crocheted doll CAL

Hi everyone! I have decided to launch my very first CAL (crochet-a-long) starting next Wednesday 8th July! You can follow ANY crocheted doll pattern, it doesn't have to be my pattern - however, if you do follow mine it will give you double the chances of winning a prize!

Coral, Gabriella & Leo

Last week I published the crochet pattern for these dolls (known as Coral, Gabriella & Leo) on Ravelry, you can find the pattern here at the early bird price of just £3.50! I will keep it at this intoductory price until the start of the CAL. You may remember seeing Coral and Leo back in January of this year, they were part of my Fun-a-Day Dundee project. When I was preparing the pattern for release I decided they needed a friend and crocheted them Gabriella. I think the trio make a lovely set, don't you?

close up of Gabriella

If you are working on a crocheted doll just now (or maybe have one lurking in a cupboard somewhere?) feel free to dig it out and use it for the CAL, WIPs are definitely welcome!

close up of Leo's shoes

The time frame for the CAL will be 3 weeks, ending at midnight on Tuesday 28th July (BST). This should allow plenty of time to crochet a doll and make some lovely clothes for them to wear. If you have time left you could crochet another season's wardrobe, or a bag, or a toy for them, or ... the possibilies for creativity are endless!

Coral has the amazing hair!

At the end of the CAL I will look through all the photos on Instagram under the hashtag #crocheteddollCAL and choose the winners! There will be an overall First Prize for my favourite crocheted doll - the winner will receive the pattern for Coral, Gabriella & Leo (or reimbursement) AND all the yarn to make their own doll! There will be lots of runners up - every photo posted will enter you into the daw - and these prizes will be pdf copies of my doll pattern (or reimbursement). Like I said at the start, if you follow my pattern each photo you post will count as 2 entries.

me and my crocheted dolls
all photos in this blog post by Niall Mitchell

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments or get in touch directly via Instagram. I can't wait to see all your creations,

Marta xx

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

Help! I'm a sock addict!

Help! I seem to have become a sock addict! I am currently on my 8th pair since starting in September last year! I am going to share my sock making journey here, mainly through photographs because as you know I take lots of photos as I am going along, mostly to post on Instagram.

current pair!

I began by making a pair of socks for myself simply as a way of using up all the scraps of 4ply yarn I had kicking about. I followed a pattern by Joanne Scrace called Evesham Socks and I quickly fell in love with the sock making technique!

1st pair - for me!

I realised that socks would make a lovely Christmas present for my sister's fiance, Mat, so I made him a pair of Everyone (Needs) Socks by Kat Goldin. He loved them but my sister, Aimee, loved them more so I made her a pair of self coloured ones.

2nd pair - for Mat

finished!

3rd pair - for Aimée

After Christmas I found myself in need of inspiration for a project so I asked my youngest son, Alex, if there was anything he would like me to make for him - he replied "socks please!". His pair use up lots of scraps like mine - he chose the order he wanted them in. The pattern is another of Joanne Scrace's called Mamble Socks.

4th pair - for Alex

a good fit!

Time for another pair for myself! I asked my husband to pick out a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners sock wool from our local yarn shop, Fluph, and he picked me a lovely soft pink colour - I love it! This pattern is Hop Socks by Vicki Brown.

5th pair - for me!

cosy!

Onto another family member - my eldest son this time. His feet are on the large size - UK size14 - so this was definitely a labour of love! I chose another Vicki Brown pattern - Fallen Leaves.

6th pair - for Niall

long socks!!

Pair no.7 were soon underway! I stumbled across 4 balls of vintage sock wool in our local charity shop and decided to use them to try another Vicki Brown pattern Winter Wonder. Of all the designs I have tried, this one is definitely the fastest! It's worked in tramline stitch which was a new stitch for me and I absolutely love the results. I made them with no real recipient in mind but then found out it was my friend Moira's birthday and I knew she would appreciate them.

7th pair - for Moira

curled up

Of all the sock patterns I have tried so far, I felt that Fallen Leaves had the best squishy texture so I decided to make a pair for myself. We are heading into much warmer weather now, so will need to wait a while to wear them but I am looking forward to autumn already!

8th pair - for me!

What about you? Do you have a favourite sock pattern? Please share them with me in the comments below, I would love to hear from you!

Marta xx

Crochet Pattern Review - Monkey by Vanessa Mooncie

This week I thought I would review a crochet pattern I recently followed; Monkey by Vanessa Mooncie. This pattern can be found in Vanessa's book Crocheted Wild Animals; A collection of cuddly creatures to make from scratch. It's a book I have had for a few years now and this is the second time I have followed the monkey pattern because the last one was such fun to make and such a hit with friends that I decided to make another one.

I like Vanessa's patterns because they are written out in a clear, logical way and just in case you still don't understand, there are diagrams for each individual piece required for the finished piece. The monkey pattern, like the others in the book, is accompanied by lots of photos of the finished monkey in a variety of different poses. I find this is handy when it comes to sewing the completed sections together because you can clearly see what goes where.

The picture above shows the first monkey I made, back in 2015, patiently waiting for me to make him a new friend! The photo below gives an idea of the layout of the pattern within the book. I like the little facts about each of the animals added in some of the free spaces!

I worked on the monkey with very little distraction from other projects and I enjoyed watching the colours form stripes in the variegated merino from Marley Yarns (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MarleyYarns), so I finished off within a few days. I only made four small deviations from the original pattern. Firstly I always use buttons instead of safety eyes; there's no particular reason for this other than because I love buttons! Secondly I altered the ears going through the front loop only of the inner ear; I thought the ridge created was similar to the way the top of the face was attached. Thirdly I omitted the tummy section; I wanted to show off the variegated yarn. Fourthly I didn't edge the top of the face; because I was using variegated yarn it looked clumsy - a clear line of yellow worked best. I want to be clear that all these reasons are purely personal and in no way a reaction to poor pattern writing. 

I would definitely recommend Vanessa Mooncie's Monkey pattern, and indeed any of her other patterns. Vanessa has a delightful way of designing cuddly creatures and giving them real anthropomorphic character which will instantly charm anyone who sees them. 

Have you followed this pattern? Or any of Vanessa's other patterns? Let me know what you think in the comments. xx