CAL Mixed stitch stripy blanket #2 - tadah

So here we are with the end product of the CAL, I know that a lot of you have finished your blankets ages ago and this blanket was a long time in the making, but I am so happy I finally finished this one! 

This was a BIG blanket to undertake, and if I am perfectly honest I probably bit off more than I could chew with the CAL, so I apologise for the disorganised nature of the CAL, but at least we made it too the end!

Anyway, want to see how mine turned out? 

Ready for a colour burst to brighten your day?

Here are a few photos to show you the final blanket in all it's glory!...........  

.........spread out on our bed.........

....one reason this is such a big blanket is so it would hang over the sides of the bed and drape nicely. 

It does do this!  Yay!

I love the look of this blanket all fold up, with all the colours working together, so lovely!! 

I think the colours look better when it is folded like this than when it is all spread out, well maybe not better as such, but just as good anyway !

This is a heavy blanket as you can imagine,and used up lots of wool. 

I used mainly Heirloom wool, a mix of Colorworks, Merino Magic and Baby wool, all in 8ply.

(I sell this in my shop if anyone is wondering where they can get the same colours :)  )

It is great to get something off my to do list and put it in my finished projects list, it doesn't happen often!

Well that's it for the CAL, I'm officially signing off on my first ever crochet along, all the instructions are on their own page so they are easy to find if anyone ever wants to make one of these for themselves.  Thanks for joining in and I hope you had fun! 

xxxxxxxxxxx

So, time to get stuck into something else, I have some Christmas crochet lined up next, can't wait to get started on it!

Bye! 

CAL update #11 - The edge!

Well, I have come to the end of my CAL, it's been a big project and taken longer than I expected, but it feels great to finally complete this second mixed stripy blanket.

All we have left to do is edge the blanket.  You can choose to edge it with whatever border you like, I have chosen something very simple and plain as I think there is plenty going on in this blanket already! :)

I chose to use flamingo for the edge, just because I still had a big ball left.  I couldn't face weaving in all those ends so I have made a casing edge that encloses all the ends without having to weave them in.  Lazy, I know, but I am happy with how it looks and it's chunkiness makes the blanket nice and sturdy.

I used a hook one size smaller so it wouldn't be too loose (3.00mm)

So anyway, in the edge colour, crochet a row of dcs down the side of the blanket, spacing your stitches as evenly as possible.  Push all ends to the back and crochet around them.

After the first row, turn and do a row of dcs back along the previous row.

Do this twice more so you have 4 rows of dc in total.

Do the same thing along the other side.

Next, simply fold the edge over and with a needle and wool, and stitch the top dc to the loops of the first row of dcs, where they attach to the side of the blanket.  Put the loose ends to the inside of the fold and they are enclosed as you sew.

And that is it!

This is the second time I have made the edge and I love how easy it is!

So that is the end of the CAL, I hope you enjoyed making this blanket if you have taken part,  Now that the instructions are finished, they will be there for anyone to have a go at whenever they want.

I've got a little tadah tomorrow to show you how it looks all completed.

Have a great day! 

CAL update #10

Hi there.

I have been working steadily away at my big blanket now for ages, and I have decided it is big enough!   So I have the final instalment for my epically long CAL, and then I will do the edge and it will be finished!!  I'm not planning anything fancy for the edge, there is so much going on in this blanket already that I think something plain and simple will be fine.

Anyhoo, here is the last !! section of my blanket:

After the 2 rows of dark pink,

double row of SC in red (right side, then turn work and go back on wrong side),

then 1 row of 4dc clusters in sky blue,

then 1 row of sc in red,

then 1 row of 4dc clusters in spearmint,

then 1 row of sc in pale pink,

then 1 row of 4dc clusters in dark blue,

Then a section of double rows of sc in

light aqua

red

spearmint

flamingo

pale blue

celery

Next I did a section of bobble stitch in flamingo and green.

Then a double row of sc in celery,

and another double row of sc in red.

Next I did a section of granny stripes in sky blue and pale blue then sky blue again.

The last section of the blanket is 5 double rows of sc in

red

dark blue

mid green

celery

flamingo.!

