PipsRainbow is 6 Years Old!

Hmm, now where has that gone! 6 years! I can’t quite believe how quickly the time flies by. If you’d have said that I would be a crochet designer & that I would have my one blog & write my own patterns 10 years ago – well I definitely wouldn’t have believed you! I remember when I thought up PipsRainbow. It was on a journey on the way home from Lymington. We’d been on a family holiday and my little boy was only a few months old, so it was quite a big thing. I remember the days of all the paraphernalia that you need with a little one. The extra little bits of kit that you may or may not use! But the one thing I did have, was my crochet kit. Even then, I didn’t use to leave the house without my crochet kit. You just never knew when the next moment to crochet would arise. In those days, it would be when I was out and about and little one had fallen asleep in his pram or car seat. Well on this particular occasion, I must have been trying to get him to have a nap. You can just see his little awake eye peeping out at me! Bless him.

I think I was crocheting a little Easter chick or a duck at the time. I now find that sock knitting or crocheting is my go to for taking out and about with me. It’s such a small project and usually involves not much thinking about, so great to work on when there are other things going on around you.

Over the past year, I feel PipsRainbow has evolved. I think it is important to develop and grow as a little company. I always knew that it had to fit around our daily busy lives. And sometimes this year, it is safe to say that, it has been on the back burner. Which makes me a little sad. As I have spoken about before, when you have a bit of a confidence drop in your work – you will always find another job that needs doing and those all uninspiring words ‘It’s ok, I will do that tomorrow!’ Are said. Hmm…I think I have said that, far too many times already this year. Haha, guessing that can be said for many of us, in all walks of life. So onward and upward me thinks. Time to take charge & spend a little bit more time doing the things with love.

One thing that does seem to be evolving is my desire to knit and design projects. Crocheting and knitting seem to be working hand in hand with each other. And I have always said that some things are best crocheted, yet others definitely need to be knitted. Heyho. The juggling act for both of them, is very real. Haha.

So here’s a cheer to the last year of PipsRainbow. I wonder what Year 7 will look like?!

Right then – here is the all important Birthday Pattern. The Waffle Snood. Haha, I know it is a funny name, but the stitch really does look like a waffle. Hmm, maybe I need to rethink that one.



This beautiful yarn was given to me by my dear friend. It’s from Manos Del Urguary and is called Alegria Grande. It’s a worsted weight and is oh so soft. So perfect for a snuggle snood. And yep, I am wearing it now – it’s cold!!

You will need –

100g skein of Aran/worsted yarn, 5mm crochet hook, blunt ended tapestry needle and some scissors.

Stitch Information –

Waffle Stitch – 1ch, insert hook into next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop, insert hook in next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop [yrh, pull through 2 loops] twice. 

Abbreviations –

ch – Chain

chsp – Chain Space

yrh – yarn round hook

Pattern –

Start your work by making a foundation chain of 39 stitches.  

Step 1 – Insert your hook into 3rd chain from the hook, yrh, pull through a loop, insert hook in 4th chain from hook, yrh, pull through a loop, [yrh, pull through 2 loops] twice. Now work a waffle stitch in each of next 2ch. (Waffle Stitch – 1ch, insert hook into next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop, insert hook in next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop [yrh, pull through 2 loops] twice. Repeat to last chain, 1ch, 1dc in last ch, turn. 

Step 2 – Ch2, Waffle stitch in first dc & next ch1sp, then [1ch, waffle stitch in next stitch and then in next 1chsp] Repeat to the last waffle stitch. Ch1, 1dc in last waffle stitch and turn. 

Repeat step 2 until you have the desired length you would like and fasten off. I worked mine till it was 60cm in length.

Now fold it back on itself and use your crochet hook to work 1dc in both sides of the snood by inserting you hook into both stitches in either side. (Alternatively, using your darning needle, sew up both sides to create the snood and then fasten off and sew in your ends.

