2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches Week 39 – Blossom Stitch

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Blossom Stitch 

Awww – I think my blanket is being used as some kind of Lego mat!!! Bless my daughter. You can’t beat a bit of Lego making! My daughter made this up with her Daddy yesterday afternoon. It’s pretty cool, it’s a little ice cream van and shop. There are so many incredible Lego kits now isn’t there. I remember having a pile of bricks and just having to try our best and use our imagination!! Amazing how things have evolved. Lego is in a whole different level of playing now!! I remember watching a Lego documentary and there are adults that will literally wait for a kit to be released and make it within 24 hours! There was one guy that had his poor girlfriend, sorting pieces so he was quicker to make it! Crazy!! Once he had made it, the finished article would be displayed and never played with. Can’t quite get my head around that, but hey, each to their own!! Fun fact alert from my husband – apparently Lego are the biggest manufacturers of wheels in the world! Who would have thought! Bonkers!!! Anyways!! Lego is definitely back in business and I reckon it’s here to stay!!

Well I think we need a big YEY to the weather this week!! Just incredible! I have to say these are my favourite kind of days. You can keep your scorching hot suns – give me a clear blue sky with crisp but warm sun, any day. Boots and gelert weather and some sunnies on top of your head! Just the best. Look at those skies!!

As I was reading in Simply Crochet magazine, we are entertaining our season at the minute!! The season of crocheted scarves, socks and yarnny hats!!! Ekkk!!! Proper weather!! Hope you are all enjoying your seasonal projects! I seem to be getting through all the birthday pressies at the minute. I made this little lady for daughter’s best chums sister. Hope she will like her.

Think it’s the colour combo I love so much! It’s a mix of a lovely soft dusty pink from Sublime and a West Yorkshire Spinner rainbow sock yarn. I had a bit of duh moment the other day. I’ve realised that some of my all time favourite projects have been with multistranded yarn. And if I ever just want to create something, I will always grab a couple of different colours to create something. I’ve decided it’s because it’s like painting. I get to choose what colours I use, rather than being dictated to by yarn suppliers. I reckon when I have a little more time on my hands, hand dyeing is the way forward. How amazing would it be to create your own colour scheme – I mean think of the rainbow possibilities!! It’s definitely on the to do list!!

So this weeks stitch is called the Blossom stitch. Now I know I should have used this in the spring, but hey, hind sight is a wonderful thing. So the Blossom stitch is another one of those stunning stitches that is made up of V shaped stitches in columns. It works well with pale colours such as this weeks dusty pink Toft wool. It creates quite a dense shape, which would work well for hats or scarves. You could use it with some lovely 4ply or lace weight to create a stunning shawl. Oooo, the possibilities!! Hope you enjoy this one.

Supplies –

This week I have once again used the wonderful Toft wool in this lovely pink colour. It’s quite a contrast from the deep purple from last week but they sit well together. Couldn’t resist matching it with the stitch again. Now I know it’s not blossom season and I probably should have used this stitch in the spring, but this colour is definitely a blossom colour. You will need about 30g of DK yarn and don’t forget the 4mm hook, scissors and blunt ended tapestry needle to sew all the ends in.

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.

Ok so here we go…

1 – Attach your new yarn onto the right side of your blanket. Now chain 1 and work 1dc in the same stitch.

Now work (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in the next stitch.

Now miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next stitch.

*Now miss a stitch and work (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in the next stitch. Then miss a stitch and work 1dc in the next stitch.*

Repeat this ** across the whole row.

Ending with 1dc in the last stitch. (200)

2 – Right so turn your blanket and chain 4.

Now miss the first tr stitch and work 1dc in the first chain 1 space. This is where the arrow is pointing in the picture above.

Now chain 1, miss 1tr and work 1tr in the next dc stitch.

*Ok so now chain 1, miss 1tr and work 1dc in the next ch1sp, chain 1, miss 1tr, then work 1tr in the next dc stitch.*

Repeat this ** across the row.

