How To Create A Mood Board For Your Next Crochet Project

 

How To Create A Mood Board For Your Next Crochet Project

Hello! Have you ever just stared at your yarn stash, overwhelmed by the possibilities, with no idea what to crochet next? I'm sure we've all been there! At times like these, a mood board can be exactly what you need to unlock creative inspiration and guide you towards your next project.
 
Think of a mood board as a visual roadmap for your crochet journey. It's a place to gather anything that sparks your imagination – colours, textures, patterns, even feelings! Here are my top tips for creating a crochet mood board.

First, find Your Colour Palette:

Inspiration Hunting: Flip through magazines, browse Pinterest (personally I LOVE Pinterest and use it for inspiration all the time!), or take a walk in nature. Ask yourself if you're drawn to the vibrant hues of a the sunset, or the calming blues and greens of a coastal landscape? 
 
What to include: Pictures of fabrics, natural elements like wood grain or feathers, or even architectural details that inspire interesting stitch choices. You can add photos of geometric shapes, floral prints, or traditional motifs that could be incorporated into your crochet design.

 
The Emotional Factor: Cut out pictures or write down words that evoke the mood you want your project to have. Elegant, playful, cosy – the possibilities are endless and you get to choose!

Colour Harmony: Use online tools or colour theory basics to create a cohesive palette. Will you go for a bold contrast or a soothing monochrome look? If you're thinking "Woah! Colour theory? That's a bit of a stretch for me!", fear not - this is a topic I cover in my Colour & Crochet Course, which I'll explain more about below. 
 
Putting it All Together:
There are no hard and fast rules! You can use a physical corkboard, a digital platform like Pinterest or Canva, or go old-school like me and use a sketchbook. The key is to arrange your finds in a way that excites you and helps your project vision come to life.

Yarn Matchmaker: Once you have your colour story, raid your yarn stash or visit your local yarn shop to find the perfect matches!
 
Conclusion: So, grab your scissors and glue or open your favourite digital platform, and get started on your mood board today! Let your creativity flow, and watch your next crochet project come to life, filled with your unique colour and personality.
 

Ready to Dive Deeper into the World of Colour & Crochet with me?

My Colour & Crochet Course will take you on a journey to develop your colour confidence and create stunning, well-co-ordinated crochet projects. It's an online course you can take at your own pace with a mix of colour theory lessons, fun exercises, and 4 free crochet patterns to get you started. You'll be able to wave goodbye to yarn-stash overwhelm and learn how to use inspiration to create amazing crochet projects which you will love.

I'm offering you 15% off my Colour & Crochet Course! Simply add the word COURSE15 at the checkout for your discount to be applied.

I hope this has been a useful blog post for you. If you like these tips, please consider signing up to my mailing list, lots more good stuff coming your way. When you do so, you'll automatically be sent my PDF with 25 top tips that every crocheter should know! 

Until next time, happy crocheting,

Marta xx

How To Choose A Colour Palette For Crocheting

Hello! In this blog post I'm going to give tips for choosing a colour palette for crocheting, because I don't know about you, but I am LOVING all the colour combos appearing on social media and in my inbox from indie dyers for the upcoming MKAL from Stephen West! There are so many gorgeous combinations out there for a gradient with 4 skeins of yarn - it's such an inspiration. Whether you're a crocheter and a knitter or you just stick to crochet, these combos are everywhere at the moment, you can't miss them!

But, what if you want to join the MKAL (or follow a pattern using 4 skeins of yarn) and you'd like to put your own combination together? Perhaps you have stashed yarn you'd like to use or maybe you'd like to treat yourself to some new yarn and create your own unique combo?

I'm going to share a technique from my Colour & Crochet Course which will help you choose your next colour palette. It begins with creating a mood board, so go grab a pile of magazines or newspapers, some paint cards or fabric samples, scraps of wool, small items from a nature walk - whatever else you have to hand - and get creative! If you don't feel like getting hands on, you can use Pinterest, or it's new sister app Shuffles, for this exercise - you can search for millions of different images and if you don't want to share your board with the rest of the world you can set it to "secret". I’ve also recently used Canva to create some collages - search in their Elements, select “photo” - there are hundreds to choose from!

For your colour theme, you might like to choose autumn, or sea scapes or perhaps a festival vibe! Don't think too hard about the bits & pieces you're adding, just go for it and see what becomes of the process. Once you have your mood board, you should be able to pick out recurring colours and put them together. Look for two colours you like and pair them together, then make a trio, then add a fourth ... before you know it, you'll have your 4 colours.

