Inspiring start to the year

I have had a lot of inspiration for new work so far this year which is not the way I expected January to turn out! I decided to challenge myself to write (and type up!) one new crochet pattern each month of 2016 because last year my pattern writing was somewhat unfocused and sporadic. I thought if I stuck to a seasonal item each time it would give me the focus I needed to create. Today is the 14th of January and so far I have a boot cuff pattern written (typed up and at the testing stage) and a hat pattern on the go!

boot cuff design

The boot cuffs use the crocheted cable method to produced a raised, textural effect. I began with pen and paper, sketching out the cable pattern then transferred it to crochet. I chose Artesano aran alpaca wool blend for the project because I am slightly addicted to alpaca yarn at the moment and I knew this particular wool would be soft and cosy. The small and medium size boot cuffs use one skein, larger sizes use two skeins; you can buy Artesano aran here. Once I am happy that the pattern is fully tested I will publish it, keep your eyes peeled!

fresh off the hook

last night's dusting of snow provided the 

perfect back drop for my photo shoot 

My second crochet design is a beanie hat, made in two colours using spike stitches. Up until now I have tended to focus on single colour patterns when I am designing because they are so much easier to write up. Now that I have more experience I am going to bring my love of colour into my work. This is something I am really excited about for this year and I hope it will bring a pop of colour into the world!

design in progress

This time I am using MillaMia naturally soft merino aran, which you can buy here. I love these two intense colours together, they will make a super bright hat! There may even be enough yarn left over from two balls to make a pompom, I'm not sure at this stage. I will finish this design in the next few days and type it up promptly (not leave illegible scribbles in my notebook to be forgotten!). Again, once it is tested I will share it with you.

My third creative burst this year is a new sewing design which I hope to sell in my online Folksy shop later this month. I started with a simple idea of using a covered button and played around with various fabrics and textures to go with it to create a brooch. I had soon come up with something I liked and I hope others will too!

new brooch design

So, I seem to be off to a good start this year and I hope it continues to be a year full of inspiration and creativity! What about you? Have you any creative plans for the year? Have you made something exciting? Please share below, I'd love to see!

Marta xx

A year in 4 blankets

For me 2015 will be "The Year of the Blankets" because I seemed to spend a lot of my spare time knitting and crocheting blankets! I have just put my hook down and taken photos of my last blanket of the year. I really wanted to finish it by the end of today and with 9 hours to spare I was happy to achieve my deadline!

the 4 blankets

The first blanket I completed this year was crocheted following the gorgeous pattern, "Sophie's Universe", by Dedri Uys. You can find the link to Dedri's pattern here

Sophie's Universe in progress

I loved following this pattern because it taught me so many different stitch techniques and combinations, every day was a school day!

At the very start of the year I began work on my Beekeepers Quilt. This was a knitted blanket, formed by making "hexipuffs" which were worked on 3 double pointed needles. I wrote a blog post about the start of this quilt adventure in January this year if you would like more information on this one.

finished Beekeepers Quilt

I was inspired by an Instagram friend, Anthea, @theforestflower ( link here) to make 1 hexipuff a day for the year, creating enough hexies by the end of the year for a blanket. I made mine using all my scraps of double knitting wool, instead of 4ply wool as the pattern stated, resulting in a very thick and heavy blanket! I decided to stop knitting in the autumn and started to join them together because I was worried about the weight causing damage to the blanket. The pattern for the hexipuffs is by Tiny Owl Knits and is available on Ravelry here

detail of hexipuffs

Throughout the year I worked on another blanket, on and off when I felt like a break between projects or when I had accumulated fresh supplies of scrap yarn. This was the largest of the 4 blankets, big enough to cover our king size bed! It was made up of very simple granny squares, designed by Jan Eaton, it's in her 200 Crochet Blocks book.

my husband, snuggled in the large blanket

This project kept me sane in the run up to Christmas because the squares were so easy to crochet and allowed me to chill out from all the extra goings on at that time.

cuppa and crochet

detail of the large squares

My fourth blanket of 2015 was completely different from the others, this one was self coloured which was a real change for me! I crocheted it following a pattern by Shelley Husband called GREG which was released fortnightly as a mystery CAL (crochet along). This meant that I had no idea how the finished blanket would look but I had been following Shelley on Instagram, as Spincushions  for long enough to have faith in her pattern writing abilities and I knew it would be an awesome blanket!

GREG in progress

I quickly found that working in one single colour meant that little faults and flaws in my crocheting stood out much more than in multi colour work. I learnt a few new techniques to help conceal the start and end of rounds with and I was soon much happier with the finished squares. You can find a link to Shelley's blog which has a link to her new eBook here

another GREG in progress

As the year drew to a close I realised that I had not really considered who the recipients of these blankets would be! I had a feeling that the Beekeepers Quilt would go to my youngest son because he had been sneaking off with as soon as it was big enough to huddle under! The large king size bed blanket was for our bed, I wanted a blanket that was big enough to keep one half of!! The other 2 blankets, what to do with them? I decided to give them to my other 2 boys to keep everyone happy and give everyone an heirloom blanket which I hope will be treasured for years to come.

my boys, posing with their blankets!

