Tuesdays Tallies 4

 

Ooops, I nearly forgot that it was Tuesday :)  It feels like a Wednesday which is a big disappointment when you realise it's still 3 days til the weekend...  We've been busy on the house hunting front (still no joy yet) so where I usually crochet at lunch I've been ringing up every estate agent in the area booking appointments!  I'm also getting very excited about a certain upcoming festival...

 All this together means I've only managed a mere five squares this week - & three of those were made today!

 

I'm totally out of Meadow now and just about to run out of Wisteria so I may become a little stuck with how much more I can do.  I don't want to buy more, so I might introduce new colours...

So on that note thank you for all your lovely responses about Pomegranate - I'm starting to think you were completely right.

These are the squares without, & although it's quite a calm looking blanket, which was originally what I was after, I can't help feeling like it's lacking something.

I'm not sure if it's because everything we have is so bright and I did want something a little less that, something that goes with our sofa and might look nice in our eventual new home...

...But look!

 

You guys are fab! ♥

I had a go at blocking the whole lot this evening.  I could do with getting some of those foam play mats, I've used our bath mat but it means taking the pins all out.  I measured them all out perfectly & everything!

I'm so excited with how they're looking now they're actually square :D  It makes such a difference though and it's saved me doing them all at the end.  Just a steam iron & NO touching the yarn :)

x x x x

So the de-stashing count begins!

Meadow 
Wisteria

Tuesdays Tallies 3

 

Just back from tonights WI so only a quick one to share this weeks crochet squares!

So not quite seven (not sure I've even truly been doing one a day) but I'm half way through seven so maybe if I finish it soon I can count it?

I've introduced a new colour this week, I'm not sure whether to stick with it or not really so I did two

Pomegranate is my favourite colour from the Stylecraft Special DK range so I guess that's probably why I added it!  My original plan though was a more subtle and quieter blanket so we'll see...  If anyone else is joining in with One-a-Day please let me know, I know Carole hasn't blogged since May so hoping all is well with her x

On the house hunting front, we made an offer on a nice terrace and then the seller decided not to sell!  So if any of you have any good house hunting vibes please send them my way, I really am desperate!

x x x x

Tuesdays Tallies 2

 

Hello lovely people :)  I hope you're having as nice weather as we are here, it's just wonderful to have sunshine and warmth at last!  It's made cycling to work even more of a joy :)

♥

I've actually got a Tuesdays tallies for you, although maybe not as many squares as I'd imagined.  I'm calling this project my Rosie Elmer Blanket.  If Elmer the Elephant was rosie, maybe this is what she'd look like!

These are the squares I'd made by Saturday, or it might have been Sunday I forget

Then I had a go at blocking them, using a steam iron and hovering over (not touching!!) like Lucy over in the Attic at number 24 suggested.  Works a treat!

I could do with making a grid or something so they're all blocked the same but I doubt it matters that much

And lastly this is a very bad photo of how many I've got right now.  I need to start using our digital camera instead of my phone but I'm feeling really lazy today!

As always, click the One a Day banner to visit Carole and see the other One a Day projects

x x x x

Tuesdays Tallies 1 - the secret project!

... is back!!

❤

Last year I joined in with the One A Day project hosted by Carole over at Ginger Bread Girl. It was definitely the motivating factor that got my hexagon blanket finished.

 Last week Carole posted that she was starting up again but at the time I said I didn't really have any One A Day suitable projects...

Oh what I didn't know then!  Over the weekend I was reading Heathers latest post on Little Tin Bird and it was all over.  That fire ignited in my head and heart, I just HAD to make myself a blanket like this!

❤

You'll know that I'm on a bit of a yarn de-stash so this looks perfect.  I want to use pinks/purples and some green from my Stylecraft bag.  Here's what I've hooked up so far

And because there's not a lot to see, here's them arranged differently.  How exciting ;-)

I've followed Heathers tutorial which is really easy and can be found here.  It's the same one that she's used for her beautiful Elmer blankets as well.

They're super quick to make, I think I can get one done in about 15 minutes, which may sound a lot but trust me when you're making granny squares with rounds in different colours this is much quicker.

