RAINBOW BLANKET PROGRESS TO 10 MAY 2009

Details on the other blog: www.stitchingandhookingpassions.blogspot.com in the MAY posts , published on 13 May 2009.

This was the state of play on 10 May 2009, by 13 May 5 more colours had been added, it weighed 666 grammes and measures 112cm by 82 cm for 82 rows or 41 colours( as most colours get a 2 row stripe)

Posy brooches

Note to self: the Attic 24 posy brooches can also be made with tapestry wool which comes in a skein. An average skein makes 4 flowers or 4 leaves, this way you can cheaply vary the colours of the flowers and leaves! Use a 4mm hook. Can be Anchor or DMC- approx cost in Spring 2009 is 85p per skein. Hundreds of colours to choose from!

Then add beads or buttons, a bit of felt and a brooch back.....Voila : lovely little presents!!!

COLOUR striping progress

Easter holidays are upon us and I am having a glorious couple of weeks off : lots of crocheting goodness, wooly happiness awaits me...!!!To touch base I have taken a few pictures today , this is the crocheting that has happened while waiting at drs, piano lessons, maths classes, watching dvd's or I-player catch ups and so on : ie this was crochet as it's fitted in around my usual life priorities and commitments...

I am SOOOO HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY at these colours!!! So I have indulged a little in maybe a few too many pictures? I like certain'' bits'' and then I like the whole as well.....

My eldest is still begging to have THIS one as HERS , all HERS... and there was a lady waiting at Kumon as I stitched away who started to talk of commissioning something......in CROCHET!

I like them horizontally and I like them vertically, in fact I'm making a stripey scarf soon as well as a shawl collar jacket.

This one above is showing the new way I'm working the ''dips'' or troughs of the ripple: it'a 3htr-tog and I have written a demo tutorial with photos on the other post published today on this blog.

This smaller picture shows the previous way of doing the ''dips'' from the mid blue colour up to the burgundy colour. It changes from the royal blue colour onwards.

Can't get enough of these colours, some stripes are only 1 row and when playing with the colours I have frogged a few : this proved very useful because I now know that a single row takes up about 8 grammes of the DK wool yarn. That is for this blanket: which is 15 repeats of 14 stitches wide.

More crocheted stripes to follow soon! Happy rippley Hooking! And in case I don't make it back in time: HAPPY EASTER to all or anyone reading this. Thanks for joining me in this explosion of crocheted colour.

Rippling on: new stitch in the dip: 3htr/tog: tutorial

Hello well here I am a bit later on and as promised I have taken photos of the way I work the stitches in the ''dip'' of the ripple.
The pattern said: skip one , htr one and skip one BUT after working it that way for a few rows I decided I didn't really like it.
Soooooo after the burgundy row I started the ''new'' and '' my own'' method : click and close up on the Royal blue row after the burgundy one in a previous post to see?!!Or the next post which will also show the difference!

Here foloows a step by step tutorial in pictures of how I do it: for you experts it's a 3htrtog.

Having worked your ''downsloping'' 5 htrs in the usual way you identify the next 3 stitches: see the pins?
There's a T pin, a blue headed pin and a purple headed pin in the 3 stitches identified.
You don't need pins but I was trying to make it clear.


Yarn over and stick hook into the first stitch in the usual way.Pull yarn through: you now have 3 loops on the hook.

Yarn over and stick hook into the next stitch: pull yarn through that stitch only: you now have 5 loops on the hook.

Yarn over and stick the hook into the third stitch and pull yarn through only that stitch: you now have 7 loops on the hook.

See above: 7 loops on the hook all at once. Don't work it too tight or the next bit is too hard, but also don't work it too loose or it won't look so good- practice first? It really isn't hard with a bit of practice.

Yarn over and pull yarn through ALL 7 loops on the hook in ONE go.

One loop on the hook and it looks as the photo above?

Now you'll work the first of the next 5 normal htrs but control the yarn you don't want it too loose.... Here it is with the yarn over worked and am about to pull the yarn through. Now work the rest in the usual way until the next ''dip''.

If you have any problems: do let me know and I'll try to help.


HAVE A BEARK AND A CUP OF TEA OR A WALK IN THE GARDEN!!!!

