BAWJ2019 - Weeks 9-12!

Hi everyone! 

My BAWJ2019 is coming along nicely! I have 13 squares completed now, all in different colour combinations. What do you think of my e-afghan? 

This is going to be a bit of a long post because I have FOUR squares to show you! 

If you want to join in on BAWJ2019, check out Julie's Facebookgroup, blog and Ravelry Board for more information.

WEEK 9 - QUATREFOIL ROSETTE by LISA MAUSER

Pattern: https://thislittlehookofmine.blogspot.com/2019/03/quatrefoil-rosette.html

Yarn colours: Teal, Cream, Indigo, Storm, Sage, Old Gold, Graphite

This square was well written and worked up very nicely. It was interesting to use so many colours - the other squares so far have a maximum of 4-5 colours.

The texture is lovely! And even the back is nice. 

WEEK 10 - ROSEBUD FLOWER SQUARE by CHERYL DEE CROCHET

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rosebud-flower-square


Yarn colours: Graphite, Cherry, Raspberry, Cream, Rose, Iron 

I particularly liked how this square took into account the twist from hdc rows by changing direction each row - the backs of the hdc stitches provide a different texture, and the square stayed very straight!

I'm not sure how much I love the little extra rosebud, but it's nice to learn new techniques.

It's easier to see on the back how the alternating hdc rows keep the square nice and straight:

WEEK 11 - MISTLEY by JACQUI GOULBOURN

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mistley-square

Yarn colours: Heather, Olive, Coral and Copper

Another well written square! It's so nice when a pattern just slides off the hook without much thought or consideration! 

I wish the centre circle was a bit more... circular, but maybe blocking will assist with that, if I can be bothered.

WEEK 12 - LITHA by KRIS KELLN

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/litha-2


Yarn colours: Silver, Lupin, Violet, Graphite

Talk about a well-written pattern! I think this is my favourite square so far - interesting stitches, not overly complicated but extremely easy to follow. If only all patterns were like this!

Again, I wish the centre diamond was, well, centred, but maybe the little twist is a design feature not a bug :P 

Phew, I'm up to date (and up to date on here) - bring on the next 36 weeks! 

Woohoo! The finished Hydrangea Stripe Blanket

Hi everyone!

Phew, it has been a long time since I wrote my last blog post. I thought about it a lot, but in the end, my day didn't have enough hours.

Recently, we went to Denmark for a week and I finally (!!) finished my Hydrangea Stripe Blanket! Phew. The project took far too long for my liking and some point it wasn't a lot of fun anymore. I guess, I am not cut out for projects which take very long.

Now that the blanket is finished, I love it. It is soft and lush. I really hope, the recipient will like it too. It is a gift for a dear friend of mine who turned 60 last December. I wanted to finish the blanket in time for her birthday, but eh, that didn't work out. It will be more of a Easter surprise now. I will pack and ship it soon!

The pattern is really easy to follow and after a couple of rows, i developed a nice rhythm. I had to crochet more rows (lots more) to reach the desired length. I assume that's because I used a 4mm hook and a slightly different yarn.

Belissma is a lovely yarn to work with. It was a great stitch definition and just flows from the hook.

As much as I love the blanket, I am glad I am able to crochet smaller projects again now. I am currently testing a pattern for Michelle. Stay turned - it looks great!

Take care,

Anne

Project details

Pattern: Hydrangea Stripe Blanket by Attic24

Yarn: Belissima DK by Stylecraft Yarns

Color order stripes: Toasted Almonds, Ash Rose, Raspberry Riot, Mellow Yellow, Sugar Snap, Overly Olive, Silver Lining, Smoked Pearl, Bashful Blue, Double Denim, Purple Passion, Rio Red, Crushed Plum

Border: Double Cream

Hook: 4mm

Time: 12/18 - 3/19

P.S. Stylecraft Yarns send the yarn I am using for the blanket mentioned above last summer, but I am not in any way obliged to say anything nice about the yarn. Thus, all sentiments expressed above a 100% mine! :)

BAWJ2019 - Weeks 7 and 8!

Hi everyone! 

It's March! How can it possibly be March already - 2019 is zipping by at a terrifying rate. We've survived two weeks of multiple night shifts here and Miss Allie has her first tooth! 

I have been working on my miniaturisation project over the last few weeks in between feeding the baby 7 times a day (hurgh I liked it better when she just had milk), persuading her to have naps and keeping up with work. So far I have 5 tiny monsters, and #6 is in progress but having a rest while I make a hippo for a lovely friend's upcoming tiny human! 

This week's post is a bit later than usual because Square 8 of the BAWJ2019 took me somewhat longer than previous weeks for reasons which I will describe below... 

If you want to join in on BAWJ2019, check out Julie's Facebookgroup, blog and Ravelry Board for more information.

WEEK 7 - JOYFUL by TAMARA KELLY

Pattern: https://www.mooglyblog.com/joyful-afghan-square-12/ 

Yarn colours: Krypton, Silver, Teal, Mint

This square was ok! I did alter the instructions slightly so I didn't have quite so many silver ends from the overlay rounds, just by starting in a different spot. 

It worked up fairly well, although it irritates my symmetrical mind that the mandala isn't straight on the square. 

I almost like the back better - the combination of colours and stitches (and the beautiful Batik yarn) gives it an impressionist look!


WEEK 8 - MOONLIGHT GARDEN SQUARE by ANNA PISKORZ

Pattern: https://aloopofsunshinecrochet.com/block-a-week-cal-2019-moonlight-garden-square/


Yarn colours: Phosphorus, Cream, Raspberry, Gold, Violet

Hoo boy, this was an interesting square. Pretty? Yes, I'll give it that. I liked the way the circular centre was squared up - very clever and much less awkward than other methods I have seen. 

I do not want to seem ungrateful because these lovely designers are offering squares for the BAWJ2019 for free, but... it makes me really disappointed when designers don't take pride in presenting a great, well-designed, well laid out pattern. And this one was a real challenge, not in a fun way. 

Julie noted as a "fun fact" in her introductory blog post that the designer has never made an afghan before! This became very obvious when there were two rows that had 16ch strings along the back. It's true, they aren't visible from the front. But as anyone who has ever made or used an afghan can tell you, having such long loose strings along the back can be very unpleasant for the toes as well as affecting the tension of the square! I ended up catching the chain strings into the following row to try and mitigate this a bit. But, you can see how the overlay crochet is sitting right up off the surface of the underlying stitches due to the tension of the chain strings behind. 

There were some issues with the pattern as well. In some places the colour change was not marked clearly, and the layout was not super easy to follow. 

The stitch counts and instructions for Rounds 18 and 19 didn't match. It was very confusing, caused a few bouts of ripping back and retrying before I could make it work. In case you're making this and are as perplexed as I was, I worked Rounds 18 and 19 as follows:

Round 18 - *working in BLO, hdc in first two st of one side including the first hidden st, 15 star stitches across, hdc in last two st, (hdc, ch2, hdc) in corner ch2sp*. repeat 4 times. (6hdc and 15 star st on each side) 

Round 19 - *hdc in first three st of one side including first hidden st (where Round 18 joined), hdc in top of Round 18 hdc to start first star st, 2hdc in eye of each star stitch, hdc in last 3 st, (hdc, ch2, hdc) in corner ch2sp* repeat 4 times (39 hdc on each side) 

More than one hdc round also twists a square quite badly because the top of the stitch is so far to the right of the post, as you can see in the back shot of this square:

Hopefully the power of peer pressure will pull it back into line once we join them all together.

Onwards and upwards!