❤ 

Unlike Heather who is far more generous, I will be keeping my blanket all for me!  Mostly because J has been stealing my hexagons (I've had to rescue it as my end weaving wasn't very good!).

Ahh...  now speaking of J, you might be wondering why this is a secret project!  I've already said it's for me so you know I'm not hiding it from it's recipient.  No.  I just can't bring myself to tell J I'm making another blanket when we have so many already (handmade & otherwise) because I can't quite believe I'm doing this again when I swore I wouldn't!

This one will be different, I'm thinking more of a lap blanket so hopefully much smaller.  We'll see.

Anywho, pop over to Caroles blog to see if anyone else has joined in :D

x x x x

Tuesdays Tallies: seven, done, finished!

I don't think I can keep you guys waiting anymore... I've been a bit mean by not posting *any* photos of the blanket in weeks but this big project is finally... Done.


There will be no more teasing posts about how many hexagons I've made this week...


Or about how many extra hexagons I need to complete...


No more posts about half hexagons either or how I might do the border...

Which incidentally is a round of trebles and a second round of half trebles. With a blanket this fussy a simple border seemed to work nicely.

So with this lot finished with...


Result!

It really is difficult to photograph something so big and the weather and therefore lighting hasn't been great either so this is the best I could manage.

The yarn I've been using is Stylecraft Special DK - it was the "Lucy Pack" with extra shades of yellow - Saffron & Lemon because I wanted a few more bright shades. Lemon turned out to be a fantastic "middle" as it started off most shades really well.

1061 *** Plum

1246 *** Lipstick

1083 *** Pomegranate

1084 *** Magenta

1132 *** Shrimp

1241 *** Fondant

1390 *** Clematis

1432 *** Wisteria

1188 *** Lavender

1034 *** Sherbet

1420 *** Camel

1114 *** Sunshine

1081 *** Saffron

1020 *** Lemon

1316 *** Spring Green

1065 *** Meadow

1422 *** Aspen

1068 *** Turquoise

1003 *** Aster

1019 *** Cloud Blue

The pattern is Lucy's as well and her very easy to follow Hexagon How To can be found on her blog.

I didn't join as you go because I really wanted white borders, but I didn't want the last round of the hexagon to be white (i.e. colourful circles edged in white) so each hexagon has been finished with a round of double crochet (US sc) and they're all sewn together.

The border was just a round of trebles and another round of half trebles. When it came to the "peaks" of the side I did 1 tr, 1 ch, 1 tr in the corner space, and for the "valleys" I just missed out two stitches in the very bottom (it was a bit made up / hit and miss!).



I'd heard that washing Stylecraft transformed it into magical soft stuff... I was a bit wary but almost as soon as I'd finished I chucked it in the machine on a quick wash and dry. Scariest 35 minutes of my life!

This is before...


And this is after! Well, after once I'd hidden all the ends!!!


Apart from being super super soft - much softer than I expected - it's also super floppy!! It's much more snuggly now but feels a lot more delicate too. I discovered my end weaving left something to be desired, 4-5 hexagons came apart but were easily repaired and I've pulled all the other ends that wriggled loose to the back & I'm sewing them back in to hide.

I can't give exact details on my washers temperature, all I know is the wash cycle was about 30 but the drying doesn't say. I think the coolest drying cycle on the quickest time would probably be fine.

I am super pleased with the results though!

I don't think I'm going to be attempting another blanket for a while. Now I can get on with finishing another snood, the Green Garden Grannies cushion and a few other bit's and bobs.

Bye bye One-A-Day project! Thank you for having me Carole & all the other crochet/knitters, and *thank you* for helping to get this one finished!!

x x x x

Tuesdays Tallies: six

The end of the hexagon blanket is almost here...! My cream wool arrived last week so I'm now onto the last bit before the border :)

Last week Deb from A World of Imagination asked how I was going to edge my blanket and I've finally got to the point where I can show you :)

I figured the easiest thing would be to draw it...

The sections I've coloured orange I decided to make half-hexagons to fill what would have been quite large gaps. I don't mind the sides too much (where the green triangles are) and I think it will look quite nice with a zig-zag edge.

I've since found a couple of tutorials and diagrams to make half-hexagons but I made it up as I went along and it was really quite easy. As I speak I'm trying to make a proper tutorial but it's going to take a lot longer than I thought so I'll probably post that later.