And now for the edges: which you'll want to keep nice and straight: I have devised the following:

EDGE STITCHES TUTORIAL

You've worked most of the row and have worked 5 htrs since the last group of 3 in one stitch: ie since the last ''peak''.There's 2 stitches left: a ''proper'' htr and the 2 chain which you worked at the beginning of the previous row.

The above is your starting point, yes? It looks like this?


You are going to work a 2htrtog. or 2 htrs worked together, very similar to the 3htrtog above but not as big.

Yarn over and pull yarn through stitch( the htr below): 3 loops on hook.

Now identify the top of the 2 chain and you are going to put your hook through this and pull yarn through- the T pin is showing the place. There's 2 loops above and one loop below the hook when inserted.

So from 3 loops on the hook you go yarn over and put hook into top of 2 chain( the chain nearest to the previous htr) pull yarn through: 5 loops on hook.

As shown below.

Then yarn over and pull through all 5 loops in one go. One loop on hook as below.

Now you work the 2 chain stitches and turn the work.

I show you in turquoise and then have to redo it it in pale aqua as I have worked 2 rows turq already and I need to change colour- oops wait a moment.....

But before I go I'll just show you where the FIRST htr of a row is worked in the NEXT row after the 2 chain and AFTER turning: VOILA: the pin shows you the stitch to go into.

CLICK on the picture and it will go full screen and you can then enlarge even more at your leisure .

Now I'll return to my correct colour but actually this is NOT as easy to see so the above was useful after all!

I find the pale aqua does not show up well on the white ground, sorry. Clicking will help.

2 chain as before and then:

The first htr is about to be worked.

I do so hope this has been helpful. Please leave a comment if you have any queries or contact me on Ravelry if that is more convenient?

HAPPY HOOKING AND HAPPY EASTER-Y RIPPLING!!!!!!

Colour numbers for ripple blanket

From left upper to far right these are the following: Merino Sport from MONDIAL available from Yeoman Yarns. www.yeomanyarns.co.uk but you have to phone them for these handknit yarns, you can't order them on the internet as yet....

Burgundy@ # 407
Red #90
Dark orange #331
Paler orange # 410
Yellow # 504
Lime green # 158
Darker green #138
sea foam # 26
pale blue sky #81
turquoise # 109
mid blue #1
deeper blue #353
purple #59

not in the above
fuschia pink #162
deep pinky -dark berry red#47

Reason for the missing numbers is that I tore the labels off so quick so I could crochet that I don't remember all the numbers and a friend has borrowed my shade chart from which I originally ordered- oooh dear, sorry!!!

Updated on 5 April when I had my shade list back. All colour numbers now present.

See yesterday's post to see how I started with some of the colours in the ripple stitch stripes!!!

New colours which arrived on Friday 3 April but not yet used are

very pale pastel pink #595
Denim dark blue #14

First few rippling rows

First few rows of the ripple balnket to share with you...
Not going to say much today as I'm not feeling so well, more tomorrow or soon I promise.

The forst red row was on Tuesday last and it took a while to decide what to work after the burgundy row and then after the pink row too- various options were tried and frogged...

This is how thw wholw length looks: 15 repeats and now at approx 112 cm width.

Without a flash...

With flash on....

I changed the way I do the dips- after the purple row I think- can you see the difference? I'll explain and demo next time.

Not sure about the narrower rows either- kind of fun but not sure it ''works''....I think I'll continue to throw some in when I feel like it, to have all 2 row stripes is a little too regular for me...?????

Ripple blanket: the beginning- tutorial

Wool arrived on Saturday and I made a sample piece on the Sunday: Mother's day during several lovely films which were being shown on ITV3 - such as Polyanna- ooooh I wept BUCKETS!
Having listed about 8 ripple designs from Jan Eaton's RIPPLE STITCH book - crochet and knitting- I set about trying them out on a sample piece.