Fancy giving it a go? If you do, please share on social media and TAG ME, I'd really love to see!

Want to dive deeper? This is just one of the exercises in my Colour & Crochet Course, there are lots more to help you gain confidence in choosing colours. The course also includes 5 of my crochet patterns which use more than one colour so you can put your new found knowledge to immediate use! 

Here's a testimonial from one of my happy customers:

"Marta's color course is very enjoyable as well as helpful. I'm so glad I purchased it as I feel more confident about choosing my color pairings."

Holly-Marie

 

 

I'll be back soon, until then, happy crocheting,

Marta xx

PS. To receive these blog posts straight to your inbox, please consider subscribing to my mailing list. There's a free pdf waiting for you when you do: 25 Top Crochet Tips Every Crocheter Should Know!

 

3 tips to help you choose colours for your projects

Hello again! Have you ever struggled with choosing colours for a crochet or knitting project? I'm frequently asked how I go about choosing my colour schemes and so in this blog post I am going to share 3 practical tips to help you make the most of colour.

Tip no. 1.  Play with colour! 

Start by keeping things simple with just 3 colours at a time. Choose balls of yarn from your stash to help you with this or perhaps you have yarn wound round pegs or you could even use paint swatch cards from the DIY store. Look at your 3 colours and ask yourself "Do they go together?  Are they working in harmony?" If you like them, take a quick photo, if not substitute just one colour and try again. 

The more you play around with colours and experiment with what works for you, the easier it will become. Back in June 2017 I wrote an extensive blog post about choosing colours with a little bit of colour theory thrown in too. If you'd like to read that blog post, you can find it here.

Tip no. 2.  Create a mood board

Pinterest is an amazing resource to use when planning projects. You can create a board that saves colour schemes you like and can refer back to (f you like, you can make it a secret board). Try not to overthink it, simply save pins with colour schemes that appeal to you. Once you've saved a few pins have a look and see what they have in common. Ask yourself "Which colours work well together? What colours am I drawn to?" If you haven't used Pinterest before it's a wonderful resource - think of it as a big search engine for looking for creative ideas. Warning: pinning can become addictive! 

If Pinterest isn't your thing, you can always create scrap book pages with colour combinations you find pleasing. Rip out colour schemes you like from the interiors section of magazines, add in strands of yarn, buttons, bits of food packaging, ribbons, photos, paint swatch cards, feathers and other found items. Keep adding new pages with new colour combinations to look back on. (These torn pages were taken from Mollie Makes magazine).

Tip no. 3.  Look to the natural world

Go for a walk outside and bring your camera with you! Take time to notice colours that sit side by side in nature and look good together. If you spot a pleasing colour combination, take a photo! You can even print it and add it to your mood board, helping to build a bigger picture. 

Think of seasonal colours that work in harmony: oranges, rich browns, burgundays in the autumn; pale blues, lilacs and fresh green in the spring. Or consider the colours of the landscape: blues, sandy oranges and yellow at the seaside; a range of greens and browns in the forest. Nature has an amazing colour range - copy it!

I hope you have found these 3 tips helpful. Leave me a comment below or find me on Instagram if you have any questions or want to share your recent colour combinations, I'd love to see them!

Marta xx

Workshop Review - needlefelting for beginners at Dalmore Croft

the stove is lit and I am all set up and ready to go!

Hello! Last Saturday I held my first ever craft workshop at Dalmore Croft, Barry and I wanted to share my experience here in this blog post because the morning went very well, the ladies all enjoyed themselves and they learnt a new skill. I should add at this point that all recommendations are my own, this post has not been sponsored.

materials and tools

I have been needlefelting for many years now and I almost exclusively use gilliangladrag.co.uk for my felting supplies. It's a bricks and mortar shop in Dorking, England which also has an amazing online shop - go check it out! I am a huge lover of colour so for me this online shop is a delight and I would love to go to the shop itself one day, it's on my list!

craft and tea!