Now that they are all finished, what shall I make next? 

Marta xx

Introducing my Sasha doll; Belinda

I would like to introduce you to my Sasha doll called Belinda. I have had her since I was very small, making her one of the earlier versions of the design. If you are unfamiliar with Sasha dolls, have a look at this link

I made the pink and blue outfit above as my entry in the "dressed doll" category at my local flower show and she won first prize! This was before I had started up my craft business and this recognition gave me the confidence to make a go of it!

About a month ago I stumbled across a box of my child hood toys in the attic, and Belinda was inside! Then last week I was looking for a quick project and decided to make Belinda a new dress. I looked through my baby clothes patterns, found a newborn one and made it in 3ply yarn instead of double knitting (8ply) in order to achieve the correct fit. It was fiddly working in such fine wool, but it crocheted up really fast so it was rewarding!

I have a large selection of vintage pattern books which I love! These 2 are particularly inspiring at the moment. Toys to Knit and Crochet has several pages of patterns especially for Sasha dolls. It was kindly passed on to me from my friend Teresa - thanks Teresa!!

On Saturday I made a very speedy dress in vintage 4ply cotton. It worked up so quickly I got carried away, finished it, sewed in all the the ends, sewed the buttons on ... the inside! Today I went back and sorted them, and I'm happy with the vintage style on Belinda - what do you think?

Do you have a Sasha doll? If so, I would love to see photos, please share them!

Marta xx

Free Crochet Pattern: Ear Warmers with optional bow

I designed this pattern about 18 months ago but for some reason am only just publishing the pattern now!

The ear warmers were designed using Jenny Watson pure merino DK wool. This wool felt lovely and soft, perfect for being next to the skin! The pattern is worked up using front post and back post trebles; easy enough for a beginner to do.

The large bow is an optional extra and there are clear instructions for making the ear warmers larger and smaller.

I would like to thank my pattern testers from the Instagram community; Karen (@jumpingthroughloops) and Claire (@flowerhead2). Neither of my testers encountered any problems so I am happy to go ahead and publish. 

The pattern is available below or if you would like a pdf copy head over to my Ravelry page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#sort=best&craft=crochet&query=mrsdaftspaniel. Please do not copy this pattern in any form. Also please do not sell items made following this pattern, it is for personal use only. 

Stretchy ear warmers created using the cable rib technique. A larger or smaller headband could easily be created by adding multiples of 4 chains or decreasing by multiples of 4 chains. The ear warmers could also be made without the large bow.

Materials

2 x 50g balls of Jenny Watson pure merino DK (approx 124m per 50g ball), I used “heather”

4.5 mm crochet hook

stitch marker / contrasting piece of yarn

tapestry needle for sewing in ends

Tension

16 stitches and 14 rows per 10cm²

Abbreviations (UK terms)

ch chain

ss slip stitch

tr treble

fptr front post treble (see advice)

bptr back post treble (see advice)

yrh yarn round hook

beg beginning

prev previous

Advice

The ribbed pattern is created by crocheting into the front and back posts of treble stitches instead of into the top of the stitch. Detailed descriptions of these 2 stitches are given below.

fptr yrh, insert hook from front to back of work around back of indicated stitch and back through to the front, yrh, draw round back of post indicated, (yrh draw through 2 loops) twice

bptr yrh, insert hook from back to front of work around front of indicated stitch and back through to the back, yrh, draw round front of post indicated, (yrh draw through 2 loops) twice

It may help to have a stitch marker or contrasting length of wool to mark the beginning of each round.

Pattern

Main band

Ch 76, ss into first ch to form large ring (making sure it isn’t twisted)

Round 1  ch3 (counts as 1tr), tr into each ch, ss into 3rd ch at beg. of round 1 (76 stitches)

Round 2  ch2 (counts as 1bptr), *fptr into next tr (3 times), bptr into next tr* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 2nd ch at beg. of round 1 (76 stitches)

Rounds 3 - 10  ch2 (counts as 1bptr), *fptr into next fptr (3 times), bptr into next bptr* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 2nd ch at beg. of prev. round (76 stitches).

Finish off, sewing in ends on reverse.

