Slow progress

Well, it’s moved along a little, but I won’t be wearing it this weekend!

I began it during the ‘flu, and didn’t pick it up again until Sunday evening. Wow! Now that I’m further on I can tell you that I love this yarn!

Northern Lights by James C Brett has a small proportion of viscose mixed with the main fibre . Viscose is a plant based fibre and always gives a good handle. It can also have a warm cosy feel.

I’m using a size 5 hook and following the rules for a normal c2c at each edge but substituting 1tr, 1ch, 1tr, into each 3 chain of the previous row. Hopefully the following quick image will help to illustrate.

If you are looking for a new yarn to try I suggest you give this one a go. It comes with a free knitting pattern for a shawl, so if you don’t crochet, or want to try a new skill, you know that it will work. It’s currently on offer in various places, but I have to admit that the cheapest I could find is here, at the moment.

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A Mean Post

Flu! I wouldn’t have embarked upon so many variations last month if I had known! Never mind. There was no deadline except in my head. There is still more to do, but today’s reveals are finished apart from borders.

So, what’s the above? It’s a Mean Spirit Square. Each round is the mean temperature for the day in question. Not the average! The mean is midway between the high and the low.

It was made alongside the Spirit of March blanket and a couple of others.

Here’s the Spirit of March showing comparative temperatures for 2017 and 2018.

The Temperature blanket is progressing and up to date. Another strip was begun just 3 days ago.

The joining square is Denim, That representing the most frequent temperature of the month, but only by a minute margin.

This week won’t have much crochet as I’m off on a 3 day adventure at the end of the week. I’ll be travelling with 2 of my favourite people and can’t wait! In the meantime I think I’m going to have to order some more yarn. March has seriously depleted my stocks of blue – and if I don’t hurry I’ll miss the end of the Deramores Sale which is currently offering even better deals than usual.

First of two?

Yes, this might be the first post of two today, but I may run out of time!

Firstly, did you catch the recent post on Stashbusters Anonymous? You may like to read it, it might fill in a few gaps! The main purpose of this post, however, is to hilight a project in which you may like to get involved.

I recently spotted a request for granny squares by @purplestarmonkey on Instagram. She is making a blanket to be raffled to raise money for #sepsisawareness. Her request is relatively specific, but not difficult to fulfil, and even one square would be a help and a support.  I managed to find a few of the colour she is using and have made 10 squares. The ends need weaving in, that will be my next step, but my eyes have not been up to the task while I’ve been poorly.

All you need is a 4mm hook and some Stylecraft Special DK in one or more of the following colours: Copper, Graphite, Mustard, Spice, Lipstick, Buttermilk, Gold, Parchment, Grey.

I may get some more made, but in truth I have taken on too many projects for this month. I didn’t expect to be poorly! But then, we never do, do we?

Happy Hooking.

 

Stay away!

Don’t come close. I have a lurgy and it’s horrible.

I went shopping last Saturday and was fine, had a lovely walk on Sunday, still fine. Felt a bit ‘off’ on Monday but nothing specific, as it were. Then Tuesday happened, and with it all the symptoms of a sinus infection.

These have been part of my life since I was a child. They aren’t fun and can go on for months if not treated kindly. In the ‘old days’ antibiotics would have knocked it on its head quite quickly, but these days they are few and far between. Hot honey and lemon and plain boiled water has been my liquid intake for the past few days, and not much food. I won’t fade away, don’t worry about that!

Yesterday things changed, though. It isn’t just a sinus infection. I won’t go into the rest of the symptoms but they have changed, and to make matters worse the rest of the house is suffering too, and it just a few short days!

Crochet has definitely taken a back seat. It’s been a bit of a chore, which is a shame because I was going to show you a new project.

Have you seen Northern Lights by James Brett? It’s one of the oh so popular ‘cake’ yarns. This one has a good proportion of viscose in it I gather, and that is well known for its silky softness. It comes with a pattern for a knitted shawl. I’ve decided to crochet one, but it hasn’t got very far …

I’ve corrupted the C2C pattern to give it more texture. I’ll tell you more when I feel better. The reason I’m showing you now is that DERAMORES has a 10% discount on the yarn -others too. This one is definitely worth a try. I see that some of the colourways are out of stock, I’m not surprised, but they are all gorgeous – I found it very difficult to choose…..

