Two Finished Projects!

Hello! I am back this week with two finished projects to share with you! Firstly, my Skimming Stones Shawl and secondly, with the yarn leftover, my Malvern Cowl. As well as using the same yarn, both patterns were written by the same designer, Joanne Scrace!

finished Skimming Stones Scarf

finished Malvern Cowl

Kat Goldin and Joanne Scrace together form The Crochet Project and back in June they hosted a Mystery Crochet Along (MCAL) with the Skimming Stones pattern. Each week for 5 weeks a small part of the pattern was released without a single photo of what the finished shawl would look like! Hundreds of people joined in and there was a lovely community feel in their private Facebook Group and on Instagram.

detail of Skimming Stones Shawl

The recommended yarn for the MCAL was Carlisle Fingering by Eden Cottage Yarns and there were special kits available online. There was an alternative yarn suggestion, Milburn 4ply (85% blue faced leicister/ 15% silk), and I decided to go with this because I preferred the more solid looking colours. I bought the kit with 6 balls (2x main colour, 1x each of the 4 contrast colours) and also an extra ball of pale pink because I felt like mixing things up a little! This yarn was a joy to work with - it felt so soft and luxurious against my hands. I had a lot of fun following along with this project and enjoyed watching the unusual shape develop. I was a bit of a rebel and chose to ignore the set pattern of colours and introduced each colour in a random yet pleasing order.

edge detail

When I had finished my shawl I looked at how much yarn I had left, and together with the ball that came in the kit but didn't use, I reckoned I had enough to crochet a Malvern Cowl. I had had my eye on this pattern for a while and felt it would be a fantastic way to use up all of my yarn. The spike stitches give this pattern a real edgy look which I love and the stripes quickly built up to form the cowl. One change I made to the pattern was to twist the tube shape before sewing together to help to give it drape (I wasn't using the recommended yarn here and it was feeling slightly too rigid).

detail of Malvern Cowl

So, there you have it; two cosy items for winter crocheted out of 7 balls of yarn with next to nothing left over and I am really pleased with them both!

Marta xx

Pattern Release: Calunna Hills Cowl

Hello! It's been a while since I released a pattern, despite having several at the almost-ready-to-release stage, so I am really happy to be able to share this one with you now! It's the Calunna Hills Cowl, designed in Cascade 220 Heathers 100% peruvian highland wool.

It's rated BEGINNER level and only requires double crochet, half treble and treble stitches (all UK terms), yet at the same time it has enough variety in it to keep a more confident crocheter interested. The pattern calls for Cascade 220 Heathers - a yarn I really love and wrote a blog post all about (which you can find out more about here).

All my patterns are tested before being released and I was fortunate to have 3 lovely testers for this pattern! The close up above is by Laura - @goslingandplumb on Instagram. Laura used Rowan Pure Wool aran in these wonderful hilly colours which I love!

The selfie above was taken by one of my other testers, Marisa - @mariwish on Instagram - and I was really happy to see a photo of the cowl in action! Marisa used Drops Alaska in this gorgeous "grellow" combination. I have a third online friend who is testing out the pattern in US terms for me, the final step in the pattern writing process for me. I will add the US terms as soon as they are available.

The pattern is available as a pdf download from Ravelry or Etsy.

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

Yarn Review: Cascade 220 Solids and Heathers

It's been a while since I dedicated a whole blog post to a yarn review so today thought I would share my thoughts on Cascade 220 Solids and Heathers. I have been crocheting a cowl this week using Cascade 220 Heathers and I am loving the feel of this wool!

Cascade Yarns is a family run business based in Seattle, Canada. Established in the 1980s, the company is passionate about producing high quality yarn at affordable prices. I received 2 hanks of Cascade 220 Heathers as part of an Instagram swap package with the theme of #imnotgoingtoeyfswap - for all those who felt they were missing out on the Edinburgh Yarn Festival (EYF) this year. I was partnered with Emma -  @eldenwood_craft - and was delighted to unwrap a completely new yarn that I hadn't come across before! At the time I had way too many WIPs on the go, so I popped the hanks on my wool shelf where I could clearly see them and have a think about what to make. 

Earlier this week I began crocheting a new cowl, following my own design idea, that required two colours and since Emma had sent me Fog Hatt and Mystic Purple I decided to go with these colours. My first task was to wind the hanks into balls and since I don't own a wool winder I set to it using the backs of two chairs. The 100% Peruvian wool felt lovely as it passed through my fingers and wound really easily without any knots or tangles and I knew then it was going to be a delight to work with!

My design idea transferred from my head to the hook exactly as I hoped it would (hooray!). The stitch definition of the Cascade 220 Heathers is perfect for this stitch pattern and would work equally well in any combination of Solids or Heathers - there is an absolutely stunning range of colours to choose from - have a look here. 

I have been using a 4.5mm crochet hook for this project, but my tension is extremely relaxed so I have written the pattern suggesting a 6mm hook to give the cowl some drape and flow. The yarn thickness is aran or 10ply which make it work up quickly. The 220 in the name refers to the length of the hank, 220 yards (200m). The Cascade Yarns website has many free, downloadable patterns specifically for this yarn and I am sure it would substitute in most cases where an aran thickness pure wool is required. 

