Pattern from my book: Granny Squares and fun combining yarns

Every now and then, to keep my books fresh, I updated one or two of the patterns for you. 

CAROUSEL

The Carousel has taken so much of my time and effort lately.....the finishing edge stitch to come on November 15th and then some time to play with the secret blanket

TIME OUT

This last week I took a few days 'me time', bit of volunteering, clean the house, catch up with the washing and hooky time, revamping the pattern on page 116 of Granny Squares it's the cover blanket motif.....I've used my favourite finger wrap/sc start to the pattern and I've turned it into a hex, when you start with the magic number 12 thats extremely easy to do.

YARNS

Over the last couple of years i have been collecting together some beautiful yarns, alpaca, cotton, wool and some acrylics too, most of which i haven't had time to use.

INSPIRATION

For weeks now a fabulous picture of a Missoni Jacket and scarf creation, [I adore the colours], it has been my screen saver reminding me that soon I would have time to play...this week i took a few days and got lost in a new blanket for my lounge, dark grey being the dominate colour 

the original Square on page 116 in Granny Squares, but with my favourite finger wrap/sc start 

I've always loved mixing yarns together as one to make more interesting yarns, but there are so many multi thread yarns today you can often find exactly what you want in the market place..so some i mixed and some i had.

YARNS USED:

 Ormo, very fine, looks so like cotton threads

100% Acrylic

Ornaghi Wonderful, 

65% Acrylic, 25% new wool, 10% mohair mix 

Patons Wool Bend Aran

63% Wool, 37% Acrylic

James C Brett Marble, 

100% acrylic

King Cole Riot 

70% Acrylic, 30% Wool

King Cole Drifter 

69% Acrylic, 25% Cotton, 6% Wool

Pure Mohair

Mostly indie mohair from several show sources 

Pure Alpaca

several show sources

Pure Cotton

Aldi's best lol

All mixed and blended together to create the look and shade

 blending can create so many more softer/darker/lighter/subtler shades......

and my old college tutor said my colour choices was diabolical!....I can do subtle too although I struggle to leave any colour out lol  

 I wanted the motif to reflect the Flower Light I made years ago, with tweaks to yarn weight etc. I think the blanket pattern from my work works a treat 

  

Every hex is a different shade because of the space dyed yarn used as a background yarn , giving a lovely shaded blanket.

Carousel part 1....links part 1 opens at 9.30

Part 1 of the Carousel is now open find it here

CAROUSEL PART 1 PATTERN
Introduction is there now and the fist part of the pattern should be added at 9.30 this morning 
UK time

TENSION SAMPLE?

I've been asked about TENSION several times so here is the tension you need for the Carousel 

4mm hook

US terms, 20dc = 4.75"/12cms and 2 rows of dc = 1"/2.5cms.

Hope this helps those who have loose or tight stitches


EXTRA SPECIAL PACKS

For those using the Extra Special Packs these are the 2 colour ways for part 1

OPTION ONE:

Round 1: Carnation

Round 2: Sandstone

Round 3: Viola

Round 4: Greengage

Round 5:Waterfall

Round 6: Charcoal

Round 7: Charcoal

Round 8: Peony

Round 9: Carnation

Round 10: Viola

Round 11: Charcoal

OPTION TWO:

Round 1: Charcoal

Round 2: Atlantis

Round 3: Greengage

Round 4: Sandstone

Round 5: Waterfall

Round 6: Charcoal

Round 7: Charcoal

Round 8: Atlantis

Round 9: Waterfall 

Round 10: Sandstone

Round 11: Viola or Atlantis

All the colour info for the Special and Batik packs will be included in the Pattern on the 

STYLECRAFT SITE

Released at 9.30 am. 13th September 2016

Babs video Tutorial HERE

NEW YARN: BATIK in 3 of my new Designs for Stylecraft

BATIK a new yarn Launched

On Saturday the 9th July a group of bloggers got together for the first time at the Stylecraft Mill in Slaithwaite. Great to meet up girls LINK TO THE BLOGGERS  

We were greeted by Annabelle Hill Sales and Marketing Director and 

Juliet Bernard of Blue Bear a Strategic and Social Marketing company....who talked us through the next 12 months with Stylecraft. We got to look, feel and try all the new yarns and colours and chat about the crochet/knitting world

GOODY BAG:

And we all received a fabulously, generous Goody bag too, Thank you it is a wonderful gift..... 

of Knit Pro hooks in a wonderful zip up case, chocolate, tags, bags, new yarns and a complete set of the new BATIK yarn 20% wool, 80% acrylic

GLENBRAE:

We were given an insight into the Glenbrae side of the business, a high tech range of bespoke hand-crested Golfing Knitwear...the baby of Stylecraft owner Richard Brown.

As one of Stylecrafts Crochet Designers, I have been working with Batik for a few months now and love it...I hope all the other bloggers and you all, will love it as much as I do. 

A beautiful range of 16 colours that blend together fabulously

BATIK: 

A 20% Wool 80% Acrylic yarn, beautifully springy that fills the space well. I have designed the Stylecraft Autumn Cal using this yarn and in Special DK another huge favourite with lots of people, as the second option.

BATIK AND THE MAY DAISY.. pattern HERE

The May Daisy in Batik compared to the Special DK..slightly bigger motif and a subtler colouring compared to the Special DK

BATIK GRANNY SQUARES:

Batik... can give a new look to your granny squares. I love mixing yarns together to add depth, with Batik it's done for you in 16 fabulous colours

3 OF MY NEW DESIGNS FOR STYLECRAFT BATIK:

Stylecraft Pattern 9298

 Stylecraft Pattern 9299

 Stylecraft Pattern 9300

TO COME IN SEPTEMBER A NEW CAL:

I'm so excited and pleased with the design I can't wait for September and hope you will all like the CAL design...Top secret for now so just a teaser.

The mandala motif I designed a couple of weeks ago, tried out in Batik. I had already tried one in Stylecraft Sundae DK and one in the Special DK for comparison.....all look lovely and all give a different look and feel

If you Click the links below you will see the full range of colours in these 3 yarns 

The motif pattern is the same but in the 3 different yarns gives you an idea of how they will crochet

BATIK DK

 SPECIAL DK

 SUNDAE DK

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Sock yarn and Yarn Stories
Something we are all waiting for...a new range of Stylecraft Sock Yarns to be launched towards the end of the year that will compliment the beautifully soft Yarn stories Merino and baby Alpaca ranges already on the market from the team at Stylecraft.......its going to be a exciting year