CAL: Frida's Flower Blanket

Janie Crow/Jane Crowfoot will be running the Frida's Flower Blanket CAL (Crochet-A-Long) in the first few months of 2016.  It's inspired by Mexican crewel embroidery as seen on Frida Kahlo's clothes:

As for the Lily Pond Blanket CAL, Jane has designed an exclusive extra crochet pattern which will be available with yarn kits sold via the Janie Crow web site and not elsewhere.
Jane has designed the project based on Mexican traditional embroidery/crewel work and the costumes worn by artist Frida Kahlo. The colour palette is bright on dark shades and the main theme is flowers - the project will be called Frida's Flower Blanket.



Image source and further information here and in her January update here.

Yarn kits will be available from various retailers using Stylecraft yarns.
Follow her on Facebook etc or sign up on her website for her email updates to find out more, or read her blog here.

Note: links are in UK crochet terminology.

Admirable Crocheters: The Loopy Stitch

Beautiful projects, tutorials and more from an Australian crochet blogger.

Head on over to The Loopy Stitch.  Great use of colour, modern crochet, lovely eye candy.  It's a fairly new blog (I can't talk...) but looks very promising and worth following.


Image source

Blog: http://theloopystitch.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theloopystitch/

Not sure of her username on Ravelry, but happy to add it here...

Unusually for most Australian crocheters...
Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Crazy shell stitch

Would you like to crochet this?


Image source

Then head on over to the photo step by step tutorial here:
http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Tutorials/How-to-Crochet-a-Crazy-Shell-Stitch

Could be a blanket, or a cowl, or a scarf, or whatever you want....

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Interweave Cable Celtic Crochet

This YouTube video explains an interesting technique to obtain a woven texture.



Worth trying sometime.  The video uses plain yarn, with an example in variegated.  I suspect it would be a tad tricky to do this stitch with two colours...

It's in effect double thickness, so it would also be a yarn-hungry stitch,  But warm!

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Babettes and Klimtchen; crochet inspired by patchwork and/or Klimt.

There's the Babette crochet blanket, famously inspired by a Kaffe Fassett quilt...

 
...which you can buy at the Interweave online store:
http://www.interweavestore.com/babette-blanket

and view on Ravelry here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/babette-blanket
(don't forget to check the projects tab for photos of finished versions).

It's not a cheap option to make, 22 skeins of very beautiful  Koigu KPM @$15AU/skein or so...but there's nothing to stop you being inspired by this idea.  At all.

....and if you want another crochet take, try the Gingerbread Lady's Klimtchen - little Klimt blankets (with a free tutorial and pattern/planning pdf, thank you!).

http://gingerschatz.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/tutorial-klimtchen-baby-blankets.html

Lovely!

Gingerbread Lady Klimtchen blog link to her brilliant tutorial on these blankets - photos and diagrams and info, oh my!:
http://gingerschatz.blogspot.de/2011/09/tutorial-crazy-patchwork-klimt-blankets.html

Gingerbread Lady Klimtchen pattern pdf:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33097845/The%20Klimtchen%20Baby%20Blanket.pdf

The Gingerbread Lady is obliging enough to provide both UK and US crochet terminology (Babette would be in US, I'm guessing).

Whichever way you go, it's a great way to play with colour, from a baby blanket on up.

Note: links are in UK crochet terminology.

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Sunny Spread pattern

So once upon a time a designer called Ellen Gormley created a pattern she called Sunny Spread.



Which has clever use of front post stitch to create wheels/stars/suns/those cool round centres.  There are many examples which have been made - check out this page on Ravelry.

One of the most interesting is a cushion made with a cream background and a single ball of Moda Vera Bouvardia (long run variegated yarn from Spotlight).  It really showcases the pattern.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AnnabelsArmoire/sunny-spread-3

Equally, you could use up scraps for the circles.  I do have a preference for the circle contrasting with the surrounding square (and I seem to have a thing for circles in squares at present...) as I think that showcases the pattern.  Don't know if I could cope with making an entire blanket in one colour only... but if I did, I'd go with a light colour like the original, to ensure that the pattern could be seen.

Here's the Red Heart yarn company page with the pdf of the pattern:

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/sunny-spread

And the direct pattern link:

http://www.redheart.com/files/patterns/pdf/CTFeb08-68.pdf

(The Coats & Clark UK links which should have led to a UK terminology version don't seem to be working any more, so the US version is all I have been able to find).

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Circles in squares pattern

This fun blanket (great colour choices!) was shown on Facebook then sold on Etsy (and made by Patchwork Heart, blog entry about it is here).  This pattern could make a simple sweet/bright baby blanket, or work for a child or adult.  It's got a lovely graphic quality.

Hand made crocheted blanket

				Hand made crocheted blanket A beautifully soft unique childrens blanket measuring approximately 100cm square and 660g in weight. With the attractive shapes and vibrant
				View on www.etsy.com	Preview by Yahoo

She sourced the pattern from the excellent tutorial on Just Do/Made by Do blog, which has clear step by step photos:

Just-Do: Circle in Square, a Tutorial

				Just-Do: Circle in Square, a Tutorial Hello ladies! Thank you for joining me today. On my last post I received a question about the pattern I used for the circles. I’m sure it must already be out there ...
				View on madebydo.blogspot.nl	Preview by Yahoo

http://madebydo.blogspot.nl/2013/02/circle-in-square-tutorial.html

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Ribbon Afghan pattern

This is a clever technique, using the various heights of the crochet stitches to create a ribbon pattern across the afghan (blanket/rug, choose your term!). From the blog, The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady:

The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady: PATTERN: Ribbon Afghan

				The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady: PATTERN: Ribb... This afghan was something I came up with because I wanted a very quick and very easy pattern that could be done by touch - it's repetitive and simple, the perfect a...
				View on gingerschatz.blogspot...	Preview by Yahoo

Pattern link (including a downloadable pdf): http://gingerschatz.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/pattern-ribbon-afghan.html

She shows a couple of examples inspired by her pattern here: http://gingerschatz.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/outdone-or-outcrocheted.html

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Spice of Life CAL: My Mexican Fiesta version

I am not alone in playing with the Spice of Life Crochet-A-Long.:  bright Mexican Fiesta kinda colours were my choice.  I'm using mostly yarn from Spotlight, 4 Seasons 50g wool, and about 18 colours (which is a few more than the original).  There are lots of pictures of completed blankets in a multitude of appealing colour combinations.

As I'm undertaking this with my local knitting and crochet group, I've got Motivation to Keep Up and finish it by June (we're doing a section each month, not weekly).

This is a clever pattern for crocheters both new and old, a chance to practise skills and develop new ones in the context of a blanket (it doesn't have to fit anyone but it will still keep 'em warm!).   The designer, Sandra Paul, notes on her blog the basic skills the blanket requires.

I would recommend reading both the designer's notes and the patterns.  While they are generously filled with links to tutorials and with photos to help you see how do do various stitches, there are sometimes notes on the blog that haven't been put in the pattern.  The pattern is free.

My other suggestion is to use the colour-exchange pages as a guide to the (not consecutively numbered) 129 rows.  And highlight the rows that are trebles.

Designer's blog: http://www.cherryheart.co.uk/p/spice-of-life-blanket.html

Patterns on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spice-of-life-blanket

There are also threads on Ravelry, Instagrammers with posts, a Facebook group - lots of options if you want to undertake this and engage on social media.

Note: links are in UK crochet terminology.