Ripple Baby Blanket - Finished!

I'm a little bit late with this post, I actually finished this blanket over a week ago, but what with all the festival prep I hadn't managed to take any pictures.

You might remember me starting this blanket (click here for the post about it) back in May. I was hoping to have it finished in time for Larmer Tree and the truly awful weather we've had over the last month has probably helped to achieve that aim. Because we had to cancel our camping holiday and instead had a last-minute holiday to Wales, I used the journey times to make good progress.

I still love the Rowan Handknit Cotton I used on this project, although I was a bit annoyed to discover halfway through a row that the white shade had a join in it which necessitated an extra two ends to be woven in, but hopefully you can't notice.

This time around I didn't knot the ends as I changed colours; I tied them loosely until I came to weave them in and then just made sure I wove the ends in under the crochet loops, being sure to change direction at least once and also to go through the strand of yarn a couple of times to really make the tail 'catch'.

Not knotting makes for a much smoother edge.

With this blanket I purposely made the beginning and end purple sections larger than the ripples in the main body of the blanket and finished off by doing a row of single crochet down each side and then two rows of trebles. I think I may have put more stitches down one side as the border doesn't lie perfectly flat, but I haven't pressed or blocked the blanket yet so that may address the problem.

So, here is the finished blanket in all it's glory, just in time for the festival.

Speaking of which, I really am upto my eyeballs in work so you won't be hearing from me for a few weeks now. I promise to take lots of pictures of the festival and do a big Larmer Tree post when I get back. Keep your fingers crossed that summer arrives just in time for me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

70's Knitting and Crochet Patterns

For those of you who read this post, you will remember that I have a particular fondness for vintage knitting and crochet patterns. Charity shops are my usual source, but a few weeks ago, my Mum decided to sort out her under stairs cupboard and unearthed some real gems in the process.

Mum had told me about her collection of Mon Tricot patterns and had thought them lost. Having looked through them, I am very glad that they weren't. Apparently, these pattern 'books' (they are more like magazines) were considered quite expensive in their time but I can understand why. I wish there was a modern-day equivalent; I am a bit tired of the current magazines on offer which seem to regurgitate the same old patterns and have endless ad pages.

The contents of this book alone could keep me busy for months.

  

Now that I have learned to crochet, I am seeing all sorts of possibilities in these patterns. Those little slippers are just so cute.

  

Not sure I'd be up to creating this monster, apparently it's meant to be a dolphin!

These would be great with leggings underneath, or maybe frilly pants?

And who could be without a pencil case in their scarf?

There are lots of great home furnishing ideas, you just have to imagine different colours.

 

These flowers could be adapted for all sorts of uses. I think they're very Attic24.

I am seeing crochet seat covers in a vintage VW camper, it's a shame modern headrest would complicate the pattern.

I think this wave pattern might just be my next blanket.

And we all know I like a good zigzag.

Speaking of which.....too far?

This is also a zigzag design, but I could really see myself in this. But would I have the patience to finish it?

 More dresses that could be made pretty funky!

I particularly like the middle (light brown) dress, but to make it I'd need 26 balls of 4ply yarn. Hmmm.

 

Can't you just picture the cheese and pineapple and the black forest gateaux?!

Not sure about the socks, but the bag would be really simple to do.

 These tank tops would be fab in modern colours and you only need three balls of yarn to make them.

 

Well, maybe not this one, and definitely not the hat!

  

I actually really love the bikini on the left, but if I made it I would not be going anywhere near water.

It's about time these came back isn't it?

Er, Ron Jeremy?

Well, I leave you with these for now. I am meant to be stitching away but my machine has decided to go on strike so it's back to the brooches I think.

In camping news, we decided against roughing it in the tent last week in view of the weather forecast and had a little holiday to Wales in a caravan instead. Luckily we didn't get washed away and the journeys and the rain mean that my baby ripple blanket is almost done. I will show you pics next time.

I would just like to say a quick 'hello' to my new followers and to my overseas readers who I know are lurking around. Don't be shy, say hello and let me know what you think of these fab patterns, or anything else you'd like to share!

Hope you are all well and thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

Hitching and Rippling

As predicted in my last post, I did cast on my Hitchhiker scarf over the weekend, which was easy, since the cast on row consists of only two stitches. The pattern is very clever really; you always increase on the toothless side (with a one row exception) which gives that edge the lovely curvy shape.

The pattern is worked in sets of eight rows, with one tooth being formed with every set. As you consistently increase by nine stitches in each set and only cast off five (the horizontal edge of the tooth) the scarf gradually grows outwards.

My mind is a strange world, and some things have to be ordered just so. In my said strange mind, it doesn't feel right to stop knitting until I have reached the end of a set of eight rows. This was fine when the rows were smaller, but I can see me having to have a word with myself soon to prevent myself from becoming chained to the spot until I finish a set.

