2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches Week 25 – Rope Stitch

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Rope Stitch 

Well, a week of football, wind, sun, BBQ’s, suncream, swims, walks, Mexican meals, yarn shopping, crocheting and above all, family time. Phew!!! Oh and I forgot, a rather yummy Chocolate Mousse Cake!! Which got nobbled before I could take a picture.

A busy but fun week. Is it really sunday evening again. Blimey.

The World Cup seems to be going along smoothly. I decided many moons ago that every time I watch England play – they loose! So last Monday night, Hubby went off to a friend’s to watch the big game and I watched the Final of the Great British Chef and low and behold – England win!! Today, it was on in the room with some of our friends watching, I could hear it but couldn’t watch it as I was busy sorting lunch and yet again they won. So yep – I am sticking to that rule! You never know, it might work!!

It always amazes me the commeradery of football. How our little island seems to go absolutely nuts for it at certain events. Love how these big events coincide with BBQ and sunshine – what’s not to like!! And even people that don’t tend to watch football, seem to get stuck in to the World Cup. We’ve had friends over for a BBQ today to watch the match. And there was definitely a few cheers from the neighbours houses when goals were scored!!  There was definitely a discussion as to when we were eating! Do you quickly eat before it starts or wait for half time!!! We planned for half time. It worked pretty well. So yeah, a good weekend all round.

We had a lovely little crochet/knitting group again this week. I feel like it’ll soon be time to open it up to others. It seems to be working well with little man’s naps. So that’s good. Finally thought of a name. It’s called The Rainbow Stitchers. Thought that was rather apt as it linked to crochet and knitting through the stitches, rainbow colours because of all the different colours and yarns we use and obviously a little rainbowness linking to PipsRainbow. So all in all a rather good name me thinks. I’ve also started talking to a few of the Mum’s at the school gate as to meeting up at the local pub for a get together with crochet hooks. There are quite a few that would like to learn, so might be a fun way to teach them and have a giggle too!!

I’ve been working on quite a few projects this week. It seems to be that time of year, where everything needs to be finished!

I did squeeze in a little bag for myself. It’s purely made in the oh so amazing, Sublime Yarn. I think I may have found my favourite range of rainbow colours. They do have a red colour that I didn’t use, but I reckon it would go quite well at the start of the rainbow. Can’t wait to do this range in a cushion!! It’s so soft!! My hooky friend said she saw me stroking my bag the other day!!! Haha!! Well it is soft!!!

It just fits my phone and keys in so will be great for following round the little man. I’ve also made a little elephant friend for a rather lovely little girl. She saw  my daughter’s, so was desperate for one. I couldn’t not, could I.

I love how my two little people are getting involved in the world of crocheting and yarn. A certain little boy grabbed not only my ball of wool but the hook too the other morning!!! It was a little lazy Saturday morning in our household, we didn’t need to be ready till 9am, so cuppa in bed was required!! And well, of course a little crocheting if the little man is snuggling in bed. But yeah, that didn’t happen now did it!! Ball was grabbed. Hook was grabbed. Bless. He tries to do it.

Now on the other hand. My daughter came with me to one of our local yarn shops, the lovely Knitting Corner. We zoomed there after school one day, as they shut around 4ish, so we didn’t have long. The only reason I was going was for the little elephant yarn that I was making for someone’s daughter. Well guess who bought more yarn than me and even got given her very own loyalty card!!! Yup, you’ve guessed, one little rainbow girl, aka my daughter. She’s decided to make herself a snuggle blanket. I’m thinking it’s not going to be a quick thing, but she is ever so excited about it. It’s all about starting them young!!! Oh I hope she enjoys it!!

Right so I think it must be blanket time. It’s a nice and easy stitch again this week. It’s called the Rope Stitch. Hope you like it.

Supplies –

So this week I have used a lovely ocean blue merino yarn from the fab Wendy range. I bought it at the lovely Knitique shop in Lichfield. It’s a lovely colour and definitely a yarn that’s fab to work with. So once again you will need about 30-40g of double knit yarn and not forgetting your 4mm crochet hook, scissors and blunt ended tapestry needle to sew in the ends.

Stitches –

Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.

Chain 1 Space – Otherwise known as ch1sp.

Treble (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.

Rope Stitch – So for this stitch, your work 1 Treble Crochet, 1 chain stitch and then 1 Treble Crochet in the chain 1 space in the row below.

