Well hello my lovely ones. How are we all? Is everyone enjoying the delights of Easter? I love this time of year. Particularly looking forward to the bluebells. They definitely are my favourite. Well that and daffodils too! And of course blossom! Well of it really!!
Has everyone had a good Easter break? We had a lovely time in Cornwall, slightly crazy weather though. One minute bright blue skies and the next crazy wind and rain.
We made the most of it though, it kept us on our toes. The little cottage has a rather wonderful log burner, which went down a treat with all of us, particularly the pup. I reckoned she would have stayed there all night, if I let her.
I managed some rather scrumptious knitting on holiday. Since being a member of Knit School, I seem to be doing more and more knitting. I have learnt so much from the wonderful Michelle. She is a wonderful teacher and Knit School really brings out the best in your knitting. I have been creating a 5 stitch blanket with my Geodes and Gem Club from For the Love of Yarn. It’s such a wonderful club. I opted for the DK Yak base. Yak is such a rich and indulgent base of yarn. As the base is quite dark before it is dyed, it really does give a sumptuous colour. Lisa’s colours are always so delightful, so this really is going to be a gorgeous project to create. As the yarn is from Lisa’s club, it comes as a surprise every month and is based on a gem or geode.
Love opening those parcels and finding out what colours are inside. Such a treat. Currently working on the green which is Amazonite. So far we have had Amethyst and Aquamarine. I wonder what April will be.
The blanket is based on 5 different knit stitches, which repeat for each month. A lovely lady has already asked for the pattern, so I will be adding it to the blog in due course. It will be a little KAL throughout the year which will be fun. Once you have the start and the first 5 stitches, you can just knit away.
Now don’t panic, all you lovely crocheters. I’ve have been working on a little spring crocheting as well. Now this little chap is very shy, so quite hard to find in house. He seems to find some great places to hide, particularly in the Easter egg pile.
Little pickle. I am hoping, if I can track him down, that I can bring you his little pattern by the end of the week. I was supposed to share it with you at easter, but the little tinker went walkabouts. Finally found him all snuggled up in a pile of cleaning washing. What a monkey. Anyways, I hope you like him.
Right, I had better get the washing done. It definitely wont get done by itself.
Happy hooking all, oh and a spot of happy stitching too!
Hello my lovely ones, how are we all? We still seem to be under the illness umbrella unfortunately. Can’t quite believe how long this has been going on! One is doing ok, one is starting to feel poorly again and the has had another trip to the doctors in the hope we can sort out little guy out. Heyho. Sure there is light at the end of the illness tunnel! How are we all getting on with your Advent Wrapdigans? I am loving doing the border. It’s definitely a spot of mindful crocheting as you don’t need to count or work out what to do. I do love a challenge, but some mindful crocheting is definitely what is required in our house at the minute.
So for the next few weeks we will be doing the border. It’s quite a big job, so I won’t be introducing the final stage for a few weeks. It’s all very simple now, so sit back and enjoy some mindful crocheting.
Now, as with all my patterns, they are all here for you to enjoy. And in exchange for these patterns, I would be very grateful if you could give, however little, a donation to our chosen charity Child Bereavement UK. This is an incredible Charity, that was been close to our hearts for a few years now. I cannot imagine how important the work they do is to the families that need them. Especially at this time of year. So if you can, however small, donate to the charity, in exchange for my pattern, then I would be so grateful. Thank you. Here’s the link to the Just Giving Page.
Scissors, darning needle for ends, set of weighing scales, blocking tiles and pins
Finished size –
Wingspan – 100cm
Centre spine depth – 90cm
Abbreviations –
mr – Magic Ring
ch – Chain
chsp – Chain Space
dc – Double Crochet
sk – Slip Knot
htr – Half Treble Crochet
blhtr – Back Loop Half Treble Crochet
tr – Treble Crochet
bltr –Back Loop Treble Crochet
dtr – Double treble Crochet
pf – Puff Stitch – [Yrh, insert hook where required, draw through a loop] repeat 4 times in the same place. You now have nine loops on the hook. Yrh and pull through all the loops on the hook.
rp – Rope Stitch – Crochet 1tr, 1ch, 1tr in same chsp or stitch.
dtr – Double Treble Crochet
bpdc – Back Post Double Crochet
dcsp – Double Crochet Spike Stitch
Changing colours tips –
Half treble change – yarn over your hook, insert in the stitch and pull through (3 loops on your hook.) Yarn over your hook and then place your new yarn over the hook as well and pull both through the 3 loops to finish the htr stitch. Then with your next stitch, just use your new yarn.
Treble Stitch change – yarn over your hook, insert in the stitch and pull through (3 loops on your hook.) Yarn over your hook and pull through 2 loops, then yarn over your hook and place your new yarn over the hook as well and pull both through the last 2 loops to finish the tr stitch. Then with your next stitch, just use your new yarn.
hen work 1dc in the 3chsp on the next square and the back loop of the main mandala stitch.] Repeat until you have all 4 sides of the main mandala attached to your squares, then Ss into the first dc and fasten off.
Border –
You now have your main mandala in the middle, surrounded by 24 mini square mandalas.
It’s now time to create the border around the edge. This will be a mix of your grey and coloured yarn. Your square should measure about 60cm across the width.
Round 33 – With the wrap the right side facing you, use your grey yarn and insert your hook into the 3chsp in the top right hand corner and attach your yarn and 4ch (acts as 4dtr.) Then [[work 1tr in each stitch in the row. When you come to a 3chsp’s – work 1tr, 1ch, then work 1tr in next 3chsp.
Then carry on working 1tr in each stitch.] Repeat across the row.] At the next corner work 2dtr, 3ch, 2dtr.]
Repeat this for each side of your wrap. In the 3chsp at the end of the round work 2dtr, 3ch, 1dtr and then ss into first 4ch and fasten off.
Round 34 – Carrying on with the grey yarn and 3ch and [work 1tr in each stitch, work 1tr in 1chsp and then work 1tr in each stitch. In the corner 3chsp – work 2tr, 3ch, 2tr.] Repeat this for each side and ss into the first 3ch.
Now this is the fun part, as it’s time to use up all those little different coloured balls of yarn. Once again you can choose any colour order you wish, but for me I wanted to work a continuous rainbow all the way around, ending with the purples and the pinks on two outside panels. But it is totally up to you.
Whilst working the next 15 rounds you will be using up some of your small balls of colour. So attach a new yarn as and when you need to do this in the rounds. It’s is totally up to you how you use your colours.
Rounds 35 – 3ch (acts as 1tr) and [work 1tr in each stitch in the row. At the corner, work 1tr, ch2, 1tr, then 1tr in each stitch.] Repeat this for each side and ss into first 3ch.
Rounds 36 – 49 3ch, (acts as 1tr) work [1tr in each stitch in the row. In the 2chsp work 1tr, 2ch, 1tr and then work 1tr in each stitch.] Repeat this for each side. Then ss into first 3ch and fasten off.Â
This completes your square shaped part of your wrap, as we now need to make it into a rectangle. Not this will take a while, so I will be carrying on the CAL in two weeks, giving everyone a chance to catch up.
Anyways, until next time. Don’t forget to shout if you have any questions.
Happy hooking.
Xx
As always, these patterns are brought to you, in the hope that they are all correct and easy to follow. It is only for personal use and not to be copied or reused. Thank you so much.