February, not quite over!

Well, the month may be over, but in truth some of the deadlines haven’t been met, crochet-wise, I’m almost there, but here’s the story.

In fact, none of the ‘deadlines’ matter, but I won’t put them to one side – I’ll carry on until they are finished. Firstly, let me tell you about the ‘Spirit of February’ blanket.

This is the one that’s really running behindhand! I miscounted the squares, and began to add the border before adding the final strip! My next step is to take out the border and add the strip before redoing the border. You may remember that this blanket is a comparison between last year and this year – it’s been interesting to see the differences in the temperatures, especially the last few days of the month. Of course, 28 days would make a strange shape, so I determined 5 x 5 blocks with the last three days in the border.

I like the border, but it will have to be redone, and that may be slow!

Inspiration strikes when it will, and it was probably inspiration for the next project that took my concentration from the above.

Have you ever wondered what winter looks like? This blanket, which I’m calling ‘Spirit of Winter’ gives an idea. The centre squares are the high later day temperatures for December, January and February. The border illustrates the morning temperatures, and there are a couple more rounds to go. I didn’t start it until 21st February, and it’s just about finished. I’ll press on and finish this first, then go back to the ‘Spirit of February’.

The temperature blanket is up to date, apart from today’s square which will be made later. Will there be a Spirit of March? Yes, and it’s already on the hook, but more of that later in the month. This is the second post today, if you missed the first you can find it here.

Oh! Calamity!

Have you missed me? I’ve been here, but….

…. my phone was full and I couldn’t move any of the photos to the computer! I managed a few photos on Instagram, but none of the other apps would work!

So frustrating, but let’s face it, hardly a real calamity! It’s suprising how much I rely on it, though, as most of my blog posts start their life on the phone when I upload the photographs to the WordPress App. It’s a really good app, and works perfectly either on it’s own or in conjunction with the computer – which is the way I prefer to blog here.

So, February ended by making it’s mark. We had snow!

This is very unusual. In the 30+ years we have lived here we have had snow less than a handful of times. I don’t enjoy it. The hatches are battened down and apart from continuing to feed the birds I didn’t go outside. True, I didn’t need too. The storecupboard was already well stocked, and I have enough yarn to sink a battleship! I must have been prepared for a bad end to winter.

On some days the sky was blue, as can be seen by this view from my ‘studio’ (aka kitchen), but there were dull, grey, snowladen skies too.

The eucalyptus, which I grow for it’s dyeing properties, didn’t enjoy the cool weather, but it’s a strong plant and won’t fare any the worse in the long run.

Other creatures ventured out. We were visited by a couple of foxes at least. I took this photo on the first morning, it wasn’t very thick then, and it was interesting to view their tracks and see their pathways. Their footmarks were very distinctive, we could see that there was more than one.

Yes, I crocheted! I think I’ll post a couple of update posts about this as there is at least one project that hasn’t been shared so far. Watch out for something else later today, and if you too had snow I hope it clears for you really quickly too. Spring is here! We just need it to make it’s appearance felt. (Edited at 16.00 as the first post is now up, you can find it here.)

Five Colour Friday

You have probably guessed that I love playing with colour. It is fun to do regardless of the medium that you choose. Sometimes colour will spill over from one craft to another – and often this will form the basis of design.

Today’s colourscheme began with paper play. I was painting pages for my Nine Patch a Day journal. This features one small ‘collage’ a day made very first thing in the morning while the house is still quiet and asleep. I’ve made early morning practice a habit for longer than I can remember – it is a start to the day I really enjoy. It doesn’t take long, in fact it MUSTN’T take long. I only allow 15 minutes max from start to finish.

Anyway, I digress. I couldn’t avoid choosing the above colours and making a square. Before long…..

Colours used are:

  • Bluebell
  • Pale Rose
  • Buttermilk
  • Lincoln
  • Plum

All colours are Stylecraft Special DK. Amongst other places they are available from Deramores.