When I arrived at the studio on Saturday the stove had been lit and it was wonderful and cosy with the fairy lights twinkling too; the scene was set for a creative morning. It didn't take me long to unpack the wool tops, needles etc and shortly after that my students started to arrive. There was tea, coffee, freshly made scones and homemade blueberry muffins for everyone to enjoy.

so much concentration

The first project was a simple pincushion with a vintage cotton reel for the base. This taught the basics of how to handle and manipulate the fibre into the shape they wanted. Smooth Merino wool tops was on offer for this project in a large variety of colours - something to suit all tastes. The next project was a bunny brooch which was slightly more challenging but everyone approached it with the confidence of their new found skills. To mix things up I offered various British, undyed wool tops for this stage, to allow the students to work with something a bit different and experiment with texture.

nearly finished

By the end of the morning my students had a finished pincushion and a finished (or very nearly finished) bunny brooch. If anyone wasn't quite finished they had the skills and materials to take it away and finish it off at home. I handed out feedback forms at the end are here are a few of the comments I received in the "what did you like about the course?" section; "Everything! Marta was a very good teacher and I loved doing a new craft." and "I liked learning the basics of a new craft and having a finished product."

So, I am definitely going to be running future workshops - more needlefelting ones, including advanced needlefelting - but also other handcrafts. I feel that people enjoy taking time out of their busy lives to stop, take a break and try something new. If you would like to keep up to date with news of all my future workshops please sign up to receive my newsletter.

Until next time,

Marta xx

So many design ideas, so little time!

At the moment I have so many design ideas and not enough time to work through them all! I am fanalising the sizing details on a jumper, I have a cowl that's half way made and written up, almost a complete baby/toddler jumper all plotted out in my head and the beginnings of another sock design mulling over. However, I will slow down for a moment and share what I have been up to so far this year with you all. 

slow down and draw a daffodil!

I was pleased to release my Daffodil Shawl just in time for the daffoldils popping up! This is a pattern that I designed in Spring 2018 but then struggled with the chart and abondoned realising I had missed the daffodil season. This January I picked it up again, ironed out the chart issues, did the photo shoot and added the finalised pattern to my Ravelry store. Please share your photos on social media if you follow this pattern, I absolutely love seeing what you get up to!

Daffodil Shawl

In February I began designing my second adult size garment - a polo neck. The pattern is top down, beginning with the super cosy fold down neck before working down the body. I chose Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Wave for this project because I fell in love with the Unicorn colourway and just had to design something in it! You can see the full colour range here and with the recent addition of even more colourways it's even more exciting!

Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Wave - Unicorn

The Isla Cosy Polo

I stuggled with a name for this jumper so I opened it up to suggestions as an Instagram competion. I combined two differnt ideas "Isla" (Melissa's favourite scottish name) and "cosy polo" (Jane described it very well!) to make The Isla Cosy Polo which is a name I am really happy with. At the moment I have just finished adding XS, S, L and XL sizes to the range and I am testing out the XS size, just to double check everything is ok. The pattern will then be tested and tech edited before being released in the early autumn.

working on the XS jumper with my dog Jazz for company

My portable crochet project at the moment is a pair of socks (yes, still addicted!). I am following Vicki Brown's Fallen Leaves pattern but adding a twist that my fellow sock addict friend Tamara tried - swapping the half treble stitches (uk) for extended double crochet stitches. Like Tamara, I found that it makes a wonderfully stretchy stitch and I love the texture!

stitch detail

Working on this stitch combination in the socks has given me an idea for crocheting a baby/toddler jumper - it will be nice and stretchy for ease of dressing, allow plenty of movement when it's being worn and be lovely and cosy! I have had a waistband idea for a jumper in my head for ages so I will combine the two and see where it takes me.

The other pattern that is kind of on the back burner right now is a cowl I am designing in Di Gilpin Lalland. It's a 4 colour design and it's all going well I just need to go back and finish it/ write it up. As an artist I find it hard to settle on one project at a time and do tend to flit between them! My plan is to finish the socks (nearly there), pick up the cowl again, complete the XS jumper and THEN start the baby/ toddler jumper whilst firming up another sock design that's in my head. That's the plan anyway ... 

cowl design in progress

Until next time, happy hooking,

Marta xx

Colour and Colour Patterns in Crocheted Socks

Hello! I am here today as part of the Sock Along 2018 Blog Hop! Have you been following the blog hop? Last week's post by Jo Jo Twinkletoes was all about toe up vs cuff down sock designs and next week you can head to Crafternoon Treats for lots of helpful info on how to customise your own socks. Want to catch up on all the posts? I will put links to all the contributors at the end of this post!

Crocheted socks are an amazing way to be expressive with colour! They are a lovely size and shape for being creative and trying new combinations. What if the colours don't work out the way you imagined? Well, you still have a cosy pair of socks to wear around the house or in your wellies! 

