A long time in the making... Frida's Flowers Blanket

Hi there!

At some point I thought I would never be able to write this blogpost. That is a post where I share my finished Frida's Flowers blanket. In the end, it took me close to two years to finish it. As you might guess, it sat in the naughty corner looking reproachful at me for quite some time. 

How did it come to this? Well, as some of you might recall, I translated the Frida's Flowers CAL into German and boy, that was some work. I also managed the German Facebook group, wrote the German pattern errata list and so on. At some point I was just over the blanket. That I had no idea what to actually do with the blanket once it was done. So... after finishing part 1-3 while I was on holidays in Denmark in 2016, the blanket kit moved into the WIP/UFO corner. 

But whenever I walked past it, it looked at me and I felt pretty bad. What to do with the already finished pieces and what to do with the left over yarn? I couldn't get myself to repurpose the yarn and well, sometime last year, I "bite into the sour apple" (German phrase) and started working on it again. And guess what? I actually enjoyed it (not the ends but that is another story)! I was going to finish it for Christmas but as usual life had other plans. So, I finished it in January/February instead and will ship it off to it's new owner (who doesn't know she will get it, so I won't name her here) soon. Pheww! 

The pattern is very well written and along with Michelle's helpful tips from two years ago, the crochet process wasn't too hard. The crocheting together? Not my favorite part but that is not the blanket's fault as I don't like putting crochet pieces together in any case. I used the recommend Stylecraft Classique Cotton and fell in love with it. Finally a cotton yarn which doesn't split all the time! I will certainly use it again in the future - when the right projects comes up. I adore cotton yarn but it makes blankets so heavy and amigurumi a bit hard (if crocheted tight). 

I can't even express how relieved I am that this project is FINALLY done. There are tons of projects which moved into the naughty corner (and stayed there) in the past, tons of projects   frogged or thrown out but this one... this one needed to be finished. And now that it is, well, we will see where it takes me!

Project details

Pattern: Frida's Flowers Blanket by Jane Crowfoot 

Yarn: Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK

Hooks: Clover Amour 4-5 mm

Duration: March 2016 - February 2018

Take care 

Anne

P.S. It is the middle of winter here in Germany... The weather is ... um... not good for photos.  Thus no outside picture of the blanket as it would get wet and soggy within seconds!

Frida's Flowers CAL - Edging and TA-DAH!

Congratulations on reaching the end of the Frida's Flowers CAL! The edging instructions have just been uploaded to the Stylecraft website in English (UK and US), Dutch and German - head over there to download now: http://www.stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/Crochet.htm. Thank you all so much for coming on this adventure with us! We have had a great time, learned a lot, and can't wait for the next Stylecraft CAL :D

I didn't record yarn usage for the edging, as there was no need to see how much was left! I came very close to using up all the black, but did not run out of anything. 

Here's a closeup of the finished edging:

Our top tips for the finishing off are:

1. Don't be afraid to join the pieces in a different colour to black! 

I joined my central flower in Greek Blue, and totally love the effect. I would have had enough black to do it, but as usual totally overestimated how much yarn I would need.

2. In Round 1 of the edging, where you do 3sc together in the dip of the zigzag edge, don't work into the joined stitches, just in the join. 

Hopefully the picture below will make this clearer :P If you are just more confused, ignore me!

3. There's a bit of fudging required in Round 2. My counts up to this point matched Jane's perfectly, and I still had to do some stitch-skipping to get the scs to land in the right places! Don't worry about the exact stitch count - after Round 2 everything will work fine.

4. Blocking. You don't necessarily need to block your Frida, but it does help the flower petals sit neater if you're working in the cotton or life dk (for 100% acrylic yarns, I find blocking is less effective). I just washed mine in the washing machine on a very gentle cycle with woolwash, pinned it out on my foam blocking boards and let it dry over a few days out of the sun. A bit of a wash helps the cotton soften up as well!


For our tips from previous weeks, visit:

Block 1: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-1-white-cosmos.html

Block 2: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-2-dahlia-bud.html

Block 3: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-3-bird-of.html

Block 4: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-4-rosa.html

Block 5: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-5-heart-rose.html 

Block 6: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/06/fridas-flowers-cal-block-6-ring-of-roses.html

Block 7: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/06/fridas-flowers-cal-block-7-fridas.html 

Inspired by some of Frida Kahlo's artwork with lavish jungle/forest scenes in the background, I tracked down some urban jungle of my own to take some more photos! 

- Michelle & Anne xx

Frida's Flowers CAL - Block 7 - Frida's Bouquet

The Seventh Instalment of the Frida's Flowers Blanket Crochet-Along, designed by Jane Crowfoot and hosted by Stylecraft Yarns has just been posted, and is available to download NOW from the Stylecraft website, in English (US and UK), German and Dutch.

