hello Spring CAL is now coming to an end; we’ve reached the border.

As you know, I’ve made a wall hanging using the ‘Hello Spring’ pattern. Therefore I worked only five pattern repeats.

When it came to the border, I had to decide how I wanted to hang my decoration.

I’ve seen some rather complicated-looking constructions for hanging wall decorations, but I’ve never found an explanation of how to make them.
At first, I thought about attaching loops to it, similar to how you do with a quilt. There too, however, I wasn’t sure how best to attach them. Then another idea came to me – a very simple one:

First, I crocheted the border as usual. In the final joining round, I left a gap at the top side edges. For the last 7 stitches on both top sides, I worked the slip stitches only on the front layer, without joining the two layers together. After that the corner was worked as usual. This created a sort of tunnel through which I can slide a rod for hanging.

It works perfectly!

Hello Spring CAL, close-up showing the ‘tunnel’ for hanging the crochet wall hanging

Hello Spring CAL, close-up showing different view of the ‘tunnel’ for hanging the crochet wall hanging

My colour placement Part 6

Hello Spring CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 6

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to download my complete row-by-row colour placement guide as a PDF file.

Hello Spring CAL border detail of finished crochet wall hanging

Hello Spring CAL Part 6, close-up finished corner, back view

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

Get the colour placement guide

You’ll find my complete colour placement guide at the end of the Hello Spring CAL post.

Get the pattern

Hello Spring CAL pattern on Ravelry

Hello Spring CAL – Part 5

Updated on 15, 2026

Part 5 of the Hello Spring CAL has been published.

It is the final part of the main section of the blanket. So the blanket is almost finished. The instructions for the border will follow next week.

Next week, I’ll also show you how I’ve sorted out the hanging of my wall decoration. And, of course, I’ll list my colours and the amounts of yarn I needed.

Here my work in progress, Part 5 of the pattern:

Hello Spring CAL crocheted sample folded to reveal different sections of the mosaic pattern.

Hello Spring CAL, full view of the crocheted sample without the border

My Colour Placement Part 5

Hello Spring CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 5

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to download my complete row-by-row colour placement guide as a PDF file.

Happy hooking 💕

Get the colour placement guide

You’ll find my complete colour placement guide at the end of the Hello Spring CAL post

Get the pattern

Hello Spring CAL pattern

Hello Spring CAL – Part 4

Updated on July 15, 2026

Week 4 of the Hello Spring CAL is beginning – we’re already halfway through. There’s only one more section to come next week, and then it’s time for the border!

There are only two more photos this week – and, once again, they’re not the best quality! We’ve had another long spell of bad weather! Sorry about that!

Hello Spring CAL showing the crocheted sections of Parts 1 to 4 of the mosaic pattern

Hello Spring CAL showing the crocheted sample of Part 4 of the mosaic pattern

My colour placement Part 4

Hello Spring Mosaic CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 4

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to download my complete row-by-row colour placement guide as a PDF file.

Hello Spring CAL, close- up of the crocheted sample of Part 4 of the mosaic pattern

Have fun 💕

Get the colour placement guide

You’ll find my complete colour placement guide at the end of this post

Get the pattern

Helle Spring CAL pattern on Ravelry

Hello Spring CAL – Part 3

Updated on June 15, 2026

It is already week 3 of the Hello Spring CAL.

Time really does fly! That said, it just felt as though I’d been transported back a few weeks in time. We haven’t had this much snow for years. This is our old pine tree on Saturday morning, 2 April 2022. Hello, spring!

Winter Impression in April - Snow-covered pine tree — Winter Impression

Nevertheless, I don’t want to miss to share

My colour placement Part 3

Hello Spring CAL showing the crocheted sample of Part 3 of the mosaic pattern

Hello Spring CAL showing crocheted sections of Parts 2 and 3 of the mosaic pattern

Hello Spring CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 3

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to download my complete row-by-row colour placement guide as a PDF file.