And that is the end of the main part of the mixed stitch stripy blanket!!

Just the edge to go now, so close to finishing, I really want to get this finalised before the weather gets much warmer, it is a very heavy, warm blanket!

Thank you if you are still with me on this CAL, I know I have been unreliable in it's progress, and a lot of people have got on with it and made up their own sequence, which is great.  I have seen many beautiful blankets finished months ago!  I apologise for my poor CAL admin duties, it seems I am not great at regular postings, maybe next time I will choose a smaller, more manageable project!  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the process, and created something unique and special along the way!

These instructions will be put onto the CAL page so that anyone can have a go at making their own mixed stripy blanket when ever they like, it's never too late to join in!

I'll be back with a post about the edging and a few pics of the whole thing finished, this blanket deserves a tadah, even if we are all sick of the sight if it!! :)

Have a great day y'all, and thanks for visiting!

Crochet Along Update #9

Hello. 

I have been making some headway with the mixed stripe crochet along blanket, so here is the next bit!

After the red dc cluster row and the dark blue row of sc,

1 row of 4dc clusters in spearmint, ( 3 stitches between each cluster),

then, 1 row sc in dark blue across top of clusters,,  (every 4th sc in gap between clusters),

then, skinny stripes, 5 rows of sc, all done on the right side, alternating between pale pink and sky blue, 

then, a zig zag section in light aqua and flamingo, 

then, 2 rows sc in mid blue, (up and back),

then, 2 rows sc in green, (up and back),

then, a section of outlined clusters in pale blue and celery, 

then, 2 rows sc in dark pink .

That's where I am up to at the moment.

I thought I would show you a couple of pictures of the blanket at the minute, so you can see what it's looking like all together, (very busy!!) it is starting to get nice and big!  

I am over half way now, so the end is in sight!  

I know a lot of you have already gone ahead and finished your blankets, (well done!) but I am still going to complete this project, I'm just a bit slower than you guys!  

I am lacking a bit of self discipline and let myself get side tracked by other ideas that just have to be made right now!

Anyway, have a great day and happy hooking!

Crochet Along Update #8

Hello.  Life has been so busy recently, I'm afraid to say I have let my blogging slip, there has just not been enough hours in the day to find inspiration and take photos for posts.  I am busy doing interesting things that I will tell you about soon, just got to find the time to put a few posts together!

Anyway, today I thought it was time for an update on the mixed stripe crochet along blanket, I had a look and the last update was way back in April! Yikes!  This year has kind of slipped away from me, so I apologise for the lack of posts about this project, I have been distracted up other crochet fun along the way.  On the other hand, I have seen lots of great mixed stripy blankets being completed on Ravelry, so obviously you are taking this pattern and running with it yourselves. And I've even seen another crochet along inspired by my blanket and she is much more organised than me!  I'm glad you are not necessarily waiting for my updates to forge ahead, it could be a bit frustrating for you if you are! 

So now I am going to make a concerted effort to finish this blanket! 

Heres what I have added this week:

After the pink granny stripe and 2 rows of sc in red (start 1st row on front then turn and do 2nd row going back),

Next: 2 rows sc in green,

Next: Catherine Wheel section in sky blue and dark blue (see earlier post for details on Catherine wheel stitch),

Next: 2 rows sc in green again.  (10 sc in each repeat of the catherine wheel pattern to keep the same stitch count in the rows)

Then I did a section of sc stripes, with 2 rows of sc in the following colours:

pale pink 

pale blue

pale lime

watermelon

mid pink

watermelon

pale lime

pale blue

pale pink

Then I did a row of 4 dc clusters, with 3 stitches between each cluster.  (Start this row with 2 dc, miss 3sts the 4dc in next st and so on)

Next, 1 row of sc across top of cluster row, with every 4th stitch going into the gap between clusters.

 So that is where I'm up to at the moment, hoping very much to have another update next week, this is going to be my main project for a while, to try and get it finished!

Have a great day, and happy hooking!

Crochet Along Progress and Update #7

Hello.

I thought it was about time for another crochet along post. 

 I have just seen that my last one was back in January, so this is well over due! 