The Ravelry pattern page can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fridas-flowers-blanket 

We are working the CAL along with you all (in the Classique Cotton, provided by the wonderful Stylecraft team), and will post our tips and tricks for each part at the same time as the pattern is published over at the Stylecraft website. If you have any questions or need help, there are Facebook groups (English: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1555519964767343/ , German: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039765272753087/ and Dutch:https://www.facebook.com/groups/145851979128898/ ),
and you are always welcome to leave a comment here or ask us on Facebook. 

As you know, Anne is doing the German translations for the CAL, so ask away in German too!

So, Block 7 - Frida's Bouquet:

Front

Back

You'll need to make 5 hexagons.

Yarn usage:
22g Sunflower (41m)
7g Plum (13m)
11g Poppy (20m)
9g Shrimp (17m)
14g Teal (26m)
22g Leaf (41m)
29g Ivory (53m)
40g Black (74m)
2g Greek Blue (4m)

Remember: We are using the Classique Cotton, so use the meterage above if you are making Frida in another DK yarn.

Here's a little spreadsheet tool that Michelle is using to track yarn usage - just enter your start and finish weights for your yarns, and then the weight and meterage used will be automatically calculated! 



A little note on yarn usage - for the border, you will need almost a full ball of Black, half a ball of Poppy and half a ball of Shrimp. If you haven't joined your hexagons yet, keep in mind that you can use other colours to join and create a gorgeous design on the back of your Frida as well! 

Our Top Tips for the Frida's Bouquet block:

1. In Row 5, when you need to work 1sc, 5ch, 1sc into the turning chain at the tip of the leaf, just work into the front loop! It's much easier, and looks the same in the end.

2. In Row 6, the central sc of the 3sc group that you need to work into is the one between the leaves.

3. Bullion stitches again! I wrapped the yarn around my hook 4 times instead of 5 for these smaller bullions that are closer together. 

See last week's photo tutorial if you need a bit of help with these stitches! 

http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/06/fridas-flowers-cal-block-6-ring-of-roses.html

You should be able to hide the ends fairly neatly underneath Row 1 :)  

For our tips from previous weeks, visit:

Block 1: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-1-white-cosmos.html

Block 2: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-2-dahlia-bud.html

Block 3: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-3-bird-of.html

Block 4: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-4-rosa.html

Block 5: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-5-heart-rose.html 

Block 6: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/06/fridas-flowers-cal-block-6-ring-of-roses.html

We're nearly there! Next time we will be finishing any joining not done yet (I left mine until the very end), and then the gorgeously simple border.  

Happy hooking! Don't hesitate to comment, visit a Facebook group or ask Anne or Michelle on Facebook if you need any help :D

Frida's Flowers CAL - Block 6 - Ring of Roses

The Sixth Instalment of the Frida's Flowers Blanket Crochet-Along, designed by Jane Crowfoot and hosted by Stylecraft Yarns has just been posted, and is available to download NOW from the Stylecraft website, in English (US and UK), German and Dutch.

If you haven't set up a Ravelry project yet, the pattern page can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fridas-flowers-blanket 

We are working the CAL along with you all (in the Classique Cotton, provided by the wonderful Stylecraft team), and will post our tips and tricks for each part at the same time as the pattern is published over at the Stylecraft website. If you have any questions or need help, there are Facebook groups (English: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1555519964767343/ , German: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039765272753087/ and Dutch:https://www.facebook.com/groups/145851979128898/ ),
and you are always welcome to leave a comment here or ask us on Facebook. 

As you know, Anne is doing the German translations for the CAL, so ask away in German too!

So, Block 6 - Ring of Roses:

Front

Back

You'll need to make 6 hexagons.

Yarn usage:
17g Sunflower (32m)
15g Plum (28m)
24g Poppy (44m)
22g Shrimp (41m)
19g Teal (35m)
24g Leaf (44m)
22g Ivory (41m)
58g Black (107m)

Remember: We are using the Classique Cotton, so use the meterage above if you are making Frida in another DK yarn.

Here's a little spreadsheet tool that Michelle is using to track yarn usage - just enter your start and finish weights for your yarns, and then the weight and meterage used will be automatically calculated! 



Our Top Tips for the Ring of Roses block:

We are starting to get some repetition in stitch sequences and techniques, so make sure you check out our tips for previous blocks too! (links are below this week's tips)

1. I felt like I was going super slow this week - remember you need to make 6 hexagons so it'll take 50% longer!! 

Be kind to yourself! You're making more pieces, and the patterns are getting increasingly complicated too!

2. Use standing stitches to start rows instead of joining your yarn and chaining.

I know I know, I'm a broken record on this - but standing stitches instead of chains has made my crochet work much neater! 

Tutorial for Standing Double Crochet:
http://www.mooglyblog.com/standing-double-crochet-joining/

Tutorial for Standing Single Crochet: http://mrsmicawber.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/knotless-standing-single-crochet.html 

3. In Row 5, we need to fpdc into some of the sc of Row 2, to outline the petals. The easiest way to figure out which stitch to work around is to find the single sc that lies below the edge of the petal, and then fpdc around every second one. 