Hello Spring CAL, crocheted sample, folded to reveal sections of Parts 1 to 3

Hello Spring CAL crocheted sample displaying sections of Parts 1 and 2

Have a lovely week 💕

Get the colour placement guide

You’ll find my complete colour placement guide at the end of this post:

Hello Spring CAL

Get the pattern

Hello Spring CAL pattern on Ravelry

Hello Spring CAL – Part 2

Updated on July 15, 2026

Just in time for the start of the second part of the Hello Spring CAL I would like to show you my version of Part 2 and share my colour placement.

Hello Spring CAL crocheted wall hanging displayed in a room

But first I‘d like to show you my finished wall hanging.

It is worked over 5 pattern repeats and measures approximately 60 cm (24 inches) in width.

It’s actually a decoration for our stairwell. But because the lighting’s so poor in there, I took a photo in our living room. The colours are a bit hard to capture anyway!

My colours Part 2

Originally, I had planned to use only four colours – White, Khaki, Pistachio and a touch of Saffron. The Saffron was to be used as an accent in the ‘dividing lines’ to liven the whole thing up a bit.

In Part 2, I changed my mind!

Just have a look at the pictures below: the first one shows my first attempt. A bit too much Khaki, I think. And definitely too dark to symbolize spring!

Hello Spring CAL crocheted sample showing Parts 1 and 2 with the flowers made in Khaki

That’s when Tomato came into the game. It gave it that touch of cheerfulness I was looking for.

Hello Spring CAL crocheted sample showing Parts 1 and 2 with the flowers made in Tomato instead of Khaki

My colour placement Part 2

Hello Spring CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 2

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to download my complete row-by-row colour placement guide as a PDF file.

That’s all for today. Have a wonderful week 💕

Spring impression - peach blossom with honey bee — Spring Impressions

Get the colour placement guide

You’ll find my complete colour placement guide at the end of this post

Hello Spring CAL

Get the pattern

Hello Spring CAL pattern on Ravelry

Hello Spring CAL – Part 1

Updated on July 15, 2026

Today is the day, the Hello Spring CAL starts!

As a few people have asked me about this: yes, I’ll be posting my colour choices and the colour placement I’m using for the individual parts of the CAL here.

So let’s start 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

Hello Spring CAL, yarn samples in White, Khaki, Pistachio, Saffron, Tomato — My colour choice

When I saw Ana’s pattern, I’d originally had a slightly different colour scheme in mind.
But for some reason, it didn’t work. Although I tried two different colour arrangements, I realised fairly quickly that it wasn’t going to work. It was perhaps a bit too dark for a spring design. So I decided against it and needed to come up with something new.

Even so, I LOVE these swatches:

Two mosaic crochet samples showing the effect of different colour placement, both using the colours White, Graphite, Pistachio and Apricot. — Colour Samples in White, Graphite, Pistachio and Apricot

I haven’t unraveled them yet and will keep them as inspiration for any further project.

Whilst searching for further colour combinations, I came across a drawing featuring stylised flowers in two different shades of green against a white background. Somehow, it really gave me that ‘spring’ feeling. To achieve this look, I chose White and Pistachio as the main colours and added a touch of Khaki. I completed the look with a few splashes of Saffron and Tomato.

mosaic crochet sample showing the same pattern in the colours White, Khaki, Pistachio and Saffron

And here is my

My colour placement for Part 1

Hello Spring CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 1, first part

Hello Spring CAL, list of row-by-row colours for Part 1, second part

Hello Spring CAL showing a crocheted sample of Part 1 of the mosaic pattern

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

Hello Spring CAL, collage showing sneak peeks of the blankets made by the test team

See you next week!

Get the colour placement guide

You can download a pdf-file with my row-by-row colour placement for the entire blanket at the end of this post

Hello Spring CAL

Get the pattern

Hello Spring CAL pattern on Ravelry

Hello Spring CAL

Updated on July 15, 2026

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.

The pattern is an overlay mosaic design and – much like Winter Wonderland – consists of various motifs that can be combined in many different ways.

I started testing the Hello Spring pattern in early February 2022.

It was originally designed as a blanket. But, due to time constraints, my version will only be crocheted over 5 repeats in width. That way, it will make a beautiful wall hanging.