Ok so here we go …

Ok so the Rope Stitch is quite similar to the treble V stitch, but it has a chain inbetween the V stitch, thus meaning more of the stitches are missed. It’s a nice and simple stitch, great for a drape of some kind. So Rope Stitch is basically 1 Treble Crochet, 1 Chain Stitch then 1 Treble Stitch, all worked in 1 stitch. So nothing too crazy.

1 – So start off on the right hand side of the blanket, attach your new yarn and chain 3. Then work 1tr in the first stitch.

Now chain 1 and work 1tr in the second stitch.

Now *miss 1 stitch and work 1tr, chain 1, 1tr in the next stitch.* Then repeat this ** across the row.

So after the last Rope Stitch (1tr, 1ch, 1tr.) Miss 1 Stitch and then work 2tr stitches in the last stitch. (200)

2 – Right then, so first things first, turn your work and chain 3. Then work 1tr inbetween the 2tr stitches in the row below.

Now start your Rope Stitch. So work 1tr, 1ch and 1tr in the first 1 chain space in the row below.

Ok so now repeat *1tr, 1ch, 1tr in the next ch1sp* across the row.

After the last Rope Stitch, work 1 tr at the top of the chain 3 stitches from the row below. (200)

3 – Ok so turn your work and chain 3. Then work 1tr in between the 1tr and Rope Stitch in the row below. *Now work 1tr, 1ch & 1tr in the next ch1sp.*

Repeat this ** across the row, working the Rope Stitch in each of the ch1sp.

At the end of the row work 1tr Stitch in the top of the chain 3 space from the row below. (200)

4 – So basically we are going to repeat row 3, so start by turning your work and then chain 3. Now work 1tr in between the 1tr and the Rope Stitch from the row below.

*Now repeat *1tr, 1ch 1tr in the next ch1sp* across the row.

At the end of the row work 1tr in the last stitch. And there it is. Now fasten off and sew in your ends!! Hope that’s all made sense.

It’s a lovely stitch isn’t it. Feels like it has such movement. Nice one for a little bod to learn, after they have mastered the Grannie Stitch.

As always, any problems give me a shout. Thank you ever so much for following me and having a go at the Year of the Stitches CAL!! Next week we are half way!!! Week 26!! Blimey!!! Now that is something isn’t it!!! Happy days.

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈Xx

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2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches – Week 21 Cable Stitch

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Cable Stitch

Well hello my lovely people! Hope you have all had nice weeks. It’s been both extremes of weather for us here, I reckon I could have worn my big coat on Thursday it was so cold. It’s definitely been a funny week. But I did have a lovely trip to one of my local wool shops this week with my Mum. And well I may have bought some Illustrious West Yorkshire Spinners wool. Well it kind of jumped out at me and it would have been rude not to buy such stunning yarn and I did buy it to go with the yarn I bought on my birthday. So that’s ok isn’t it!! Haha! The mind of a yarn addict in full working order!! Justification complete! Yarn bought and stashed away. I was thinking though, I might create my own yarn cake with it all. So I can carry around one big ball of yummy yarn with me and create my birthday shawl. A good plan me thinks. Here’s the colours! Think it will go well as a gradient triangular shawl! Holiday project me thinks!!

Doreen the lovely lady in the Knitting Corner shop, showed me this fantastic contraption!! It’s a yarn swifter. It’s terribly clever. I was explaining how I sometimes get in a pickle when I wind up wool from a skein/hank. And she said you could use one of these devices, thus allowing you to wind wool on your own. So basically your skein/hank goes round all the edges and then moves freely, releasing the yarn as you wind it up. Very clever and a super present for someone who buys and winds a lot of wool. Hint hint!! 😁 Think you can get different types of them, but this one was from the lovely www.knittinggiftsshop.com website. It’s beautifully made, but guessing quite big to store in your home. Heyho, one day maybe. Doreen did say she just winds hers up by hand. So I might have to have a go at that. (I’m sure my husband would be relieved if he didn’t have to help of an evening!!)

I am always amazed by the creations that the little people around us can create. One of my best friend’s daughter’s has made an absolutely spectacular hat for her Uncle’s stag do.

She has based it on the sheep that they had at their families farm – the Hill Radnor Rams.