Playing with colour has been a fascination of mine for a long time, probably all my life in fact! Back in June 2017 I wrote a blog post all about choosing colours in response to repeatedly being asked how I come up with my colour combinations. If you are interested in finding out more about colour theory and my personal colour choices head over to that post for an in depth read!

my La Becque Socks by Rohn Strong

The simplest form of colour in socks is a solid colour or almost solid colour like the pair of lilac socks above. The yarn is Sparkle (superwash merino, nylon and stellina blend) by Vicki Brown Designs and it has very subtle variations in hue together with a sparkly strand running through it - very pretty! So, grab your favourite colour (or your recipient's favourite colour!) and you can't go wrong with a single colour!

my Hop Socks by Vicki Brown

The sock yarn above is subtly mottled - it appears solid from a distance but close up has a good deal of variation going on. I liked how this ball worked up in the round, lovely swirls were created. The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply, one of my favourite big brand sock yarns.

WIP - my Magdalen Socks by Vicki Brown 

Another fab way to introduce colour is by using speckled yarns! There's a huge range of indie yarn out there created this way and it works up brilliantly in socks. The yarn above is from Vicki Brown Designs and it creates a wonderful dappled effect once it's crocheted up.

my Sweetheart Socks by Vicki Brown

This of course leads to a fourth way of playing with colour when crocheting socks - contrast details! This is perhaps one of the most fun elements of crocheting socks, choosing different coloured yarns for the toes, heels and cuffs. You could have as many as 4 colours going on or keep it simple with just 2 colours.

my Everyone (Needs) Socks by Kat Goldin

Then, there is a whole world of self striping yarns out there! Sock yarn, like the West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply above, comes in a huge range of stripy colours, created with sock knitters and crocheters in mind. No need to change colour, simply stitch away and the stripes appear. WARNING! Working with these yarns can be addictive as the yearn to create "just one more row and see the next colour" is very strong!

my own design, Fabulous Socks, coming soon!

Something I love playing around with when using self striping yarns, such as the Paintbox Yarns Socks above, is the position of the stripes. You can simply start crocheting and leave it to chance or you can be a bit more strategic. One way of doing this is to start with the same point in the stripe sequence for each sock, making them matchy-matchy, which always looks very neat and professional. I often have a little fun and start sock 1 from the inside of the ball and sock 2 from the outside of the ball, creating a pair of socks that are almost the same, but not quite. 

my Fallen Leaves Socks by Vicki Brown

Once or twice I have cut the yarn after the heel turn so that the stripes mirror themselves on the second half of the sock. In the socks above the effect was quite subtle but with a stripy yarn with more pop it could be quite striking. This leads on to the field of colour manipulation, where you carefully calculate the way the colours are positioned, round by round in your socks. I would have to admit that this isn't something I have tried but search "colour pooling" and you should find some excellent examples online. Sometimes this colour pooling happens as a complete fluke, a bit like in my third photo where the pinks swirled together, and these happy accidents put a real smile on your face. Occasionally the colours line up in a way you really dislike and then it's a case of frog them or make them as welly socks!

One final point to consider - if your pattern is plain then stripes work really well, but if your pattern is more of a lacy design it generally looks best in a solid/ semi solid or lightly speckled yarn.

me, proudly wearing my crocheted socks!

I hope this insight has been inspiring for you! Why not leave me a comment on your experience of colour and colour patterns in crocheted socks?

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

#1 Sat 15th Sep - Sock Making Tips - Tamara (http://www.craftyescapism.com/)

#2 Sat 22nd Sep - Yarn Choice - Fay (https://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/)

#3 Sat 29th Sep - Knit vs Crochet Socks - Caroline (https://www.mindandmusecrafts.com/)

#4 Sat 29th Sep - Topic to be decided - Deanne (http://www.addydae.com/)

#5 Sat 6 Oct - Toe up vs Cuff down Socks - Jo (http://jojotwinkletoes.blogspot.com/)

#6 Sat 13th Oct - Topic to be decided - Marta (http://mrsdaftspaniel.blogspot.com/)

#7 Sat 20th Oct - Customising socks - Kathryn (http://crafternoontreats.com/)

#8 Sat 27th Oct - Crochet Sock Heels are not Scary - Karen (https://www.karenwhooley.com/)

Free Pattern Release: Heart Shaped Bunting

Hello! Today I am really pleased to be releasing my pattern for Heart Shaped Bunting - and the best thing for all you crochet fans out there? It's FREE!

