Crochet Flower Blanket or Playmat Pattern Review

 Spoke Flower Blanket by The Crochet Fix.

This pattern was something I’d wanted to do for a long time so was really happy when I got time to get started.

It did start off a bit of a nightmare, nothing to do with the pattern which is extremely well written by the way, no it was me not reading it properly!

I got through the first full pattern repeat and all looked fine, it was nice and flat and looked really nice in the colours I’d chosen.

So I continued on but it started to pucker at one side of the spoke of each petal and twist around, like this ......

So I checked the pattern, felt sure I was right but undid it back to the dark purple where it had been fine.

Off I went again but the same thing happened, I thought maybe it would improve when blocked so carried on, but sadly it got worse and the puckering looked awful, no way was this going to come out with blocking.......

Sadly it was time to undo again! 😥

I nearly gave up, it was so much work to undo but decided to really sit and read the pattern again, I must be missing something and indeed I was, where the pattern called for UK treble/US dc down the side of each petal and UK half treble/US hdc hdc at the spoke, I was doing all half treble from the increase at the petal point! 

Studying the numbered round chart I had a eureka moment realising how I’d misunderstood. What a relief, it meant I could get back on track and actually finish it.

My advice is read, read, read, study, study,study. Look at the charts which give all the stitch counts for each round and you won’t go wrong. 

Here’s my finished blanket or it can be a baby playmat. It measures 36” across from point to point, worked in double knit on a 4mm hook.

I’ve also used the same pattern to make some placemats and coasters, doing just the first few rounds. For the small coasters I did just one colour each round, for the larger mat I did two rounds per colour.

An absolutely brilliant pattern and offered for free which is so kind bearing in mind the amount of work that must have gone into it. Thank you The Crochet Fix. 

Find the pattern on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spoke-flower-blanket




Happy crocheting!

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Crochet Lamb pattern review

Pookie_Doodle

I  made this little lamb from the free pattern I found via Ravelry.

The pattern is very easy to follow and well set out with clear instructions. I made it in a couple of evenings.

I couldn’t get the recommended yarn but did have a ball of Drops Boucle which I thought would be good for the fleece effect.

I found the Boucle impossible to crochet with though. I just couldn’t see the stitches and kept missing them and getting holes and mis counted rounds.

So I tried holding the yarn along with some cream 4ply I had and it made the stitch definition much better and actually gave the fleece a two tone look.

The face, ears and hooves were done in brown double knit.

I recommend following the instructions for defining the eyes, it really made a big difference to the face and also the yarn wrapping to make the split hooves, it really finished off the look.

Very pleased with the finished lamb.

Free pattern here:

 https://hobbii.co.uk/teddy-basserne

Happy crocheting!

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Shine On by C J Brady crochet pattern review

Pookie_Doodle

I love C J Brady patterns so when I saw this one called Shine On I wanted to make it. Quite often she has special offers where you can buy one get one free and I got Shine On when buying another of her patterns called Plot Twist, I’ll review that in another blog post. 

Shine On is an infinity type scarf /small cowl crochet in one long piece and joined with a short seam to make it circular. The decorative lace edging gives a lovely drop at the centre front.

I loved the lace section so much that I made a second one but made it wider, I added another two repeats.
I used Lion brand shawl in a ball metallic.  One x150g ball will make two shawls.

Happy crocheting!

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Fire and Ice Shawl Pattern Review

Pookie_Doodle

This pattern makes a lovely shawl, I used the recommended yarn Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball metallic. "Moonstone" shade.

It is beautiful to work with and although described as an aran yarn it is much thinner, works more like a double knit to me. It is cotton and acrylic with added metallic thread.

I used a 6mm crochet hook to get the recommended gauge.


