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.

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.

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.

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.

Slouchy crochet beanie in camel stitch

This one cleverly provides the rib and slouch of the many knitted beanies you see, but using crochet stitches (none difficult). It's from Sheepishly Sharing, and is called Camel Stitch Slouchy.

Image source: Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/camel-stitch-slouchy

You work the band (instructions are supplied for lots of sizes from littles to large), join it and then work the rounds of slouch to the size you require.

Camel stitch was a new one to me: but in UK terms it's simply a half treble worked into the back loop (US terms: half double crochet worked into the back loop).

It's another example of how exploiting front and back loops - easy to do -  can create interesting textures in crochet.

The pattern on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/camel-stitch-slouchy

The pattern on Sheepishly Sharing:
http://sheepishlysharing.com/2016/01/02/crochet-camel-stitch-slouchy-tutorial/

The pattern on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/1PPc2ldR9Gk

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Katniss Cowl, Huntress Cowl, Hunger Games-inspired Cowl: texture and simplicity

There were many people inspired to replicate the grey cowl worn by Katniss in the Hunger Games films.  It's sometimes listed as 'huntress cowl' if you're searching for versions of it.

Friendly Red Fox has a version that isn't quite the original, but is a very wearable cowl - worn as one loop or two - with lovely surface texture using front and back post techniques.

http://www.thefriendlyredfox.com/2014/09/free-crochet-katniss-cowl-pattern.html

She shows how you can wear it three ways:

Image from link given above

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/katniss-cowl-3

At my knitting group meeting, there is an annual destash market day, where you can pick up some lovely yarn.  I acquired some Italian merino Aran/10ply yarn in orange, and it made up beautifully into my version of this pattern.  The one change I did was to start with a chainless foundation, so the edge would lie flat.

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.

Interlocking Crochet

So I saw these pictures and thought, hmmm, interesting - how do you do that?

Maybe you make the background mesh first, a treble/chain/treble/chain etc, (the pink here) and then do the other coloured rows?

Tried that.  Nope.

Didn't know what it was called - not filet, as I couldn't find an example with two yarns, not overlay...

So I asked on a couple of Facebook crochet groups, and bingo!  A lovely person pointed me at this YouTube video:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dm_bD-e78

The YouTube instructor, Tanis Galik, calls it Interlocking Crochet, and has a website with the same name demonstrating a bunch of interesting ways to create interlocking patterns.

http://interlockingcrochet.com/ic-technique/ is the link to where she explains the technique in words and photos.

As you can see in the video, it's different front and back: rows on one, columns on the other.  An opportunity to play with colour.  The video uses two colours, but I also like the stripes of the first picture I found. That picture is a close cousin of the interlocking technique demonstrated above, but not quite the same...

It's also cousin of front and back post crochet and the textures those stitches can create.

There would be a certain weight to the final product due to the density and doubling: a larger blanket in 8 ply wool wouldn't be light for its size.  Maybe better in 4 ply for a larger blanket, or if it's for a baby.

Something new to try.

Note: links are in US crochet terminology.