She is only 9 years old. Can you imagine! What an incredible achievement to have designed and created this wonderful hat for her uncle! Hats off to you little lady. (Excuse the pun!!) Your uncle is one lucky man. She made it in some lovely merino wool, so it will be ever so soft and warm to wear.

You are a true crocheter in the making!! Can’t wait to see your next project and will hopefully share many more on PipsRainbow.

I don’t know about you guys, but I do love a bit of May blooms!!

There’s something about woodland family walks with sun streaming through the May time leaves. 

The flowers on our school run are so full of colour and richness too. Our neighbours seem to be giving us a real treat of May flowers. Look at this corker!!

I loved these as a kid. I used to imagine that they were fairy hats and that the plant was their shop where they bought them from!

May is definitely one of my all time favourite times of the year.

So on to the blanket. This weeks stitch is the wonderful Cable stitch. It’s very similar to its sister stitch in the knitting world. It’s quite a clever stitch as the combination of the stitches helps create an illusion of the stitches changing places.

Stitches –

Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.

Double Crochet (dc) – Insert the hook through the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have two loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.

Treble (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.

Cable Stitch (Cable st) – This is a stitch where you work 1tr across other stitches. So start off by missing a stitch and then working 1tr into the next 3 stitches. Then put your yarn over your hook and insert the hook into 4 stitches to the right (so back on yourself) into the dc stitch that you missed. Then yarn over your hook and pull back through (3 loops.) Then finish off the tr as normal. So yarn over your hook and pull through the first two loops, then yarn over your hook and pull through the last 2 loops.

Supplies –

So this week I couldn’t not use the lovely lilac colour that seems to be surrounding us all at the minute. So I have chosen this lovely yarn from the wonderful Wendy range of merino wool from our local Knitique shop. They have the whole Wendy range in there, so it was great to stock up on all my colours.

There’s something quite calming about lilac. My Mum loves this flower and it always makes me think of her as it comes out around her birthday. This beautiful lilac tree is on our school run. I hope the people that live at the house didn’t mind me taking a picture. My daughter was all up for me walking on to their lawn to get a better pic! Amazing how kids don’t have any inabitions.

So for the yarn, you will need about 40g of dk yarn. Remember you can use any kind of yarn. Most of blanket is either merino wool or a cashmere mix, so I wouldn’t necessarily use a cotton yarn. But I do think a nice soft cotton yarn blanket would be lovely, especially for the summer.

Ok so here we go …

1 – So this week we are starting on the wrong side of the blanket. Start off by a attaching your new yarn and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the same stitch. Now work 1dc in each stitch across the row. (200)

2 – Now turn your work and chain 3. (This acts as 1tr.) Then work 1tr in the same stitch.

Now miss next dc stitch and then work 1tr in each of the next 3 stitches.

Then work 1 cable st into the dc stitch you have just missed. So yarn over your hook and insert the hook 4 stitches to the right. So back on yourself.

Then yarn over your hook and pull back through the stitch. (3 loops) Then yarn over your hook and pull through the first 2 loops.

To finish off, yarn over your hook again and pull through the last 2 loops. And that’s your finished cable stitch.

Now your ready to repeat this across the row. So *miss next stitch and then work 1tr in the next 3 stitches. Now work your cable stitch in the missed dc stitch which is 4 stitches to the right.* (Remember your working a treble stitch across all of the 3 stitches.) Repeat ** across the row.

When you get to the last 2 stitches, work 1tr in each stitch. (200)

3 – Right so turn your blanket again and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the same stitch. Now work 1dc in each stitch across the row.

At the end of the row, work your last dc stitch in the top of the chain 3 stitches from the row below. (200)

4 – So here we are repeating row 2. So turn your work and chain 3. Then work 1 tr into your first stitch. Then *miss a stitch and work 1tr in each of the next 3 stitches. Now work your cable stitch into the missed stitch, 4 stitches to the right.*

Repeat ** across the row. After the last cable stitch, miss 1 stitch and then work 1tr in each of the last stitches. (200)

5 – In this row we are repeating row 3. So turn your blanket and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the same stitch. Now work 1dc across the row.

Work the last dc in the top of the chain 3 from the previous row. (200)

And there you have it, the super cable stitch.

Definitely one to remember! It would make a lovely blanket or give some great texture to a jumper. I really hope you have enjoyed this weeks instalment of Year of the Stitches! Thank you so much fo following PipsRainbow and having a go.

Happy hooking everyone!

🌈Xx

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