Better yarn for the job

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You may remember a while ago that I had a go at making some skinny scarves. Well this is my second attempt: I was pleased with the shape of the scarves first time round, but not with the drape, and I felt that I needed either a finer, or a softer yarn. I tried several yarns out: Schoppel Wolle Crazy Zauberball, which is a 4 ply yarn; King Cole Homespun prism dk, Rico Soft Spin 6 Ply Sock Yarn (dk), and Malabrigo Washted aran. They all had better drape than my original scarves, but there were two that I was particularly pleased with.

For the aran yarn I used a 5.5mm hook and the scarf was 18 stitches wide. For the dk yarns I used a 4.5mm hook and the scarf was 20 stitches wide, and for the 4-ply yarn I used a 4mm hook and the scarf was 24 stitches wide. All the scarves start with two stitches of (UK) double crochet and increase one stitch every three rows in the centre of the piece. They are all 10cm wide and (roughly) 160cm long.

In terms of yarn choice I really liked the King Cole Homespun prism dk, and the Malabrigo Washted aran. I am particularly pleased with the Washted scarf, as I used alternating rows of two colourways – Cirrus gray and Pearl ten. This allowed me to use up two half-balls of yarn left over from previous projects, and gave a lovely marbled look to the finished scarf. The technique is called ‘Two-colour, one-row stripes’ and is described in Betty Barnden’s book ‘Handbook of Crochet Stitches’.

I’m off to find 100g of drapey yarn in my stash – how about you?

Baby Santa hat

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By special request, a baby-sized Santa hat:

And (because it’s Christmas) a free pattern to go with it:

Baby Santa hat v1 (uses 60g aran weight yarn for 6 month size)

I used Stylecraft Special aran in red pepper (2091) and cream (1005)

This pattern is written in UK crochet terms. UK dc = US sc.

Measure the diameter of a hat that fits (mine was 18cm at the rim to fit a 6-month-old baby)

Make pom-pom in cream yarn (5.5cm diameter for a baby-sized hat).

With 5.5mm hook and red yarn:

Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 dc into 1st chain (or magic circle and 6dc into circle) (6)

Mark end of round, and half way mark with stitch marker.

All subsequent rounds are worked in a spiral, amigurumi style.

Rnds 2-25: 1 dc into each st to half way marker, 2dc, 1 dc into each stitch to end of round, 2dc. This is an increase of 2 st per round.

You should now have a triangle shape, the bottom edge of which is about the same size as the desired rim measurement. If you are making a larger or smaller hat you need to adjust the number of rounds here to get the size that you want. The triangle will be wonky as we are working in a spiral, but don’t worry it will straighten out in the next step!

Next 12 rounds: Remove the stitch marker at the half way mark. 1 dc into each st. This is the straight section of the hat. You will need to increase the number of rounds if you are making a larger hat. As a guide my straight section was 8cm long for an 18cm wide hat.

Change to cream yarn and 5.0mm hook.

Next 5 rounds 1 dc into each st.

You have now made the headband. Just a slightly firmer band that will sit under the roll-up edging. On my hat this band is 3cm long. Again, increase the number of rounds if you are making a larger hat.

Change back to 5.5mm hook, and continue with cream yarn.

Next 5 rounds 1dc into each st.

You have now made the roll-up edging. Again, increase the number of rounds if you are making a larger hat.

Attach pom-pom to hat. The easiest way to do this is to thread the ends through the hat and then pass them through a small button with large holes!

Weave in ends.

Another Arcade

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It is really a long time since I have made an Arcade cardigan, but I have a good reason to have another go, as a friend has a new baby.

The pattern is adapted from Nicki Trench’s ‘Cute and easy crocheted baby clothes’, using Arcade stitch for the main body of the cardigan. This one is made in Stylecraft Batik Old Gold (1902) on a 4.5mm hook. The chest is 25cm across, and it is 29cm from shoulder to hem. It weighs 130g and I used four 15mm buttons. To make the button holes I did 2 stitches of a five-stitch shell, chained one and then completed the last two stitches of the shell.

I would quite like it to be slightly flared in the body section, but maybe I could work on that!