The pattern is by Marie Segares and is easy to follow, a free version is available on Marie's blog or you can buy a pdf ready made copy. Full details on Ravelry here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fire-and-ice-shawl-2

I did get a little confused with the instructions - for instance at the end of some rows it says "(Decrease 1 st to an even number of sts)" I thought this meant that you then decreased at the end of the row but what it is actually doing is just confirming what you have done in that row, you've decreased one stitch

After reading some comments on Ravelry I understood it better and I think once you get into actually working something it makes more sense than just reading a pattern. 

It is worked from side to side, starting at one point, working to a wide centre then decreasing down to the other side point.

One thing I did not like was the idea of making a separate small circle and stitching it on to the end to match the start. This is simply because I really hate sewing/joining :)

So, once I had come to the end instead of cutting my yarn I slip stitched over the the other side to make a small loop and into this I crocheted 6 trebles (dc in US terms) and weaved in the end to make it into a circle. It looks fine and certainly matches the start and any discrepancies, if there are any,  are hidden by the multi colour of the yarn. That's the best thing about multi colour yarns, they hide a multitude of sins. :)

I did work the edging stitches, someone said they didn't bother as they thought it did not look right as the colours changed along the row due to the yarn changes, but I think mine looked lovely and was happy with it. It's whatever suits you that matters.

I would highly recommend this pattern.

Happy crocheting!

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Jordan Sleeveless Pineapple Top Pattern Review

Pookie_Doodle

I love how this crochet pineapple pattern top has come out.

The pattern is easy to follow with well written and diagram instructions.

I made the L/XL size and it fits perfectly - I am a UK 12/14 size.

I used Drops Safran yarn which is 100% cotton 4ply, I used the Denim Blue shade.

I used a 4.00mm crochet hook

It is a paid for pattern available via Ravelry, well worth the money.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jordan-sleeveless-pineapple-top
 
I did add a few extra rounds around the neck as it seemed very low cut.

I love how the pineapple design shows up if you wear a neutral colour beneath it. It looks better with something under it, rather than just your underwear but youngesters could probably get away with it! :)

I also like the pointed drop edges at each side which gives a lovely floaty look, much better than a straight finished.

Once you have made the yolk section you work from the top down, all in the round, all the way down to the bottom so if you wanted it would be possible to add more rows to make it longer. 


This also means there are no side seams to sew YAY!

 It might look a complicated design but once you get into the row repeats you begin to see how it comes together and can remember what stitches to do. The main thing is to add stitch markers at each side so you know where to increase as that is what gives the flare.


Happy crocheting!

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Carol Singing Amigurumi Mice

Fell in love with these mice the first time I saw them and decided to make three, not for blind mice! but for a carol singing trio.

The pattern is free from Sharon at Amigurumi to Go. Thanks Sharon x

https://www.amigurumitogo.com/2015/12/crochet-mouse-free-pattern.html

An easy pattern to follow but I must admit after making three bodies, three heads, six arms, six ears and three tails I couldn't be bothered making six legs! So I hit on this idea:

I cut three circles of card crosswise from a loo roll, about half an inch high and glued them to a piece of card. These were going to hold the bottom ends of the mice so they stood up without falling over.

I then covered these and the card with acrylic toy stuffing to hide them, you could use cotton wool.

I made a lantern free hand by just crocheting a tube, stuffing it and surface crocheting a few lines to suggest glass panels. The lantern holder was a flexible drinking straw crocheted over. This I glued to the base of one of the mice.

The music stand was again made free hand, a rectangle of crochet for the music and a shorter straw for the stand.

I'm so pleased with it, everyone loves it and it is a lovely Christmas decoration.

Happy crocheting!

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Nativity Crochet Figures Set Amigurumi

I wanted to make a Nativity Set and came across this pattern from 5 Little Monsters: https://www.5littlemonsters.com/2015/11/crocheted-nativity-set.html

It is a FREE pattern - thank you for that Erica! - I found it a really easy pattern to follow, it was very detailed in it's instructions.