Anyway, I digress. This was my progress as of yesterday. I was going great until somewhere around tooth ten, which was reached on Saturday night, whilst channel hopping and eating Malteasers (other choccies are available).

I was reminded of why I fell out with knitting. I don't possess the necessary skill to knit backwards or to retrieve dropped stitches and I usually end up having to pull the whole lot of the needles (apparently known as 'frogging' so I'm told) and starting again.

I was determined to rescue my mistake and did eventually succeed in picking up all those tiny little 4ply loops with an even teenier DPN and managed to make a good impression of a salvage job. Tooth ten looks a bit different than it's pointier brothers but nonetheless, it's staying.

I did manage to discipline myself enough to finish my zigzag baby blanket before casting on the Hitchhiker; I am really really pleased with how it looks and will be taking it with me to Larmer Tree. Thank you to everyone who has complimented me on it so far, it really means a lot.

In the end, I decided against my original plan of doing two rows of trebles along the long sides as I felt that my beginners luck in shaping the corners might not extend to a second row. Sometimes knowing when to stop can be an art form!

Since I managed to complete this project in under a month by utilising time that would normally be spent just sitting (on the bus, in the park, waiting for a train, watching rubbish TV with a bag of sweets) I decided that I should have enough time before the festival to hook up a sister blanket.

The pattern I decided on for this one is from Lucy of Attic24. You can view it here. I decided I would have to learn the mysterious tr2tog stitch and it turns out that it's really not that difficult, especially following Lucy's excellent instructions.

So here is what we have so far:

I'm using Rowan Handknit Cotton again, which I have really come to love working with, it seems to suit crocheting perfectly. This time I am using less colours, and dividing each colour strip with a half-stripe of a lovely crisp white.

I have done a thick wedge of the gorgeous mauvey-purple shade at the bottom, which I will repeat at the other end and the around the sides at the end. There is also a green shade to be added (the same one as the darker green of my first blanket).

This pattern will not be random like the first, but a repeat. I didn't consciously plan to used red, white and blue together in the design, but I think my aforementioned scrambled brain carries on blithely without me sometimes, and sometimes things work out all the better for that.

Next week we are camping in the New Forest and it has been pointed out to me that it might be unwise to take a crochet project that involves a beautiful white yarn to a place where cleanliness may be somewhat compromised. With this in mind I have decided to take my Granny Stripe to work on, and no doubt some other little portable bits of stitchery that are festival-bound.

I wish you all a lovely Bank Holiday weekend however you are celebrating (or not) the Jubilee and look forward to updating you on festival and non-festival progress again soon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

More Zips, More Ripples and a Tangled Mess

After the success of my little Union Jack purse/accessory cover last week, this week I have been mostly making some more. I started off with the remainder of the scraps of blue fabric to make three more identical versions.

Blue fabric all gone, I turned to the rest of the hessian-type remnant and got busy with other scraps of fabrics and some more ribbons from my stash. The Cath Kidston Stars ribbon is a recent purchase. I finally got to visit the new store in Bournemouth, which unbelievably took me about three weeks to get round to!

More stash-busting.

And finally, at Mum's suggestion (thank you Mum!) a way of using up some more Cath Kidston scraps and keeping our friends from across the pond happy. I really love how these two turned out but am resisting temptation to claim one of them. I need some stock to sell!

In crochet news, lots of happy outdoor time at the park in the thankfully arrived sunshine has provided plenty of hooking opportunity, and my baby ripple blanket is almost complete.

Having never got to this stage of crochet before, I asked my crochet guru Bex at SnB last night if I was edging it the right way. Apparently I am, so Yay! I firstly went along the edge in double crochet, and am now making my way back along with trebles. In some versions I have seen, people 'fill in' the ripples along the top and bottom, but it is the shape of the ripples that I love about this blanket so I want to keep them.

At the beginning, I shaped the corner by using a double crochet, then a half treble, before going on to the main trebling. I'm quite pleased with how it's looking so far.

A little gratuitous close-up shot to make your eyes go funny!

 

As well as being a crochet and knitting guru, Bex is also a spinner and dyer of yarns. She has a shop online which you can visit here. I had been admiring many of the Hitchhiker shawls knitted by members of SnB and decided to have a go at one myself. I ordered the pattern and a needle and Bex very kindly brought me a lovely selection of yarns (see, I'm slowly coming around) to look through last night.

I settled on a lovely wool/nylon 4ply sock yarn dyed in gorgeous deep purple and turquoise tones and last night after SnB set about turning a skein into a ball. This was my progress as of 12.37 a.m.

Not really sure what I did wrong, but another hour or so this afternoon has left me with this.

I'm off dancing tonight so can't make a start just yet and it feels a bit ridiculous to start knitting a shawl when it's so blinking hot, but no doubt this will be another WIP by the end of the weekend!

Wishing you a lovely hot weekend with sun loungers and pina coladas.

Beth x