Skinny scarves

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I am assured by my daughter that skinny scarves are ‘in’ just now:

Mine are made of Stylecraft Batik Elements Swirl Fire (6174) and Thunder (6173) on a 4.5 mm hook. They are a simple (UK) dc stitch starting with a chain of 2 and increasing at the centre of the scarf every third row to make a triangle that is 19 stitches (about 10cm) wide. The scarf is then continued straight for about 85cm or until 10g of yarn is left on the ball, then decreased by one stitch every third row to match the starting triangle.

Rather satisfyingly this used exactly 100g of yarn. The result is a scarf that will wind twice round the neck, and is surprisingly warm.

Battenberg blanket

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Some of you may already be familiar with Sandra Cherry Heart’s Battenberg blanket, which I have now made a baby version of:

Mine is made in Yarnsmiths Pebble Haze dk, Limestone (C250), Basalt (2C020). Titanite (2C120), Olivine (2C130), Chalcedony (2C160), Fluorite (2C170), and Petalite (2C200) on a 4.5mm hook.

Each colour is a 3-round granny square joined-as-you-go to a Limestone square. The blanket is 10 squares wide x 13 squares long, which came to 55 x 69 cm with a simple border. It weighs 318g, of which about 160g was Limestone, and about 30g each of the six colours. It would make a good stash -buster – as indeed this was!

Carnival Tweed cowls

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I came across a new yarn recently and have been having fun making cowls from it:


The yarn is Stylecraft Carnival Tweed in Parade (7119), Fete (7121), Pageant (7122), Jamboree (7123) and Gala (7124). I used a 7mm hook and a starting chain of 88 and made the cowl in linen stitch. Each cowl weighs 67g and measures 30 x 15cm. The yarn is pleasantly soft and the stitch has some drape to it, which I feel is helpful in a cowl. These ones are off to the shop soon, so I am hoping that they will prove popular.

No yarn left behind

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I hate waste, and have squirreled away every part-ball from every baby blanket I have ever made (which is quite a lot now) and it occurred to me that I could use them to make scrappy blankets. Here is what I came up with:

The blankets are made in Granny Clusters, but with only two trebles per cluster, and I used a 4.5mm hook. Every third row is in Stylecraft Life cream (2305) and I carried this yarn up the sides of the blanket. All the other rows are in individual colours from my stash, so quite a lot of sewing in of ends was required.

I started with a chain of 91 stitches (88 plus 3 for turning) to give me 44 clusters for the width, and the blankets are 84 rows long, the first and the last row both being cream. Overall they weigh just under 300g and measure 78 cm long x 56 cm wide. The border is two rows of (UK) double crochet, which I think was all that was needed to firm the edges up a bit.

What did I learn? That I still lack confidence mixing yarns and colours; that even though it was a ‘random’ blanket I ended up making rules for myself; and that you can have hours of fun with 200g or so of scrap yarn!

Tea cosy

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It is a long time since I have made a tea cosy, but I think I am getting better at them:

This one was requested by my daughter to match the colour scheme in her kitchen. It’s made in Drops Muskat Sunflower (84), Light yellow (07), Bordeaux (41), Light mint (20) and Moss green (90) on a 4.5 mm hook. I used a paper pattern based on her actual teapot and made a chain as long as the top edge, increased at the two ends until the width was right, than carried on with no increases until I had the height I needed. The whole thing is made in (UK) half treble crochet in the round – so there are no seams or jaggy colour changes.

I lined this one with Insul Bright: nothing fancy – just two flat pieces sewn together with blanket stitch and then slip-stitched to the crochet edge. It does a really good job of keeping the tea warm, and the colours meet with her approval!

Granny square hot water bottle covers

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This is not the first time I have made a hot water bottle cover, but I think it is my favourite so far:

Made in Stylecraft Batik elements – titanium (blues) with  King Cole merino blend denim (791), and Stylecraft Batik elements – magnesium (oranges) with Scheepjes merino soft Klee (622). I made the pattern up but it is based on 27 two-round granny squares which are then joined-as-you-go into blocks of 6, 9 and 12 with the darker contrasting colour. I use wool-thread-paint’s continuous join-as-you-go sequence, though I’m sure there are plenty of others around.

The neck is added after the pieces are joined, and I have left it open so the bottle can be filled without taking the cover off. The cover itself has an envelope opening, so it can be removed for washing. Each cover weighs 100g. I have a couple more of these in the pipeline so watch this space!