I didn't make the animals but did make Three Kings, these were made using the Joseph pattern and using a variety of bright yarns - I made up a few hat designs and a beard for one of them. Each is holding a gift, again I just made up a few shapes and added some gold thread.

For the weighted bases I cut out discs of plastic from the backs of those small notebooks you can buy as it was more rigid than any card that I had. I also sewed a small stitch through the centre of the disc to the base of the figure, to stop it moving about.

For the actual weights I filled those small plastic money bags that you get from the bank with gravel, folded over the top flap and then wrapped sellotape around to secure it and make sure the gravel could not come out. I then packed stuffing around the weight.

The figures stand approximately 8" high for the tallest.

The pattern does not give instructions for any features and this looks fine but I did decide to add just eyes - I did a half moon line in thin thread, which gives a closed eye, almost reverent look I thought.

I used lots of oddments of yarn from my stash, mainly DK or 4 ply and a 3.5mm crochet hook. 

It took me a whole year to make, not because it was hard or complicated but simply because I started in January 2018 and then kept stopping to do other things during the Spring and Summer, finally finishing it just in time for Christmas 2018! 

I sold it at a charity event raising money for a charity I work for :) I'm really happy that it was bought by a good friend of mine and now adorns her Christmas decorations.

Hope you have a go, it was great fun to make.

Happy crocheting!

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Winter Bunny Amigurumi with Carrot Sledge

When I first saw this pattern I fell in love with it, how cute is this little bunny pulling his/her little carrot sledge. 

The pattern is free (link below) from Amigurumitogo. Sharon creates beautiful amigurumi and her patterns are always free, no matter how complicated. How kind is that?

I did make a few slight changes to the pattern:

1: I didn't have enough yarn to make two sides to the sledge and sandwich plastic between to strengthen it.

So instead I used some fine wire and crocheted it to the edge to attach it to the carrot shaped piece, you can just see the wire on the wrong side, between the stitches. I was then able to pull and shape it to get the carrot look just right.

2. In the pattern Sharon says that the bunny will not stand up alone, she used pins to make it stand up for photos. I wanted to be able to make it stand as a Christmas decoration without pins as young grandchildren would probably be picking it up, so after a bit of pondering I decided to make the tail quite large and position it so that it acted like a third leg and supported the back, allowing it to stand.

I made it in two evenings, the pattern is very easy to follow with lots of photo help and instructions.

I used Drops Safran 100% cotton yarn and a 3.00 mm crochet hook. The finished size is approx. 6" long on the sledge (including the curve) and the bunny is 6" tall from foot to tip of ear.

Find the pattern here: https://www.amigurumitogo.com/2015/12/winter-bunny-free-amigurumi-pattern.html or on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winter-bunny

There is also a separate pattern for the hat and scarf which is linked from the bunny pattern.


Happy crocheting!

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Wild Wheat Shawl Pattern Review

I recently found this FREE pattern for a lovely little neck shawl.

It is by Johanna Lindahl at Mijocrochet the pattern can be found here:

https://mijocrochet.se/2016/12/29/wild-wheat-shawl-sjal/

It is available in English, Swedish, Dutch and Danish. Thank you Johanna for sharing your beautiful work for free!

 

I made mine in Boyes 100% mercerised cotton yarn, it took just under one ball. I used a 2.5 mm crochet hook.

If you print out the pattern I would definitely recommend printing in colour if you can because the pattern shows the stitches on the chart in different colours and makes it easier to see what stitches you are going to be doing. 

I would definitely recommend this pattern, very easy to follow the instructions and it grew very quickly.

I've also done a video review showing the shawl and explaining a little about my experience of using the pattern, just click below:

 

Happy crocheting!

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Summer Sun Hat in tape yarn

This was a new experience for me - using tape yarn.
I used Stylecraft Mystique Quick and Light in colour "Azul" (2565). It took exactly 2 x 50g balls to make the sun hat.

I used a 4mm crochet hook.