Finish with 1tr in the last stitch. (200)

3 – Ok so first things first, turn your blanket, chain 1 and miss the first tr and first chain.

So now you are going to work (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in the next dc stitch. This is where the arrow is pointing in the picture above. Then miss 1ch and work 1dc in the next tr stitch. This is where the arrow is pointing in the picture below.

Now *miss 1ch, work (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in the next dc, then miss 1ch and work 1dc in the next tr stitch.* So repeat this ** across the whole row.

At the end work 1dc in the top of the chain 4 from the row below.

4 – So now we are going to repeat row 2. Right so turn your blanket and chain 4. Now miss the first tr stitch and work 1dc in the first chain 1 space. This is where the arrow is pointing.

Now chain 1, miss 1tr and work 1tr in the next dc stitch.

*Ok so now chain 1, miss 1tr and work 1dc in the next ch1sp, chain 1, miss 1tr, then work 1tr in the next dc stitch.* Repeat this ** across the row.

Finish with 1tr in the last stitch. (200)

5 – In this row we are going to repeat row 3.

Ok so first things first, turn your blanket, chain 1 and miss the first tr and first chain stitch.

So now you are going to work (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in the next dc stitch. This is where the arrow is pointing.

Then miss 1ch and work 1dc in the next tr stitch. This is where the arrow is pointing in the picture below. Now *miss 1ch, work (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in the next dc, then miss 1ch and work 1dc in the next tr stitch.* So repeat this ** across the whole row.

At the end work 1dc in the top of the chain 4 from the row below.

And there we have the beautiful Blossom Stitch. I’m thinking a scarf in this stitch next year!! It’s so delicate, yet so easy to work.

Hope you have enjoyed this weeks CAL instalment.

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈Xx

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2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches Week 33 – Extended Half Treble

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Extended Half Treble

Well what do you reckon to this little guy. May I introduce Diego. He was a prize from a competition, run by the wonderful inahurry website owned by my lovely friends. They are a fabulous website which enables you to find great gifts for children and babies, in a hurry. What a brilliant concept. Definitely worth knowing this one. I reckon we’ve all been in that situation when you need something for a little bod in your life and don’t have time to surf the web for hours on end! I know sometimes we have children’s parties that can creep up on us. Well here’s the answer. Welcome to The Busy Parents Club!!

So the reason he is sitting on my blanket, is because my lovely friend asked me to hand embroider the chosen name from the competition winner on his little paw. Rather chuffed with the outcome. Loving the colour combo of Mr Diego, so just had to carry it through to the name tag.

And as a result, I then just had to use this fab colour in this weeks blanket! What do you think? I’m loving it. I reckon the powdery blue works really well with that dark blue and deep red! I wonder if it would be a good colour combo for a boys blanket? Now there’s a thought! Well hope Diego has found his way to his new home and his owner is keeping him safe and happy.

So on to the wonderful world of crocheting. Oooo did everyone have a happy #grannysquareday2018 this week? It crept up on me this year, so it was a quick rummage through the yarn basket and hey presto a rainbow granny square was born. I couldn’t not do a rainbow one now could I!! I used purely Sublime wool, which you all know I just love!! It’s mega soft. It’s currently being used as a rather nice mat on my bedside table for my watch and glasses. Thinking it might just have to stay!!

So once again, another week has passed by of our wonderful 6 week holiday! Can’t quite believe how quick it’s gone!! It seems to have been quite a full week, with one thing or another. But all good. We’ve had some good walks into town, with one trip involving us bumping into 11 people we knew!!! Not bad going for a half an hour town trip!! I only wanted to pick up new school uniform and some toothpaste! Love it!! Wouldn’t have it any other way! I did sneak in a quick trip to the wonderful Melbourne Coffee Bar in Lichfield. They do the most amazing coffee and the lady who runs it is just lovely!! She makes the most amazing turmeric drink! Fab for anyone that suffers with pain – I think she even makes a porridge too! Well she was rather chuffed with my purple reusable cup that gets taken most places with me. So it ended up being famous on her Instagram page!! Yey!!! Happy days!!! Don’t forget to visit if you are next in town!