Hearts baby blanket

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Another very popular crochet pattern, that I have finally made time to try, and what a joy this one was to make:

It is a ‘Heart blanket’ by Marina Nikolaidou who is on Instagram as ‘Cotton and Wool crochet’. Mine is made in Stylecraft Life Cream (2305) and Stylecraft Batik Heather (1906), Sage (1908), Gold (1902), Rose (1916) and Pisttachio (1910) on a 4.5mm hook.

I made it slightly smaller than the pattern suggested, though full instructions are given for adjusting the size. So my blanket, which is 16 hearts wide and 29 hearts long, started with a chain of 102 stitches. It measures 63 x 53 cm and weighs about 240g. Of this 150g was the cream background colour, and about 90g was the Batik hearts colours. Each row of heart motifs used about 3g of yarn, so it would make a good stash-buster if you don’t mind random coloured hearts!

Thank you Marina for a really well written pattern – I can certainly recommend it.

Here comes the sun scarf

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I am a little late to the party for this particular pattern, but what a winner it is!

The pattern is ‘Here comes the sun scarf’ by Melu crochet and is available here. I made mine in Cygnet Boho Spirit ‘Folk’ on a 5mm hook. The pattern is very well explained, and surprisingly not difficult. The little bobbles built in to the end of each row really make it pop, and it uses exactly 100g of variegated yarn, providing you get your calculations right! I did have to re-do my decreasing half as I ran out of yarn first time through. but now I know that that my widest row is seven eyelets wide I won’t make that mistake again!

I did have an issue with some of my bobbles lying a different way from each others, but this was sorted by paying more careful attention to which way I was turning the work at the end of each bobble. This tip came from the designer herself, who I approached via Instagram – kudos to her for being so available to her customers. .

Variegated jumpers

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I have been working on adapting the Crescendo jumper to make it easier to follow, and I think I am making progress with it:

These are made in (US) half double crochet in the round for both the body and sleeves, starting with the lower neck and working downwards. The neck band, cuffs and hem are then added in (US) single crochet at the end of the work.

The jumper at the back of the photo is made in Patons Fab DK ‘aqua’ (2080) and ‘ocean blue’ (2076) – both sadly discontinued. This jumper weighs 133g and has a 100cm chest . The jumper at the front is made in Opal Misty Horizon 6ply ‘Fantastic Sky’ (11227) and King Cole merino blend Denim (791). It weighs 113g and has a 92cm chest. Both were made on a 4.5mm hook.

The jumpers do have a slight ‘twist’ to them which I guess is common with any garment made in the round, but it makes for a very easy make with no mis-matched seams anywhere, and I think it’s worth it.

Wanderlust bag

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It looks like this might be a one-off as I have just found out that both yarns I made it from are discontinued!

It’s basically a Granny square bag using two eight-round granny squares, joined with (US) single crochet round three sides. I made a little felt lining for it, and the strap was made lengthways, so is just three rows wide.

The yarns are Scheepjes Wanderlust Hawaii (647) and Scheepjes Merino soft Pollock (601) . I used a 4.5mm hook and the whole bag (including lining) weighs 66g. It’s sweet – but not quite tall enough to accommodate a phone, which may limit who it appeals to!

Curiously finished!

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So this is it – my final King Cole Curiosity make for a while, and another stash-busting project – some ombre cowls.

The cowl at the back is made in King Cole Curioisty Merlin and Stylecraft Life dk charcoal on a 4.5mm hook. The cowl uses the same (UK) half treble crochet clusters as my Scrappy scarves. I made it as a rectangle 18 clusters wide and 21 coloured stripes long, then joined two half charcoal stripes at the beginning and end of the work to make a tube. The finished cowl measures 29cm wide x 20cm high and weighs 75g.

The front Cowl is in Scheepjes Wanderlust Hawaii (457) and Scheepjes merino soft Pollock (601), both discontinued. This has exactly the same construction but is only 16 clusters wide. It was made on a 5.0mm hook and weighs 108g.