Yarn is currently available on eBay: http://bit.ly/2GVXvIw

Designed by Ashleigh Kiser the pattern is free if you use Ashleigh's blog post or you can buy a paid for pdf pattern, links available on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/june-sun-hat

It was really easy and I made it in a few hours. The tape yarn is good to work with although I would advise against pulling to too tightly - like at the start when tightening the magic ring - it does snap more easily that some yarns.

I loved the idea of strengthening the brim with slip stitches! It really worked. I've made hats before but they always flop down in my eyes, this is flexible enough to fold into your bag but firm enough to have a good stand out brim. I added a little slip stitched contrast in white around the crown.

Big thank you to Ashleigh for sharing her pattern for free and for creating such a lovely sun hat that really works!

Happy crocheting!

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Lacy Feather and Fan Shawl

I made this lovely lacy fan shawl for my daughter in law for a cruise she was going on.

Designed by A. Westbrook the pattern is a free download on Ravelry. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lacy-feather-and-fan-wrap

It was an easy pattern and I didn't particularly follow any gauge, I used a very fine cotton thread yarn that I had in my stash and used a 4.00 mm hook. It came out fine on the width and I just kept crocheting until it was the length I wanted. If you did need a wider shawl it would be easy to just add in another pattern repeat.

The pattern consists of two rows which you soon remember so you don't need to keep looking at the pattern sheet.

It looked beautiful when worn.

I also added some beads to the edges just to give a bit of weight. 

Although it was an easy pattern to follow I still made mistakes, I kept losing the stitch count and finding I couldn't fit in the required number of stitches so had to undo it sometimes. I think there are still mistakes in it, but you can't tell :)

I would certainly recommend the pattern. Thank you A. Westbrook for sharing it for free :)

Happy crocheting!

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Sleevless top - Drops Design 'Come Winter' 173-46

I bought too much yarn when I made the Rudolf jumper (you can see it here if you want) so wasn't sure what to do with the left overs, then I saw this pattern for a sleeveless top.

The pattern has open sides, like a poncho, but I didn't like that idea so simply sewed them up.

I didn't have enough yarn to do it all in grey so used the cream and made a split at the centre working one stitch out into the grey on each row to give a V design, I think it gives a nice effect and used up all the left over yarn. I also split the neck as I don't like roll neck, again I think it looks effective and looks nice when worn.

The yarn is Paintbox Simply Chunky and is lovely to work with.

Free pattern "Drops Design 'Come Winter' 173-46" can be found here: https://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=7528&cid=17

Happy knitting!

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Amigurumi Tiny Sloth

This pattern for a tiny little Sloth is so cute I just couldn't resist having a go.

It is by The Twisted Crocheter http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amigurumi-baby-sloth-2

This is my finished Sloth as you can see it is very small and fits around your thumb. I made it in an hour or two.

I used very small safety eyes as I don't really like embroidering them on and they also give a nice shine. I placed the eyes through the face part before sewing it in place.

 

I then embroidered around them to give the slanted eye look and added a nose

Lovely pattern, easy to follow with excellent instructions.

Thank you The Twisted Crocheter!

Happy crocheting!

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Using Ravelry

I love Ravelry! - www.ravelry.com

Do you use it too?

There is so much available on this website that it is all too numerous to mention, so I will just give you my top five favourites and urge you to go and have a look around yourself.

1. Pattern search

You can search for patterns with lots of filters:
by just a simple one word search e.g. "cat" "amigurumi" "sweater" "coaster"
type of pattern - such as clothing or toys
by name of pattern
designer name
type of craft
yarn weight
hook or needle size
it's rating by others who have made it
search for free patterns only or paid ones too
search by yardage for pattern, if you know the yardage of your stash this helps you use it up.

There are many more options than those above, you are bound to find something to suit what you are looking for. You can also save your favourite search terms.

2. Favourite pattern

When you find a pattern you like you can add it to your favourites to find later.

