It's a pattern I found on Ravelry, called Fall Country House Scarf. I'm using Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran yarn, in 3 colours, Seashore, Sprout and Vanilla. I'm loving this yarn, lovely and soft, and not itchy at all, a problem I normally find with scarves! It's lovely to work with, I'm using a 6mm hook as I don't want the stitches too tight, but nice and airy.
Back to other news.... I am plodding along with my mum's rainbow granny stripe blanket. Something was niggling me about the first row, I wasn't a huge fan of the colour 'Camel' and didn't think it blended with the others, but more importantly, the chain turned out to be too tight and caused the edge to ripple up and make the blanket all wonky. I really didn't think I could do anything about this, as it was the first colour with the foundation chain, apart from pulling the whole thing apart, which after countless hours of grannying away, I was not prepared to do. But then I had a thought. Could I possibly crochet a chain along the bottom of the next colour, ensuring I connected all the stitches, before ripping off the first Camel-ly colour? The answer was, yes I could. I wasn't sure how well it was going to turn out until I took the leap and removed the first colour, but it actually worked really well, and I think the blanket looks so much better now. It's straight and parallel, and it hasn't got that camel colour standing out on the end.
How it looked all wrinkly with camel...
and without the camel and a new foundation chain...
It does look rather cheery, especially on dreary wintry evenings. Only trouble is, I think it's going to work out a lot thinner than expected, despite my calculations! The rainbow will be complete and it will be more the shape of a hallway runner than a big rectangle blanket, so I may have to repeat some of it.... will tackle that when I get to it!
My other main project recently was a gift for a friend's daughter, who had her 1st birthday. She loved her stripy elephant I had made earlier in the year, so thought I'd make her something else too. This time I wanted to make something I hadn't made before, so I scoured Ravelry and found the prefect thing... the KISS Series Lion by K4TT. I have wanted to find the perfect Lion, and this was it! I love his mane and how floppy he is. He is truly awesome. I had to pay a little bit for the pattern, but really don't mind when it's this amazing. I used my trusted King Cole Bamboo Cotton DK and a bit of Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo with a size 3.5mm hook. He was fun to make, and definitely what I was after. I didn't want to part with him in the end, and nor did my little P, so I may have to make another one! Here is the Lion in question...
Finally, I have made something for my little P. Some bunting. It was going to be for her cot, but I got carried away and made it bigger so it hangs on the wall. I used Pink Milk's Simple Crochet Bunting Tutorial to get me started, but added a few touches of my own, including a contrasting edge. I also cut out letters and flower shapes to sew on to give it a personal touch. Yes, I had to sew. I'm not overly hot on that, but learnt how to blanket stitch and used that method, though I think for the future I may invest in invisible thread so you can't see how bad my sewing is! I used Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran and a 5mm hook (which I have also fimo'd a handle for...another post sometime soon). Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but they were taken in the bedroom, which was dark and dingy due to the rubbish weather!
It's lovely and colourful and brightens the wall up loads. Little P loves it too, except she keeps pointing at it rather than go to sleep!
I have also made a few other things....guess I haven't posted for a while! A basket, some coaster/placemat things for my parents and a couple of amigurumi strawberries (pattern here) for the little P. I plan to make her a whole load of crochet play food, one day!
So now I will continue with my scarf. Or maybe the stripy blanket. Looking outside, I think I need both! Until next time my friends...