I didn't like Regatta despite the lovely name as it was too fiddly and complicated.
Provence - conjures up such idyllic scenery and sunshine doesn't it? But the dc's everywhere made it too thick as a ripple....Warm waves: too complicated and crowded...5 trebles in one stitch? and then too many tr2togs... brrrrrr

And then I landed on #77: Fall Hedgerows; not too many holes like you get with trebles sometimes, not too dense as it's not dc either. It's in half trebles and a lovely rythmic repeat: 5 htr, 3 htr in one st, 5 htr, skip 1, 1htr,skip 1 and back to the beginning....LOVELY!

As above , I was still learning how to keep my edges straight and playing with the rythm of the stripes.

My sample was 2 repeats and the distance between points was 8cm. 14 sts to one pattern repeat. The sample had about 30 sts. 1 extra stitch at each edge.

It weighed about 14 grammes for the 13 rows shown. I used a 4mm hook. Wool used: the Merino Sport from Mondial : 100% washable wool available in the UK from Yeoman Yarns.

Initially I thought I'd have 12 pattern repeats but when the chain lay on the ground it looked wrong so I went for 15 groups of 14 sts. I always work my starting chains with a bigger size hook, in this case a 5.5mm. And as I'm quite hopeless at counting as I work a chain I crocheted to my hearts content and then stopped to count the stitches, putting a small end of contrast coloured yarn into each 14th stitch with a 4mm hook and tying an overhand knot.

VOILA above. A quick view of how I hold my hook and yarn as so many people have been asking- apparently I don't hold them in a conventional way? I was self taught in Holland many years ago but my English granny helped me along a bit while we listened to '' listen with mother'' on the radio.... I hold the hook in my right hand- yep sorry folks this is for right handed people I can't do it any other way?-thumb on the flat bit and holding the hook like a knife in an overhand hold...

My right index finger controls the yarn and sits on it, it goes up and down while I stitch.( the finger that is)

My left hand holds the work between left thumb and index finger and maintains tension on the yarn: it feeds from below, over my left index finger , under the next 2 fingers and back out over my smallest finger.uuhm I think....

The fabulous book and a bit of the first row after the starting chain.

For a half treble ( UK TERMS THROUGHOUT: USA peeps read sc for dc and dc for treble)
Start as for a treble with a yarn over.

Then put the hook into the stitch below and yarn over again as below. Pull yarn through one loop: leaving 3 loops on the hook as below. Yarn over and now you pull the yarn through all three loops in one go.

And this is how it looks after you do that.

If you start by working a htr into the 3rd chain from the hook and work the sequence as above then you get to the stitch marked with the coloured thread after working the second lot of 5 htr's

as below. This is a very handy way of checking you're on the right course. The first row is always the hardest and it's easy to lose track of where you are.

The next pictures work a half treble - htr- again ... Yarn over.

Pull through a stitch

Yarn over and

Through all 3 stitches.

This bigger picture below shows the group of 3 htr's into one stitch. This forms the ''peak''.

If you have just mastered this new stitch: have a break!!! AAAh puppy time......Or a cup of tea? Then after you have worked a few rows: it's now a lot easier to just see what to do next, the peaks and troughs are visible after the first few rows and you no longer need to count:

5-3 in1- 5-skip-1-skip-5-3in1-5-skip-1-skip-5 etc etc.

At the end I work 6 htr's and turn by working a 2 chain and the next htr in the stitch away from the base of those chains. Effectively you should work 6 htr's after the 2 chain of a turn to get to the middle stitch of the 3 in 1 below, that's where you work the 3 htr.

Then you can count freely again, after the last peak you should have 7 sts: I work 5 htr and then 2 htr together over the last 2 sts before working the 2 chain for the next row....

This gives me a straighter edge somehow....

2 htr tog: yarn over put hook in stitch, yarn over again and put hook into next stitch- at the end this should be the top of a chain stitch- then pull yarn through all loops at once. then the 2 chain of the next row.

Now when you change colour I work the 2 chain in the NEW colour.

In pictures below I show how you can lay the strands of old colour and new colour across the top of the stitches of the row below and CROCHET the ends in as you work so there'll be no sewing in ends at the end!!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!

I usually work about 5 or 6 htr's over the yarn ends before clipping them neatly so they do not show at all. I have also now varied how I work the ''dips'' : by not skipping any stitches but by working 3 htr's together and will show this on a next post.

Bye for now, it's very late: happy hooking!!!