3. Projects

Here you can save the projects you are currently working on, those you have finished or those you have given up on.
You can save details about it, add photos and notes, what yarn you used, what needle size, where you bought the yarn, link to pattern etc.
You can rate your experiences of the pattern and yarn too.

You can make your projects available to the public or just Ravelry members.

If you blog about your projects you can easilyadd a link to your blog post.

4. Contributions 

Here you can add your own patterns to share with others.

5. Library

Here you can save patterns that you have bought or downloaded for free so you can find them in the future. You can arrange them how you like - I like the 'bookshelf' option, it is easy to navigate and see what you have.

There is also an attached forum where you can discuss patterns and other topics. I haven't used this for chat myself but I did use it when having a problem with a pattern. A search bought up a discussion on the very problem I was having and I was able to get on with the pattern using the tips discussed.

There are tips, help, designers, links to events, messaging service to ask questions of those sharing their patterns. Yarns, books, hooks and other things to buy.

As you can see I love Ravelry and it is my first port of call if I want a pattern.

Here's a good example - last week my grandsons were talking about Star Wars and Ewoks. I said they looked like little teddy bears! I immediately thought "I bet someone has a pattern somewhere to make one" and lo and behold I found one almost straight away! I am currently making one each for my youngest two Star War fans. :)

Another feature I just remembered which I love, is the bookmarklet. Add a Ravelry bookmark to your browser and if you see a pattern on the internet that you like, simply click on it and if the pattern is in the Ravelry database you will be taken straight to it so you can add it to your projects or favourites. Details of how to add a bookmarklet are here: http://www.ravelry.com/blog/110

I hope you go and have a look and find it as amazing as I do.

Happy crafting!

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Blake the Orangutan from Edward's Menagerie

Having seen mentions of the book Edward's Menagerie by Kerry Lord (Toft Alpaca) in quite a few places I was lucky enough to find a copy in my local library.

The library is a great place to find craft books and it gives you the opportunity to try before you buy.

When I had first finished him I didn't add any features but later thought he looked a little sad, as you can see adding just nostrils and mouth made a real difference.

If you don't want to borrow it you can buy it online at Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format: http://amzn.to/2vmMU6N

There are over 40 animals to make and I chose to have a go at Blake the Orangutan

The patterns all use a basic body and leg design with extra rows added or taken away depending on which animal you choose to do. I did find this a bit of a chore having to keep turning from one page, with the basic body parts on, then back to the pattern page for the specific instructions for the animal. I can see why they have done it that way though as it saves printing costs of having to write out each animal individually.

The pattern for Blake was easy to follow, what they call the 'fur' stitch I call the loop stitch - we all have different names for our stitches! If you would like to learn how to do the stitch I have a tutorial here, it is really easy once you know how: https://youtu.be/L-8g1HRjt1s
  
It was tricky remembering all the different parts to each round so I found it easier to write them down and tick them off as I went along. For instance you have to work a loop on every third or fourth stitch but at the same time increase or decrease in the round every few stitches so it is easy to forget where you are if you get distracted and miscount. 

Here is an example of my row count - we all have different ways of working and this works for me, you might find it useful:

In the top example V = increase in that stitch
0 = make a loop stitch - you therefore sometimes work a loop stitch on the second of the increased stitches.

In the bottom example:

The rectangle around two stitches [] = work those two together.
0 = make a loop stitch - you therefore sometimes work a loop stitch at the same time as working two stitches together.

I used Boyes double knit, it is a good quality yet cheap yarn. I used less than 100g for the main body and just oddments for the rest.

Here is my version of Blake - I've called him Pongo because that is the Latin name for Orangutan! :) Again these are before and after features were added, I'm sure you will agree he looks a lot nicer with a smile :)

Would I make it again? - Yes probably but I might add more loops, it seems a bit sparse, especially on the legs/arms. Plus I think I would make the arms and legs longer.



Happy crocheting!

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