Sorry about that!  So on the off chance that anyone is still interested in this project, I will post some progress. :)

First up though, I thought you might like to see how my blanket is looking all up, I think it is getting to a reasonable size, about half way through now, and is quite a heavy piece of fabric!

...it stretches out for miles!!

Look at the lovely neat folded edge, and then the horrible, scary loose thread edge below, I think I will be using my cheats edge to deal with all those threads, don't think I could face all that darning.

...It is hard to take a picture of it all laid out, it has gotten quite large, there is a lot of wool used in this blanket already.  I think my colour selection may have gone a bit off course here and there, but I guess this is such a big blanket that I might get away with it.

Are you getting on with this project?  I am trying to concentrate a bit more on this blanket, but I keep finding side projects that get in the way!

So here is the new bit I have made since the last update:

UPDATE #7

After the pink and light aqua outline cluster pattern, 

in mint, starting on right side, 2 rows sc (up and back), then

in light blue 1 row 4dc cluster pattern, then

in dark blue 2 rows sc (up and back), then

a section of chevron stripe in red and light pink, then

in pale blue 2 rows sc, then

a section of bobbles in green and mid blue, then

4 x 2rows of sc in pale blue, celery,red and light aqua, then

3 rows of granny stripes in flamingo, pale pink and flamingo again.

So that is where I am up to at the moment!

 I have also managed (I hope) to add a linky thing to this post, so if you'd like to share a link to your mixed stitch blanket I'm sure everyone would love to visit and admire them!

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who have sent me emails with picture of your blankets, I love to see what you come up with from this crochet along!  Most of you are miles ahead of me, so it gives me some incentive to get cracking with my blanket. 

Have a great day, and I hope the linky thing works!

Yarn Along, Blanket

Hello! 

I am joining in with Ginny and the Yarn Along ladies today.

So, I have brought out my crochet along blanket for the first time in weeks, so slack of me!  I have been busy with the star stitch blanket, so this one has taken a back seat, and I also had hit a point where I couldn't decide on what colour to use next.  I 'm hoping to add another 10 or so rows then do another update, although I am sure anyone making this with me must be fed up with waiting and got on with their own pattern.  

I have just added a dark blue stripe, and I think it gives it a lift, there are a lot of mid tone colours in this blanket!

I have been looking at  Lucinda Guy's Northern Knits Gifts this week, and found a few lovely things to add to my to do list........

.........this cardigan, I am planning to be the queen of the frock and cardi combo this winter, and want to knit a couple of cute ones for myself.  This is quite a big ask as I've never knit anything to wear myself.

........I love this knitted doll!  I can see a few of these with different coloured dresses and hair styles making their way into my knitting this winter.......

.......and this chicken door stop.  I love it, although I think the colour work in the body might be a tad beyond my skill level!

So there you have it, no fiction for this week, I'm still trying to choose something to read and haven't had a chance to look up some recommended books,  Maybe tomorrow I'll do that.

What are you reading and making?

Have a lovely day!

PS If you would like to enter my yarny give away there is still plenty of time!  Please do!

The post is here.

Crochet Along Update #6

Well I have been busy crocheting away on my big blanket recently, so I thought it was time for a new bit of the crochet along, in case anyone is still persevering with this on going project!

I have put the next 2 photos close together so you can see what I have done in a bit more detail, there is a bit of overlap, but I hope you can see what I mean.

Ok, here's what I have added :

After the lime and pale blue Catherine Wheel section comes

2 rows of sc in light aqua, (up and back),

Catherine Wheel section in salmon and mid blue,

2 rows of sc in mid green, (up and back),

4 single rows of sc alternating dark blue and mid green,

3 rows of tr clusters granny stripes in red, lime, and red again,

2 rows of sc (up and back) in each of the following colours, mid green, pale blue, spearmint, watermelon, and dark blue,

a section of outline cluster pattern in pink and light aqua, (see earlier update for this pattern)

....and that's where I'm up to at the moment!

I measured my progress so far and it is around 75 cm long so far, so I'm about a third of the way through.

How is your blanket growing?

Would you like me to organise a little linky thing so we can all share our blanket progress?