Heart Shaped Bunting

I wrote this pattern in the summer of 2017 as an exclusive for Crate Crochet's subscription box. Crate Crochet are based in Australia and they deliver mystery boxes through your letterbox with a pattern and the yarn you need to make the item featured as well as a few other goodies - it's a wonderful idea! I have collaborated with Carmela at Crate Crochet on 3 occassions now and I have found it very rewarding, not only because of the coverage it gives me as a designer but due to the lovely, welcoming Facebook Group which she has formed. I love being involved in this project!

bunting hanging in the garden

So, after this period as an exclusive Crate Crochet design I can now release the pattern into the wild and have decided to make it a free pattern as a first Friday in September treat! Today my eldest son, Niall, helped me update my YouTube video with the tutorial for the back back loop stitch. We filmed this together back in October but the lighting was poor and Niall now has a better camera and microphone so I was keen to reshoot it. Today's video was fun to make - my parents' dog is in it, his head on the table in front of me, just out of focus! You can find it here.

My favourite platform for buying and selling patterns is Ravelry.com and this is where you can download the pattern for FREE: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/heart-shaped-bunting

close up!

I hope you enjoy following thi pattern! If you do, please share your creations on social media, particularly Instagram where you can add the hashtag #mrsdaftspaniel for me to see and for the chance to be featured in my Insta gallery!

Marta xx

Daffodil Shawl update

Hello! I have been doing a real mix of creative things lately including bullet journalling, drawing, learning to make barista style coffee, chalk board lettering, baking and of course crochet!! Today I wanted to update you on my Daffodil Shawl design progress because I have just finished crocheting the shawl this afternoon!

I started this design in mid January and very quickly worked up 2 of the 3 skeins of Koigu Mori I had set aside for it (see previous blog post with a review of this gorgeous yarn here). For some reason I then became caught up in other projects and this shawl took a bit of a back seat (this often happens with projects - my attention can be quite fleeting!). When I went back to it last week I realised that I wasn't happy with the proportion of the shawl - worked width-wise, it was far too skinny and scarf like! My initial yardage calculations must have been a bit off and it turned out I did have enough yarn to increase the width by 33%, a significant difference, so ... I unravelled the scarf right back to the beginning ...

the moment of realisation, a lot of stitches to unravel ...

I began working up the new dimensions straight away and was very quickly back on track. As you can see in the above photo, I have worked on a chart to accompany the written pattern for this scarf too. In fact, the pattern writing part of the design process is almost complete, I only have a few details to add and then it will be ready for testing.

back on track and first edge complete

next step: blocking!

In other news I found out yesterday that my blog has made it into the Top 50 UK Crochet Blog list! You can see all the blogs listed here and there is so much inspiration, it's well worth a look. This has given me just the encouragement I need to carry on doing what I am doing here, so thank you everyone for stopping by to see what I get up to with my hook and yarn!

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

Yarn Review: Koigu Mori

Hello! Today I am going to review a recent addition to my yarn stash - Koigu Mori. I bought 3 skeins of this amazingly soft yarn from loveknitting.com in their January sale and when I opened my parcel I did a little dance because it was stunningly beautiful!

skeins of Koigu Mori with some sunny daffodils

The colours in the yarn instantly made me think of daffodils - of both their flowers and their folliage - the perfect colours as we look forward to Spring in the northern hemisphere. I chose colourway 533 (they are all numbered rather than named) for its fresh look but there is a massive range of colours to choose from, both variegated like this one and solid colours. You can view the entire collection on the Koigu website here.

The composition of the yarn is 50% merino wool and 50% mulberry silk giving it excellent stitch definition and a luxurious sheen. The silk content makes it wonderfully lightweight and drapy so an idea began to form in my head for a scarf design. Inspired by a swatch in a 70s crochet book I began to play with a filet pattern which incorporated a daffodil like motif. 

early stages of the design process

The yarn worked up beautifully without snagging or splitting and the stitches stand out really prettily. The colour changes in the variegated yarn are very short producing a mottled rather than a stripy effect which I like. 

fast progress on this shawl

Based a few hours outside Toronto, Canada, Koigu Wool Designs is a small family run business. It started up specialising in 4ply 100% merino and the demand for this yarn became so great that the business expanded and introduced other bases, still focusing on 4ply something which makes the brand stand out. Today the yarn is a vailable worldwide.

wonderful stitch definition

So, my plans are to continue with this scarf design, write it up, send it to testers, do the final edit and then share it with you in time for Spring!