Curiously stripey

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I’m almost there working through my King Cole Curiosity stash, so this is a pleasingly scrappy project:

Made in King Cole Curiosity Merlin (again!) and Stylecraft Life charcoal on a 4.5mm hook. It is very similar to my Clusters of Colour scarves, being made in (UK) half treble clusters. The scarf is 14 clusters wide and 52 coloured stripes long. I made two-row repeats of the charcoal and coloured bands, and changed colour after very four stripes. Each block of four stripes took 6g of yarn. The whole scarf measure 148cm x 17cm, and weighs 155g.

I have one last Curiosity project up my sleeve, then I think it will be time to move on!

Curiously square

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Part three in my on-going series of using up King Cole Curiosity yarn. This one is a log-cabin style granny square:

Based on an idea by Hooked by Robin on Youtube. Mine uses two-row ‘logs’ rather than four, because some of my yarn skeins were on the small side, and I didn’t want to mix colours within blocks. The yarn was (yet more) of my King Cole Curiosity in ‘Merlin’ but this time I deconstructed the yarn cake to make balls of discrete colours before starting the blanket.

The finished product is 78cm square, and weighs 340g. Of this about 225g was Curiosity, and 115g was Stylecraft Life DK in charcoal. I’m pleased to ay that this has made a significant inroad into my stash and the next project is going to be an extremely scrappy one!

Curiously ombre

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The second in my ongoing series of using up some King Cole Curiosity yarn. This one is an ombre child’s jumper.

It is based on the ‘Crescendo jumper‘ crochet pattern by Crafted by Cat UK, and used 100g of a King Cole Curiosity yarn cake in ‘Merlin’ The jumper is designed to use aran weight wool and as I was using dk I made a size larger than I was aiming for. Following the pattern for age 1-2 years in dk yarn and a 4.5mm hook gave me a jumper with a 46cm chest. It’s a nice straightforward top-down pattern in (UK) half treble crochet, with very clear instructions for the different sizes, which go all the way up to age 10!

I’m not overly happy with my rib at the neck, and I replaced this at the hem and cuffs by four rounds of (UK) double crochet on a 4mm hook. I also decreased the stitches on these rows – by four and then four again at the cuffs, and I think by eight and eight again at the hem.

The ombre of the sleeves matches the colour changes going down the body, but I was only able to achieve this because I had more than one yarn-cake to work with, and it did involve a lot of winding-on!

Curiously spotty

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This post needs to start with a small confession – that I over-bought some yarn intended for teaching crochet classes, and felt duty-bound to do something creative with the ‘leftovers’. so this is part one of a series of leftover yarn projects:

It is a spotty throw, inspired by the ‘spots and stripes’ blanket by WoolThreadPaint and by Insomnia Crochet’s Billie blanket. It used exactly 150g of King Cole Curiosity in ‘Merlin’ and about 120g of Stylecraft Life in ‘Charcoal’.

I started off by making four-round circles of the Curiosity yarn, and storing them on a knitting needle skewer to keep the colour sequence right. I then turned each circle into a square using this useful Youtube video which accompanies the Billie blanket. Finally all the squares were arranged in a spiral sequence starting with the purple colours in the centre and working out to the blues and mauves. This gave a nice colour transition without any big jumps. I joined all the squares with a flat slip stitch join, which took AGES, and finally edged the whole blanket with a round of (UK) double and (UK) half treble crochet all in Charcoal.

I seem to have a natural limit of about a fortnight on any ‘large’ projects that I make, so although I think this would look good with a bold border I’m afraid I had reached my creativity time limit! The finished item measures 70cm x 50cm and weighs 270g. I think it would make a nice lap-blanket or small throw…

Spiral shoulder bags

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An idea copied from a shoulder bag I had seen in a shop, and based on a spiral structure.

Mine are made in James C Brett Chunky with Merino – Teal multi twist and King Cole Big Value Tonal Chunky – French Mustard, both on a 6mm hook. It seemed important not to have an obvious seam on this project so I made the circle in a continuous spiral, guided by this video by Hopeful Honey. Another advantage of working in a spiral as that you can just keep going until the yarn runs out! These bags are 10 rounds in diameter (35cm) and took 100g of yarn for each side. I did use some extra yarn for joining and making the handles, and a VERY kind friend lined them for me. The one I saw originally was unlined but felted, and I think that would add to its durability too.

A friend did point out that this would be a good way of making a cushion, so that might be my next project!