I will add this post to the bottom of the Crochet along Page so it is easier to find all these updates.

Talk soon!

Yarn Along.....

Hello.

I'm joining in with Yarn Along today.  

(Sorry about the poor quality photo, I had to take this after dark)

This week I have been trying to get a few rows done on the stripey blanket so I can update the crochet along.  I'm slowly getting there, I like to have a bit of a chunk done to post on the crochet along, so am madly hooking away most evenings.  Except that this is a time of year when there are lots of things happening in the evenings, eating into my crochet time!  Tonight we had an information night at the high school for Max who is starting there next year, it's the end of primary school for him, and for me the end of 11 years of being involved at that school, quite a milestone.

There is also night tennis finals to play in, award nights, a graduation dinner and various other commitments, all good things to be involved with, but I am missing my down time! 

As my boys would say, first world problems mum. Laugh.

Anyway, back to the yarn along, I have started 'Hidden Empire' by Kevin J Anderson, the first book in a big sci fi series. I think this will be a good one for the summer holidays, it has nearly sucked me in, I need to read a bit more to really get involved.

I enjoy a good sci fi, so if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

One of my favourite sci fi authors is Sheri Tepper, has anyone read her books?  

If you like sci fi and haven't read anything of hers, give her a go, I love her stories!  

She used to publish a  new book each year around my birthday, and Gary would give me a lovely hardcover edition as a present, but I think she might be getting very old now as I haven't seen anything new from her for a few years, I hope she is still alive!

And for something completely unrelated, we had a glorious sunset tonight after a beautiful day, I think tomorrow is going to be very hot, so a bit of slothing in the shade keeping cool might be in order, and very likely a swim in the evening.  Looking forward to it already!

Stay cool if you are in Melbourne.

Have a great day!

Crochet along Update #5 and sad times...

Hello. 

How is your weekend going?

I have to say this last few weeks have been a bit of a write off for me. Life has taken a turn for the sad, with my lovely father-in-law, who had been recently diagnosed with lung cancer, dying last night.  My husband has been spending as much time with his as possible, but it still feels like a very rapid ending to a great and interesting life. It doesn't feel quite real yet, I know the next few weeks will be tough for the whole family, but they are strong, and I am sure Jack will be given a great send off and we will all try and focus on the wonderful life he had and the great family he created, so many happy memories to reflect on when we feel down and miss his presence.

I thought I would try and cheer myself up a bit with a shot of colourful crochet, I have had a fair bit of crochet time in the driving to and fro the hospital, so have managed to get a few more rows of the mixed stripy blanket done.  

I don't think I have done a progress post for this blanket for a while (mainly because there hasn't been much progress!), so here are a few pictures of it's growth. Slowly getting bigger!

Maybe 25% done? 30%?

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend and give your loves a extra special hug. 

I know I will be hugging mine.

PS. I have updated the crochet along page with the details of the next few rows that I have completed. You can find the page link on my side bar.

Crochet along update #4

Hello ladies, here is the latest bit of my mixed stripey blanket! 

Once again, apologies for slowness of my progress, I am doing my best, but crochet time is short at the moment.

Anyway, heres what I have done,

I finished my block of 5 rows of granny stripe.  

The colours,  watermelon, mint, blue, mint, watermelon. 

Next row in light blue, sc across, with every 3rd st sc into the space between watermelon clusters.

Next row,  in pink, (on right side), hdc in each st across, turn, ch2 (count as as 1st st),  (on wrong side), hdc in each st across.

Next row in light blue, sc each st across.

Next I did a section of chevron stripe in dark blue with an aqua stripe.

After the chevron stripe section I did a chunk of 5 double rows of sc (10 rows in all) in the colour sequence red, mid green, pale pink, pale blue and lime.  

If you prefer, you could do double rows of hdc or dc if you want thicker stripes, and you could do more rows if you like, or less!

So that is where I am at right now, slowly growing!

Have a great day, and happy hooking on!

PS. Thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post, I get a lot of joy from gardening and spending time outdoors pottering around, I am glad I could share it with you all!

My creative space...still hooking on...