Love our route into town, we walk past these mega reeds. They are so elegant, with their height and strong colour!! My daughter was fascinated by them. I wonder if you could crochet one! Now that would be a challenge.

This weekend we had a lovely trip to Baddesley Clinton. It’s a beautiful old house surrounded by a moat. The lovely volunteers were ever so nice in there, helping my daughter with her trail. And the gardens are just exceptional!

I had serious rainbow flowers envy!! Look at those colours!!! Just incredible!!

Talking about colours!! So this week I had a peak at all my sock yarn. Couldn’t resist making this little pile of socky yarn loveliness!! I reckon I’ve got enough to keep me going for a while!! Most of these were from one of my fabulous local yarn shops The Knitting Corner – they’ve not only got West Yorkshire Spinners, but Opal and Sirdar. A few of the others are from WoolWarehouse and not forgetting the super wool festival I went to Woolj13 in May! (Can’t wait to go back there again.)

So on to the blanket. Hmm, August seems to be turning into the Half Treble month! So last week we saw the lovely Paired Half Treble stitch. Which was a super textured little stitch and easy to work up. This week I have chosen the Extended Half Treble Stitch. (ExHtr) It’s ever so easy to do, it’s basically your usual Half Treble Stitch with an extra little bit at the beginning. So nothing to worry about. I bet you will whip this up in no time. Hope you like it!

Stitches –

Chain (ch) – To make a chain stitch, make a slip knot on your hook and then place the yarn over your hook and pull through the loop. Repeat this action to make a row of stitches.

Half treble (htr) – A half treble crochet is basically one less movement than a treble. So yarn over hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through all 3 loops.

Extended Half Treble (Exhtr) – So to work this stitch, yarn over your hook, insert into the stitch, yarn over your hook again and pull back through the stitch. (3 loops on your hook) Ok so yarn over your hook and pull through the first loop. Now yarn over your hook again and pull through all 3 loops.

Supplies –

So this week I have chosen a wonderful powdery blue from my all time favourite snuggly soft Sublime range. Oh I just love this wool. It’s an incredible mix of a baby cashmere, merino and silk. It’s a fab ‘go to’ double knit wool, that is just mega to work with. You roughly need about 30g/40g of yarn. Don’t forget your scissors, blunt ended tapestry needle and of course your 4mm crochet hook.

Ok so here we go …

1 – Right then, start by attaching your new yarn on the right side of your blanket and chain 3. (This acts as 1htr.) *Now work 1Exhtr in your first stitch. To do this yarn over your hook, insert into the stitch, yarn over your hook again and pull back through the stitch. (3 loops on your hook)

Ok so yarn over your hook and pull through the first loop. (3 loops on your hook)

Now yarn over your hook again and pull through all 3 loops.* And that finishes your first Extended Half Treble stitch.

Now continue along the row with 1Exhtr repeating ** across the row.

Finishing with 1Exhtr in thr last stitch. (200)

2 – Ok so row 2. Start by turning your blanket and chaining 3. (This acts as 1htr.) Now work 1Exhtr in the first stitch.

Right so now work 1Exhtr in each stitch across the row, finishing with 1Exhtr in the last stitch. (200)

3 – For the last row, turn your blanket and chain 3. (This acts as 1htr.) Now work 1Exhtr in the first stitch then 1Exhtr in each stitch across the row, finishing with 1Exhtr in the last stitch. (200)

And there you have the Extended Half Treble Stitch. I do think it’s a handy one to know and gives you a different variation on a well known stitch. Hope you’ve enjoyed this weeks instalment of Year of the Stitches.

Happy hooking everyone!

🌈Xx

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