My final choice of colours was inspired by a drawing I saw somewhere online: flowers in two or three different shades of green against a white background. They looked fresh and airy and immediately reminded me of spring. I’ve tried to capture that feel and spring-like look.

I used Stylecraft Special DK. The colours are mainly White and Pistachio combined with Khaki and a touch of Saffron and Tomato.

As we were on holiday last week, I haven’t quite finished my test project yet. I’m still working on the border. I hope to be able to show you more next week though.

The CAL starts next Monday, 21 March 2022, and runs for 6 weeks. Further information and, of course, the pattern are available in Ana’s Ravelry shop – you’ll find the link below.

Get the colour placement guide

Download my row-by-row colour placement guide

my-colours-hello-spring-parts-1-6.pdf Download

Get the pattern

Hello Spring CAL pattern on Ravelry

Fancy Nancy

Last updated on May 14, 2026

While revising my blog page, I realised that I had forgotten to show my Fancy Nancy square. Shame! So I thought I would write a quick post to put that right!

Fancy Nancy is another beautiful Afghan square design by Pam Knighton-Haener from a Yarn of Serendipity. I tested this pattern already in October 2021.

Pam usually designs her squares with Aran (#4) cotton yarn. I must admit that this is not my favourite type of yarn. I haven’t found one that I like working with yet. So this time, I decided to try using my standard acrylic DK (#3) yarn. Just to see how it works!

I used Stylecraft Special DK in Copper, Parchment and Gold, my favourite autumnal colours. I followed Pam’s colour scheme number 2, only switching the colour for the final round.

With Aran yarn, the squares should measure either 28 cm (11 inches) or 30 cm (12 inches), depending on the hook size used. Using DK yarn, my Fancy Nancy was 25 x 25 cm (about 10 inches) tall.

I’m really pleased with the result!

I suspect, however, that cotton yarn would show off the stitches better. The pattern includes lots of treble crochets and double treble crochets. These stitches simply look better when they’re blocked as blocking always opens up the stitches a bit. tight. Unfortunately, I still find it difficult to pull acrylic yarn tight properly. Unfortunately, I still find it difficult to block acrylic yarn properly. The results are usually not as good or as long-lasting as with cotton yarn.

I started testing for Pam in September 2020, and since then I’ve had the chance to test four of her lovely squares. Well, actually five, to be precise! I’ve just finished testing her latest design. The pattern hasn’t been published yet, so I can’t show it to you just yet. But what I can show you again are the squares I’ve made so far.

Perhaps I should get some suitable cotton yarn after all and crochet a few more? One day, they’d make a beautiful blanket.

All of Pam’s designs are so richly textured that they would look great even in a single colour.

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

Fancy Nancy Square on Ravelry

2021 is gone

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 Mosaic – Round up

Updated on July 13, 2026

This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.

Winter Wonderland Mosaic

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.

Winter Wonderland CAL

CAL- timeframe

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

finished

26. November 2021

Colour inspiration

Mood board by Pippin Porppycock

Yarn and colours

Stylecraft Special DK (295 m / 100 g)

White, 4 balls
Silver, 3 balls
Grey, 2 balls
Graphite, 3 balls
Lipstick, 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

Yarn amounts

And for those who are interested – my detailed yarn amounts

I worked on this project for about 6^1/2 weeks. It was a stressful time but I enjoyed it a lot. It‘s definitely my most favorite project in 2021.

My colour placement Part 6

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More posts in the Hello Spring CAL series

My Colour Placement Part 5

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More post in the Hello Spring CAL series

My colour placement Part 4

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More posts in the Hello Spring CAL series

My colour placement Part 3

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More posts in the Hello Spring CAL series

My colours Part 2

My colour placement Part 2

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More posts in the Hello Spring CAL series

Yarn and colours

My colour placement for Part 1

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More posts in the Hello Spring CAL series

Get the colour placement guide

Get the pattern

More posts in the Hello Spring CAL series

Review 2021

Winter Wonderland CAL

Yarn amounts

More posts in the Winter Wonderland series: