New blanket making...

Hello! Hope you're having a great day wherever you are! :) 

I have been making a new Wheels Within Wheels blanket recently. 

It is colourful and  fun, I really like this pattern, the wheels stick out for a great thick textural effect that I enjoy making. 

The pattern is by Frankie's Knitted Stuff and can be found on Ravelry.

I decided to make my wheels a bit bigger so added 2 extra rounds of colour, lots of opportunity fro colour play!  I am using a few different 8ply wools to get the colours I want, mainly Heirloom Colorworks, Baby Merino 8ply, Loyal 8ply and Cascade 220 Superwash.

I've made a couple of these before here and here if you want to see them. 

I have just started doing the background of each wheels now, I am using my favourite Silver Grey in Cascade 220 Superwash as a good neutral foil to all the colours.  I have 48 wheels so it will take a bit of time! 

 So I think that's it for the minute, hopefully I'll have the squares ready for joining soon, although I think they will need a fair bit of blocking as the corners are curling up a lot.  Have a great creative day peeps! 

Kate Selene Yarn : New loveliness in the shop

Hi there!  

I hope you have had a great day, it's been a good one here! 

The other day a big box of gorgeous yarn arrived at my house, it came all the way from the UK and was something I have been looking forward to receiving with great excitement.   It was full of amazing 4ply sock wool and some very squishy DK/8ply as well.  These amazing skeins are from the super talented indie dyer Kate Selene, and I feel very lucky to now be stocking some of her beautiful speckled yarns in my shop! 

As you can imagine, I was drawn to Kate's awesome use of colour,  there are so many interesting and beautiful colour combinations in each skein.  Totally gorgeous.  It is also very soft and squishy merino wool, so just fabulous on all fronts! 

I think it will be a lot of fun making something with this yarn, a big colour adventure!  Just the spur on I need to learn how to knit sock!

I have added all these wools to my shop, you can have a look at them over here if you're interested. 

I did go a bit crazy taking photos of the yarn when it arrived, I just couldn't get enough of all those colours!   

Thank you so much Kate for all your hard work,  I am so happy to welcome your yarns to the Little Woollie Makes Yarn Store family! 

I have had so many new yarns coming into the shop recently, I am going to have fun sharing them with you all over here! 

Baubles for Christmas - things I'm making.

Hi there!  Hope you have had a gorgeous day!
I just thought I'd pop these photos on here because I am enjoying making Christmas Baubles at the moment and aren't those colours just lovely together!   I haven't made these for a few years and am really having fun with all the colour play.  The end of the year is coming up so fast, it feels too early to be thinking about Christmas, but it will be here before you know it!  So this is me being organised and Getting Things Done Early! :)

Have you started to think about Christmas yet?

I am planning on writing up this pattern tomorrow as I am having a bauble workshop on Saturday,
so I thought I might pop a few bauble kits in the shop next week, and put the pattern in my Ravelry shop if anyone would like to make some of their own...... well that's the plan anyway, fingers crossed it will happen!

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Dotty Flower Hexies

Hi there! 

I hope your having a great day. :) 

Today I thought I'd share a pattern that I've had tucked away for a few months, it is an extension of my Dotty Flower pattern, by adding a couple of rounds I have turned them into hexagons that can be joined and made into blankets, cushion covers or whatever you like! 

It is quick and easy and I really like how they turn out!

I'm using US terminlogy, so for Australian/UK terms, 

sc = dc, 

dc = tr, 

tr = dtr, 

dtr = trtr

(I'll pop the original flower pattern here too, to make things a bit easier.  If you want to check out the whole tutorial with photos you can find them in the original post over here.)

Dotty Flower

4 mm hook, small quantities of 8ply/DK yarn in 3 colours

Special instructions:  

2dc Cluster: Yo, insert hook in stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops ( 2 loops left on hook) , yo, insert hook in same stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops (3 loops left on hook) , yo and pull through all loops on hook. 

Petal Cluster: Step 1- *Yo twice, insert hook into 2 ch space, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, leave last loop on hook ( 2 loops on hook) * .  

Repeat * to *  (3 loops on hook) 

Step 2 - Yo 3 times, insert hook in skipped stitch of round 1, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, leave last loop on hook  ( 4 loops on hook) 

Repeat Step 1 into the same 2 ch space ( 6 loops on hook) .

Step 3- Yo and pull through all loops on hook. 

Pattern: 

Chain 4, slip stitch into 1st chain to form a ring.

Round 1: ch2 (does not count as a stitch), 12 dc into ring, slip stitch join to 1st dc, fasten off. 

Round 2:  Join next colour to any stitch, ch2, make a 2dc cluster into same stitch, *ch2, skip 1 stitch, make a 2dc cluster in next stitch, * .  Repeat * to * 4 more times, to make 6 cluster, ending with 2ch and slip stitch join to 1st cluster. Fasten off.

Round 3: Join next colour to any 2ch space.  *Ch 4, make a petal cluster, ch 4, slip stitch into same 2 ch space, slip stitch into next 2ch space. *  Repeat * to * making 6 petals around the flower in the 2 ch spaces of previous round. Slip stitch into 1st space to join, fasten off and weave in all threads. 

All finished! :) 

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.....and here are the extra 2 rows: 

Dotty Flower Hexagon:

Background Rd 1: Join background colour to top of any petal, Ch1,  *3sc in same stitch in top of petal,  5tr in stitch on top of  Round 2 dots*,    Repeat * to * 5 times,  slip stitch to 1st sc. 

Background Round 2:  Ch1,  Make 1 sc in each stitch of previous round, except in the corners of the hexagon where you make 3 sc in the same stitch, ( this will be the middle stitch of 3sc in top of each petal) 

Join with slip stitch to first sc. Bind off. 

.........In this photo you can see the 5 trebles in between each petal and how it should look after the 2 rounds.

.......and here you can see the 3sc in the top of each petal in the first round.   In the final round, the corner are made by making  3sc  into the middle stitch of these 3 stitches of the first round.

So that is the Dotty Flower Hexie, I am thinking of making a couple of pillow cases for our bed with these hexies, I think it would be lovely and colourful. 

Happy days to you! 

Talk soon!

Darling Dahlias

Hello there! 

 I thought for the last day of summer in would be a nice thing to share some beautiful blooms that my dahlias have produced over the last month or so.  I have really tried to be more consistent with my care of the dahlias this season and the plants have rewarded me with the best display of flowers that I have ever grown.  Such bright and showy flowers really speak of summer to me. I hope they keep blooming for a few more weeks, I will be dead heading like crazy to try and get another flush of buds. 

So, are you looking forward to Autumn?  I'm a bit sad to see Summer go, it always seems the most relaxed season to me, and I love the long days, but it will be nice to have the cooler months again and all that cosy crochet time in front of the fire. :) 

Have a great day everyone, I'll be back with some crochet to show you soon! 

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Big Heart Blanket #2

Hello everyone! 

It feels like ages since I've shown what I've been crocheting, probably because I've been working on a big blanket for a lovely customer and it felts like I'd bore you showing the same work all the time. :)

Anyway, I have finally finished this Big Heart blanket and it is happily living in it's new home! 

I thought I'd show you some photos of the process along the way and how it turned out. ( Sorry if you've seen most of these on Instagram!) 

I am really happy with this finished blanket, it is bright and colourful and very hearty! I still love tapestry crochet so much, making these blankets is fun! 

....I made 12 heart strips to make this blanket......

.......sewing up the strips......

.... still sewing up the strips........

....it is a nice wide blanket to go across the end of a queen size bed......

....colour overload!! The clash of patterns! ......

So that is the end of another big project, it's time to think about what to make next!

So many possibilities!  I think I might work on a few small quick things for a while, big projects can take over your life!! 

Have great day you guys! 

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Make a Skinny Ripple!

Hello there! 

There was little bit of interest in the skinny ripple yesterday and a few people wanted the pattern so I thought I'd share how I am making this.

There are heaps of different ripple/ chevron patterns out there and a quick google search will find you a plethora of choices, I was after a rippled version of the skinny stripe blanket , a nice sharp zigzag, so decided to do mine in single crochet (dc in English terms). 

 To get a bit of texture, you work in the back loops of the stitches only. 

 So here's what you do! 

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Skinny Ripple Pattern

I use US terms so  sc =dc in English/Australian terms

Chain a number of chains in multiples of 16 st (+ 2) (Make it wider than you want your blanket as there is quite a bit of sideways shrinkage once you start making the ripples!)

Row 1: 2sc in 2nd ch from hook *1sc in each of the next 7ch, miss next ch, 1sc in next 7sc, 3sc in next ch. rep from * ending with 2sc in last ch, turn. 

Row 2 : Ch1, (working in back loops only) 2sc in first sc, *1sc in each of the next 7sc, miss next sc, 1sc in each of next 7sc, 3sc in next sc, rep from* end with 2sc in last sc, turn.

Keep repeating row 2.  

I changed colour every 2 rows, so each colour stripe is 2 rows of the pattern. 

Do as many rows as you like to make the blanket the size you want.

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So there you go, a nice easy pattern ! 

There are lots of different variations on this basic ripple pattern, so feel free to have a play around with it, lots of different effects can be achieved by small changes such as using double crochet  (trebles in English terms) instead of single crochet.

My colour placements have been random, but you could do a 7 or 8 colour repeat pattern if you don't like random stripes. :) 

Have a lovely day! 

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Skinny Ripple Progress

Hello there! 

I've had a bit of time today to do a few rows on my Skinny Ripple Blanket, it is growing slowly as I have a lot of other things that seem higher priority.   I do love all these colours though, I tend to come back to variations on this combination in so many things I make!  

This is a very easy pattern and I just love how the chevrons are so pointy.  After the initial chain row which is a bit tedious, it is smooth sailing.  My only regret is that I should have made it wider, I didn't realise how much the chevrons would pull the sides in and shrink the blanket width!  So it is a small cot blanket now! :)  

So, do you have a busy week ahead?  

My boys are back to school tomorrow after the holidays, so I'm thinking my days will get a little bit of structure back.  It is time for the second instalment of my Yarny Love Club so I will be working on sending those out later in the week.    Exciting! 

Talk soon! 

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New yarn in the shop - Cascade 220 Superwash!

Hello there! 

How has your week been going? 

I have been a busy girl putting on my shopkeepers hat this week. 

You might remember the order of Cascade 220 Superwash that I received a while ago, well  I have finally spent some time uploading photos of the new yarn and putting it in my online shop so now it is all there ready to buy!  

I am so happy to be finally stocking this wool, I have heard lots of good things about it,  and am so looking forward to making something with it, it feels so soft and the colours range is fabulous!  I currently have 58 colours in stock, and am planning on adding to that in my next order, so there really is a colour for everyone! 

It can be worked at an 8ply gauge with a 4mm hook/needles or as a 10ply with a 4.5/5mm hook/needle, I think it is technically classed as a light worsted weight yarn, but it feels very close to an 8ply in my opinion!  And I love the big 100g balls, so much potential crafty fun! 

If you'd like to have a look you can see them over here! 

........this colour palette looks familiar to me :) I still love this combo of colours! .....

It really is a pleasure being surrounded by all this inspiring colour!! 

The shop will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 - 4pm for anyone who would like to visit in person, just email me (or ring) for the address at littlewoollie@hotmail.com :) 

Or by appointment at any other time, just give me a ring! 

( my contact number is on my shop page here)

Talk soon! 

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weekly stills....

Weekly stills:

1. Picking colour combinations for a new set of heart washers, this part takes me ages, I need to stop procrastinating! 

2.  Lovely snail mail! I received this gorgeous package today from my creative pen pal Mel, aren't I lucky!   (It is so nice to receive mail that is not a bill or a credit card application!)

Thank you Mel, I love it all!  

Just about to sit down with a diet coke and have a read. ;) xx

3 + 4. I have been into Melbourne a couple of times in the last few weeks and have done a little shopping!  New washi tape and a rather big pile of new crafty books to keep me busy over the Summer.  Can't wait to have a good read!

5. Had a little bake off this morning, feeling quite festive after making 5 batches of our family recipe shortbread.  I only make it at Xmas time because it is so moreish that I could eat a whole batch by myself!  These bags are destined for other people so I can't gorge on them myself, although I might have tested out a piece or 3! :) 

(Recipe is over here if you are tempted to make some yourself, although I decided to whizz it all up in the food processor rather than melt the butter this time.)

6. My cute card display. There are so many gorgeous cards out there by very talented illustrators, I have decided to create a little inspiration wall with cards that are too nice to throw out.  I really like looking at these! 

How has your week been? 

Did you have a busy weekend, or have you got a busy week ahead? 

It is getting to that time of year when there seems a million things on at once!  

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