You begin as normal - I use a magic circle, chain 3 and then make 6 trebles (US dc) into the middle. Tighten the magic circle and fasten off.

For round two slip stitch into the first chain 3, chain 3 and treble 1 (US dc) into the same stitch (makes one bobble stitch). Make 6 more bobbles in each treble from round 1.

I love the way they look like rainbows :)

Round three. Chain 3 into the first bobble of round two and make 2 more trebles to make a cluster. Chain 1. Treble 3 into the next bobble, chain 1. Repeat til the end - you should have 7 clusters in total.

They look even more like rainbows now huh?

Round 4 is made up of two rounds really, you just can't see the first.

To make sure the last round is the right way round, you want to do this bit on the reverse.

Slip stitch into the top of chain 3, chain 3 and slip stitch into the gap between the trebles. Continue to the end of the round - I keep saying round but they're anything but round!

Turn the half-hex over and slip stitch into the first chain loop thing - Chain 3 and treble 2 into the same chain and treble three into the next loop.

Treble 3 into the next loop, chain 2 and then treble another 3 into the same loop. This makes a corner.

Treble 3 into the next chain, then do the corner again - treble 3, chain 2, treble 3 into the same loops.

In the next two loops make 3 more trebles and tie off

I edged mine with double crochet (US sc) in cream (!!) to finish.



These should fill in all the big gaps to make a straight edge. I really hope what I've just written makes sense - if not feel free to email me - nicoleandthebee at gmail.com :-)

As always you can visit Caroles blog for more Tuesdays Tallies by clicking the banner

x x x x

Tuesdays Tallies: five

Running out of yarn is never a good thing but it's even worse when you're right-at-the-end of a project!!!

Now I have to be honest, I've actually sewn in all my hexagons but I don't think it's quite long enough so I decided to make another two rows - in doing so I've decided I'm not going to post any more blanket photos until the end... Yeah I know, that's really mean isn't it! x

I only had a few to make so I whipped them up quite quickly :)

Sorry for the terrible lighting... I wanted to photograph them before I started on the cream edge...

It's the cream edge that's causing the grief! For some reason unknown to any logic, when I ordered my last lot of Stylecraft I thought to myself "shall I buy more cream, I'm running low" and then decided not to. And then I ran out.

I decided to frog this for the cream lines (and also because I decided I didn't like it and I'm never going to put my laptop away anyway) and I didn't even take a photo before - it was at least twice as big!

I ran out of that thinking I'd put a edge on every last one and then found more hexies I'd lost under the sofa... So I ripped out the very last cream row of this!

Tuesdays Tallies: four

Ahhh so they were dahlias!!  A virtual prize by virtue of more flower and crochet pictures for anyone who got it right and a thank you from me because it was quite annoying not knowing...

Welcome back to Tuesdays Tallies.  I have lots to show you :)  On Sunday after all the excitement of our 6 gold medals the day before (I am loving the Olympics!!!), J and I took a trip to the New Smithfield Market which is basically a massive bar boot not far from us.   We've been passed loads of times and I quite like rummaging for bargains but we'd never been.

Neither of us are morning people so we didn't get there til gone 11 so I assume all the "good stuff" had gone as there was a lot of tat left. There were SO many VCR players, boxes of tangle cables, old games, junk, more junk...! I did find two pretty tins which I bagged (and haggled!) for £1.50 so I can't complain too much.  They say tea & sugar on the back but they'll probably become pots for crafty things.
My crochet hook's been pretty much non stop this week, when I'm not screaming at the telly "GO GO GO!!! RUUUUNNNNN!" or popping to that pesky place called work.  Round four is done and there are even borders with ends ready to be sewn together.  I like it this way - I hate sewing in ends but the ends sew the hexies together.  Simples.
I even got to crochet outside for a whole ten minutes before black clouds decided to plant themselves in front of the sun. Lovely...
And just after I'd watered these it started to rain.  Yay!

So all hexies are ready to be sewn in and then I can see how many more I might need...  Luckily this bit (from what I remember the last time I did this) is quite quick

Excitement!!!

 

This was the sky last night.  How epic!

x x x x