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

NB. This blog post has not been sponsored by Love Knitting or Koigu, the viewpoints are entirely my own.

Back to School Sweater CAL - my cardigan

Hello! Following on from last week's Back to School Sweater CAL blog hop post by Fay (www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com) it's time for me to share my own cardigan journey. Like most of the CAL participants, I had carefully chosen my yarn, swatched to check tension and was eager to start on the morning of Saturday 16th of September - I crocheted at full speed for a big chunk of the day, everything was going well!

my swatch and colour choices

progress at the end of day 1

I had chosen to follow one of my own patterns - Summer Yoke Cardigan - and give it a winter twist. The first big change was to substitute the summery cotton for cosy alpaca yarn. I chose Eden Cottage Yarns in Whitfell DK - a 100% baby alpaca yarn - and I ordered it directly online (NB. this yarn is currently in the sale as it is going to be discontinued, go grab a bargain while you can!).

this photo © Inside Crochet Magazine
my original Summer Yoke Cardigan design

The pattern begins with a plain yoke and then the pop of colour begins! I deliberately chose a muted, neutral shade for the main colour to really give the other colours a chance to dance and shine!

I love this stage of the making process, when the yoke looks like a rainbow!

Everything was straight forward and went as I expected at this stage. Apart from the yarn, the only other real change I had made was to follow the instructions for small instead of medium because I wanted a much tighter fitting cardigan for the winter. I used a 3.25mm Knit Pro crochet hook to keep the stitches small and neat too.

progress photo

I added 3 more rows of yoke pattern to this version, simply because I felt like it! The next section, from the end of the patterned yoke to the sleeve split was tricky! I spent about a week crocheting, frogging*, crocheting, frogging! The brilliant thing about being part of a CAL was that I wasn't alone; lots of people were unravelling at this stage! 

*frogging: term used in knitting and crochet to describe rows of stitches being ripped out - rip it, rip it - like a frog!

starting the sleeves

The best thing about top-down crochet designs is the fact that you can try them on as you work. In this way I was able to get the fit exactly as I wanted it. Once I positioned the sleeve split exactly in the right place, I began to work 1 ball at a time on a rotation basis; sleeve, body, body, sleeve, body, body etc. In this way I could work evenly across the sections and the garment grew in a harmonious way.

finished sleeves and cuffs

Before I knew it I had reached my desired sleeve length and it was time to think about how to finish at the cuff (my original pattern had 3/4 length sleeves and simply a band of contrast colour to finish). This cardigan was for me and I like snug, draught excluding cuffs on a cosy cardigan so I began with a round of contrast stitches, then a round of half trebles before adding 4 rounds of ribbed crochet cables. 

choosing the perfect button!

Shortly after I finished the sleeves, the main body section was finished too (hoorah! no more plain stitches!). I wanted to make the most of the pretty yarn so I added 4 rows of pattern to the hem before commencing the button band. The button band - the home stretch! Almost finished! Or so I thought ...

... actually the button band itself was ok, it was when I made the decision to add a colar to finish the neckline that it all went a bit pear shaped!

1st collar attempt

The trouble was that the extra height from the button band with a collar worked into it sat too high around my neck and dragged the whole cardigan out of shape. It was not how I had pictured it in my ahead at all. It was at this point that I threw the cardigan on the naughty step and didn't even look at it for a few weeks! During this time I did think about how to solve the problem - often at unexpected moments new ideas would come and go until suddenly it all became clear, I had a new plan! Sadly, this plan involved more frogging, lots of frogging! The entire button band needed to come out, 75g worth of wool in tiny little seed stitch ...

final colar design

The new button band stopped at the neckline, allowing me to work directly into the original chain of stitches at the very beginning of the cardigan. I followed the same increase pattern as the yoke whilst decreasing at either end to create a softer, rounder effect. To finish off I used a row crab stitches (my current fave stitch!). I like the new colar design in the main colour of the cardigan because it focuses all the attention on the pretty yoke.

first photo shoot

my finished Back to School Sweater!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Helen (makingatnumber14.blogspot.co.uk) and Tamara (www.craftyescapism.com) for hosting this CAL - it's been such fun to take part in and to watch other people's sweaters grow and take shape online! Next week Helen and Tamara are going to be sharing a celebration of everyone's making - I can't wait to find out more about it!

Happy hooking,

Marta xx