Bow

Ch 44, ss into first ch to form ring (making sure it isn’t twisted)

Round 1  ch3 (counts as 1tr), *tr into each ch* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 3rd ch at beg. of round 1 (44 stitches)

Round 2  ch2 (counts as 1bptr), *fptr into next tr (3 times), bptr into next tr* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 2nd ch at beg. of round 2(44 stitches)

Rounds 3 - 10  ch2 (counts as 1bptr), *fptr into next fptr (3 times), bptr into next bptr* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 2nd ch at beg. of prev. round (44 stitches).

Finish off, leaving 20 cm to secure to main band.

Knot

Ch 22, place chain through main band, ss into first ch to form large ring circling main band (making sure it isn’t twisted)

Round 1  ch3 (counts as 1tr), tr into each ch, ss into 3rd ch at beg. of round 1 (22 stitches)

Round 2  ch2 (counts as 1fptr), *fptr into next tr* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 2nd ch at beg. of round 1  (22 stitches)

Rounds 3 - 10  ch2 (counts as 1fptr), *fptr into next fptr* repeat to end of round, ending with ss into 2nd ch at beg. of prev. round (22 stitches).

Finish off, leaving 20 cm to secure to main band and bow.

Finishing off

Line up the beginning rounds of both main band and bow. Sew bow securely onto main band in the centre, making sure the stitches will be concealed by the knot later. Cover all ends and joins with the knot. Sew securely to the bow and the main band with 6 strong stitches on reverse only. Sew in ends on reverse.

If you do make the ear warmers, please share a photo with me, I would love to see them!

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; wave pattern beanie hat

This beanie hat pattern was first published in the "free patterns" section on the Lemonadeyarns shop website. Since then, due to the fabulous increased range in the online shop (seriously, go check it out!), there is no longer room for the free pattern section. I am now able to share the pattern with you here, I hope you like it! 

This textured hat is crocheted with super chunky wool and works up really fast. It is worked in the round from the brim to the crown.

Materials

1 hank Erika Knight maxi wool (I used shade no. 32, “steve”)

10 mm crochet hook

stitch marker / contrasting piece of yarn

large needle for sewing in ends

Tension

11 stitches x 4.5 rows per 10 cm²

Abbreviations (UK terms)

ch chain

ss slip stitch

dc double crochet

dc2tog double crochet 2 stitches together

tr treble

prev. previous

beg. beginning

Advice

The wave pattern is created by crocheting 4 stitches into the dc of the previous round. It may help to have a stitch marker or contrasting length of wool to mark the beginning of each round.

Pattern

Ch 40, ss into first ch to form large ring (making sure it isn’t twisted)

Round 1  ch1, dc into each ch, ss into ch1 at beg. of round 1 (40 stitches)

Round 2  ch1, *(1dc, 3tr into dc), miss 3dc* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 3tr into ss of round 1), ss into ch1 at beg. of round 2

Rounds 3 - 6  ss into dc, ss into 1st tr, ch1, *(1dc, 3tr into next dc)* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 3tr into ss of prev. round), ss into ch1 at beg. of round

Rounds 7 - 8  ss into dc, ss into 1st tr, ch1, *(1dc, 2tr into next dc)* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 2tr into ss of prev. round), ss into ch1 at beg. of round (31 stitches)

Round 9  ss into dc, ch1, *(1dc, 1tr into dc)* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 1tr into ss of round 8), ss into ch1 at beg. of round 9 (21 stitches)

Rounds 10 ch1, dc, dc2tog to end, ss into ch1 at beg. of round 10 (16 stitches)

Round 11 ch1, dc2tog to end, ss into ch1 at beg. of round 11 (9 stitches) Leaving a long tail, weave in and out of front loops of remaining stitches, pull closed, fasten off.

Finishing off

Secure ends and weave in on reverse side.

I can assure you this pattern has been thoroughly tested. I am happy to share it with you for your personal use, but please respect my original design and do not reproduce this pattern or the hat made from it for your own financial gain. Please comment below if you make a beanie hat, I would love to see your projects. Happy hooking!

Summer Projects

Oh dear, I seem to have neglected my blog over the summer! To help ease myself back into the habit I'll start with this easy post and share a few photos of some of the items I have made over that period.

At the start of the summer I made this 'Sunday Shawl' as a retirement present for my mum.

This is the first childen's garment that I have designed and crocheted.

I made 2 pairs of Happy scrappy Wrist Warmers. This pair is still available in my Folksy shop

I upcycled a handful of curtain pole hoops into cute little brooches, this is one of them.

Not a finished piece of work but a work in progress! This is my 'Sophie's Universe' blanket.

My first ever knitting design! A knitted washcloth with crochet border, in soft linen yarn.

Finally, my latest finished item; a Happy Scrappy Crocheted Scarf. I have just listed this in my Folksy shop 

That is a quick update of what I have been up to. I hope you have enjoyed my colourful photos because colour is such a key part in my creative work! You can keep up with my crafty adventures by 'liking' my Facebook page or following me on Instagram.