My creative space today is happening on the couch, some Eddie Vedder on the stereo, (are they still called stereos?) hook in hand, green wool at the ready and longggggg rows of stitches ahead. 

Kids self occupied.  Pretty well my perfect crocheting scenario. 

 Nearly time for another crochet along update if I get enough done.  

We'll see what happens today.

Joining in over here today.

Crochet along Update #3

Hello.

How are you going today?

I have got the next bit of the crochet along for you today, so here what I've done:

After the aqua and red outlined cluster pattern, and the 1 row of blue hdc, 

I turned the work and went back with another row of blue hdc.

Next was a row of pale pink hdc, then turn the work and go back, so you end up with a double row of pale pink hdc.

Next is a 4 row pattern called Catherine Wheel.

Special Abbreviation CL (Cluster) : work [yo, insert hook, yo, draw loop through, yo, draw through 2 loops] over the number of sts indicated, yo, draw through all loops on hook.

Row 1(wrong side) : In red, join and make 1ch in first st (counts as first st), 1sc in next st, * skip 3sts, 7dc into next st, skip 3 sts, 1sc into each of next 3sts; rep from * to lats 4 sts, skip 3sts, 4dc into last st,  turn.

Row 2 (right side) : In pink, join to first st and  make 1ch, 1sc into first st, 1sc into next st, *3ch, 1CL over next 7sts, 3ch, 1sc into each of next 3 sts; rep from * to last 4 sts, 3ch, !cl over last 4 sts, skip tch, turn.

Row 3 (wrong side) : still with pink, 3ch, 3dc into first st, * skip 3ch, 1sc into each of the next 3scs, skip 3ch, 7dcs into the loop that closed next CL; rep from *to end, finishing with skip 3ch, 1sc into each of last 2sc, skip tch, turn

Row 4 (right side) :In red, join and 3ch (counts as 1dc), skip first st, 1CL over next 3 sts, * 3ch, isc into each of next 3 sts, 3ch, 1CL over next 7sts; rep from* finishing with 3ch, 1sc into next st,1sc into top of tch, turn.

This pattern can be a bit tricky at the start and end of rows, depending on how many stitches are in your blanket, so here is the graphic pattern to help you work out your ends and starts.  Just adjust your ends and starts to keep your sides straight, according to where you are in the pattern repeat.

(sorry it's a bit blurry, it's getting late here!)

Of course you can do this pattern in whatever colours you like!

Catherine Wheel Stitch Pattern, from Basic Crochet Stitches , edited by Erika Knight.

Next is a chunk of sc rows.

Row 1 : (Right side) Lime green, sc across the row, doing 10sc evenly across each pattern repeat of the Catherine Wheel row below to ensure the stitch count stays the same. Turn.

Row 2 : (Wrong side) 1ch, skip first st, sc in each st across row.

Row 3 : (RS) Mid green, Sc in each st across row, turn.

Row 4 : (WS) 1ch, skip first st, sc in eachst across row.

Rows 5 -11 : Sc across the row, doing one row of each colour, working all on the right side.  

Colour sequence that I used :

Light blue, 

red, 

dark blue,

red, 

dark blue, 

red,

 light blue.

Next is a chunk of Granny stripe pattern  (see earlier pattern notes) in watermelon, spearmint green, and mid blue.  You can add more or less granny stripes if you would like.  I think I will add a couple more to this chunk, but I haven't quite got to that yet. 

Ok that's all I have for you at the moment, school holidays are coming up next week, so I might have a bit more time to devote to this while the boys have their holiday sleep ins, so there hopefully won't be quite as big a wait for the next instalment!  Sorry for my slowness, but this is a huge blanket and each row is taking ages!

Just a note on the yarns I am using, I am using quite a few different Australian brands, (to get a good colour range), mainly Heirloom Colorworks 8ply and Cleckheaton Country 8ply, with some stash bits and pieces as well.  I think they are DK equivalent.  They are probably hard to find overseas (although Cleckheaton is very common here), so you can use any dk weight yarn that takes your fancy, I like to work with wool, but I am sure it would be just as nice in any yarn you choose.

Have a great day!

Joining in with The Creative Spaces over here.