Now it’s time to block your work. If your aren’t sure how to do this, then look up my You tube video on how to block your work.

So there you have it. A year of PipsRainbow & an all important Birthday Pattern. Enjoy.

Big hugs to you all & thank you once again for all of your support over the year. It means so much to me, more than you know.

Happy hooking.

Pip

🌈Xx

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The Juggling Act

Well hello my lovely, lovely ones. How are we all? Keeping warm? There’s some kind of gale going on outside my window. Do feel very lucky to be snuggled up inside today. I took the dog for a walk this morning, when it wasn’t too bad, I have a funny feeling she’s not gonna want to go outside in this. Bless her, definitely not a fan of the windy/wet days. Think she’s telling me already, that she doesn’t want to go!!

My daughter has just started her new chapter at secondary school and is definitely a big change in her life. They go from primary school, where they stay in one classroom and taught by one, maybe two teachers – to suddenly walking to school by themselves, having to find their way around different classrooms and taught by a variety of teachers. It’s such a huge step for them all. But one I knew she was ready for and thankfully seems to be settling in well. So that’s a relief. Think the biggest challenge for them all, is time management, making sure they are in the right place, in the right time and enough time to be able to get everything completed.

I feel like that is my problem at the minute. Juggling all the elements of family life. We seem to have so many after school activities, that I’ve had to work out a timetable of which dinners need to be one pot wonders in the warming drawer and which I can cook fresh at dinner time. I think two of the nights, we eat in the 3 different time slots in our house. Haha – crazy. Makes me remember in lockdown when no activities occurred and there was no rushing around. We still had a timetable though, but that was for things like snack time! Haha! Oh the joys.

One thing I do seem to be juggling with time for is crocheting and knitting at the minute! Definitely not a problem that everyone would have.

It’s not only having the time to actually do one or the other, but which out of the two, to do. My design hat for crocheting, seems to be developing into the designing for knitting too. Never thought that would ever have been the case. It’s funny isn’t it, how life can surprise you. I have always knitted. My Gran and Mum taught me years ago, when I was a little lady. I used to knit my Gran’s infamous slipper socks, which have gone far and wide in our family. Great pattern and one that I love to look at now. I then taught myself how to crochet and crochet toys and the love for crocheting just exploded. I couldn’t get enough of it. I seemed to understand it easier than knitting and it became easy to create. But now the knitting design hat seems to be itching away and wanting to create something new and exciting too. The more I knit, the more I want to design. I do wonder, how my life would be different, if I just followed other people’s patterns. Heyho. There are so many greats ones out there too.

I do find that my small on the go projects, seem to always be knitted or crocheted socks. They seem to be the best thing to carry around with you at all times, in the hope that you may get lucky and get a little moment. One round of a sock is a result in my book. But more is always preferable. Haha.

I tend to come in different modes: Football Mum, Hockey Mum, Tennis Mum, Swimming Mum to name but a few.

Football Mum below… crikey it was a bit warmer the day I took that picture!!

Now if the crocheting/knitting little moments involve coffee… then I am seriously on a winning moment. And in a mug – means happy days.

But it usually occurs in my flask, which is never far away from me. And apparently I can’t seem to live without my Hide & Hammer bag. Fits my flask perfectly!

Hopefully soon, I will get a little more time for my beloved PipsRainbow. I have so many things to share with you, so exciting. I am hoping to soon bring you my very first knitting pattern. It’s quite a simple one and one that many of you crocheters can easily learn to knit with. It comprises of 5 different stitches, which you work up in 5 colour sections to create a simple, yet elegant knitted blanket. Exciting!

The pattern is written, so it’s just needs a spot of proof reading and pics and it will hopefully be with you all. Hopefully I will be able to bring you a few more PipsRainbow Knitted patterns in the future too.

Right, I had better get on with a few jobs before the craziness of evening activities occur.

Big hugs to you all,

Pips

🌈Xx

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