So, I would thoroughly recommend giving this lovely wool a go, whether you knit, crochet, weave or use yarn in other ways. Have you used this yarn before? Or any of the others in the range? If you have, leave me a comment, I would love to read your views too.

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

Children's Colourful Cowl

Hello! My Children's Colourful cowl pattern is the first crochet pattern that I have published for sale on Ravelry, a massive online knit and crochet community. 

my youngest boy, modelling the finished cowl

I began this pattern back in the spring of this year when I was bursting with fresh creative ideas! I had chosen the 4 colours, thinking they looked good together but hadn't decided exactly what to make with them. After a little playing around, I found that this zig zag pattern worked well.

work in progress

I like to post progress photos online, especially on Instagram, because I can usually tell from feedback whether my idea is going to be successful or not. There's a lovely community feel on Instagram, I like to support fellow designers too!

the cowl from the back

The yarn I used for this project is King Cole merino DK which is available in a superb variety of colours! Since making it, I have found a lovely colour combo for a more feminine cowl; swap "sky" for "fuchsia" and swap "cranberry" for "bilburry".

the crochet curls this way naturally, no need to block!

Up until now, my crochet patterns have all been free, so is this the end of free patterns? Not at all! I will continue to develop both free patterns and patterns for sale. At the moment I am at the pattern testing stage of 2 free patterns and 1 pattern which is more complex and will be available for sale.

my young model is rather attached to the cowl!

If you are interested in buying the pattern for this cowl, you can find it here. Please share if you follow my pattern, I'd love to see how you get on!

Marta xx

Free crochet pattern - Shell Pattern Cowl

I am pleased to be able to share my first crochet pattern on my blog with you. This pattern has been thoroughly tested and I am happy to share it with you for your personal use. Please respect my original design and do not reproduce this pattern or the cowl made from it for your own financial gain. Happy hooking!

Shell Pattern Cowl by Marta Mitchell

the finished cowl

This lacy cowl is made with alpaca wool which feels luxuriously soft and warm against the skin. The frequent use of chain stitches makes the pattern quick to make up, and gives the cowl a light and airy feel.

Materials

3 x 50g balls King Cole Baby Alpaca, DK (approx 110yds/100m per ball) I used 501 “Fawn”

4.5 mm crochet hook

Tension

15 stitches, 6 rows in  a 10 x 10 cm square. The tension should be loose, move up a hook size if you crochet tightly.

Abbreviations (UK terms)

ch chain

chsp chain space

ss slip stitch

dc double crochet

tr treble

dtr double treble

dtrCl double treble cluster (see notes)

tr2tog treble 2 stitches together (see notes)

yrh yarn round hook

prev previous

Notes

dtrCl is produced by working 3dtr into the same space; hold back the last loop of each dtr on hook, yrh, pull through all loops on hook

tr2tog spans across the dtrCl of the previous round. Begin the tr2tog in final dtr of prev. round, holding on to last loop of tr on hook, skip dtrCl, tr in next tr, yrh, pull through all loops on hook. This creates an inverted “V” across the dtrCl.

detail of cowl

Pattern

Using 4.5 mm hook, ch 120, ss into first ch to form large ring (making sure it is not twisted)

Round 1  Ch3 (counts as 1tr), 2tr into same ch sp used to complete ring, *3ch, miss 4chs, dc into next ch, 3ch, miss 4chs, 5tr into next ch* repeat to end of round, finishing with 2tr in same ch sp as 1st 3tr of round, ss into 3rd ch of ch3 (completing the shell)  

Round 2 Ch6 (counts as 1dtr, 2ch), dtr into next tr, ch2, dtr into next tr, ch2, *dtrCl into dc, ch2, (dtr into next tr, ch2) 5 times* repeat to end of round, finishing with dtr into next tr, ch2, dtr into next tr, ch2, ss into 4th ch of ch6

Round 3 Ch5 (counts as 1tr, 2ch), tr into next dtr, ch2, *tr2tog over next 2 dtr spanning across dtrCl, ch2, (tr into next dtr, ch2) 3 times* repeat to end of row finishing with tr into next dtr, ss into 3rd ch of ch5

Round 4 Ch3 (counts as 1tr),2tr into same ch sp, *3ch, miss tr, dc into next tr, 3ch, miss tr, 5tr into next tr* repeat to end of round, finishing with 2tr in same ch sp as 1st 3tr of round, ss into 3rd ch of ch3 (completing the shell)

Continue with rounds 2 - 4 until work measures approx 30 cm, 6 repeats of the pattern, finishing with round 4. Fasten off.

Finishing off

Secure ends and weave in on reverse side. The cowl will benefit from blocking.

I hope you have enjoyed following this pattern. If you have any queries, please contact me at mrsdaftspaniel@gmail.com

Look out for more free patterns at mrsdaftspaniel.blogspot.co.uk

Follow me on Instagram @mrsdaftspaniel

Tag your work with #mrsdaftspaniel