In the picture below, I have marked the alternating 1sc and 2sc pattern of Row 2 - you can see how the fpdc is worked around every second 1sc :) You can totally use the stitch markers like it says in the pattern, but this was just as simple for me!

4. The Bullion Stitches (*dramatic music*)

I am not an embroiderer. It took me so long (and much unpicking and curse words) to figure this one out, including reading the pattern a million times and googling for bullion stitch tutorials on youtube. So, here is a step by step photo and word tutorial of how I did it! I hope it helps you if you are not an experienced embroiderer either :)

Step 1: Stick your needle in from the back to the front of your work, leaving a good sized tail to weave in later. Then, wrap the yarn around your hook 5 times close to where it pops out of your work. 

Step 2: Insert the pointy end of your needle under the next stitch and back out to the front again.

Step 3: Veeeeerrry gently, pull your needle through. You might need to ease the wrapped loops off with your fingers to keep them neat while allowing the eye of the needle to pass through. Ta dah! Bullion stitch done :D

Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you get to the end of the round - you'll have a bullion stitch sitting on top of every second dc of Row 1! It looks best if you do it exactly the same way each time. 

Weave your ends in very carefully and securely - I found I could hide the yellow fairly easily in the sc of Row 2. 

5.  In Round 11, the 3sc corner goes into first dc of the second 5dc group (i.e. immediately after central white petal of round 9). The stitch you skip after the sc into the tip of your leaf is the first dc of the second 4dc group.

For our tips from previous weeks, visit:

Block 1: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-1-white-cosmos.html

Block 2: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-2-dahlia-bud.html

Block 3: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-3-bird-of.html

Block 4: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-4-rosa.html

Block 5: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-5-heart-rose.html 

Happy hooking! Don't hesitate to comment, visit a Facebook group or ask Anne or Michelle on Facebook if you need any help :D

Frida's Flowers CAL - Block 5 - Heart Rose

The Fifth Instalment of the Frida's Flowers Blanket Crochet-Along, designed by Jane Crowfoot and hosted by Stylecraft Yarns has just been posted, and is available to download NOW from the Stylecraft website, in English (US and UK), German and Dutch.


If you haven't set up a Ravelry project yet, the pattern page can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fridas-flowers-blanket 

We are working the CAL along with you all (in the Classique Cotton, provided by the wonderful Stylecraft team), and will post our tips and tricks for each part at the same time as the pattern is published over at the Stylecraft website. If you have any questions or need help, there are Facebook groups (English: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1555519964767343/ , German: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039765272753087/ and Dutch:https://www.facebook.com/groups/145851979128898/ ),
and you are always welcome to leave a comment here or ask us on Facebook. 

As you know, Anne is doing the German translations for the CAL, so ask away in German too!


So, Block 5 - Heart Rose:

Front

Back

You'll need to make 4 hexagons.

Yarn usage:
11g Sunflower (21m)
8g Plum (15m)
22g Poppy (41m)
9g Shrimp (17m)
8g Teal (15m)
18g Leaf (33m)
8g Mauve (15m)
15g Ivory (28m)
39g Black (72m)

Remember: We are using the Classique Cotton, so use the meterage above if you are making Frida in another DK yarn.

Here's a little spreadsheet tool that Michelle is using to track yarn usage - just enter your start and finish weights for your yarns, and then the weight and meterage used will be automatically calculated! 




Our Top Tips for the Heart Rose Block:


1. In Round 3, starting with either 2ch or a standing hdc can be tricky! 

I recommend that you start in the next stitch with a standing dc, dc in same stitch, continuing according to the pattern around. Don't forget to finish with an hdc in 2nd dc (the one the pattern says to do at the start!), and join to standing dc to finish the round.

2. In Round 5, instead of trying to work into the top of the sc (which is kind of behind where you're working), work into the left two legs of the sc (like in the stacked standing dc).

3. In Round 6, try finishing the picot by slipstitching into the side of the last dc rather than back into the first chain. I find this looks neater and gives me a less twisted looking picot!

4. In Round 11, note that the 3sc corner goes into first dc of the second 5dc group (i.e. immediately after central white petal of round 9). The stitch you skip after the hdc into the picot of Round 6 is the first dc of the second 4dc group (i.e. over the sc stitches of Rounds 7, 8 and 9.

For our tips from previous weeks, visit:

Block 1: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-1-white-cosmos.html

Block 2: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-2-dahlia-bud.html

Block 3: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-3-bird-of.html

Block 4: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-4-rosa.html

Happy hooking! Don't hesitate to comment, visit a Facebook group or ask Anne or Michelle on Facebook if you need any help :D

Frida's Flowers CAL - Block 4 - Rosa

Hi!

Can you believe we are already in week four of the CAL? Time is certainly flying by! :)

The Fourth Instalment of the Frida's Flowers Blanket Crochet-Along, designed by Jane Crowfoot and hosted by Stylecraft Yarns has just been posted, and is available to download NOW from the Stylecraft website, in English (US and UK), German and Dutch.

If you haven't set up a Ravelry project yet, the pattern page can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fridas-flowers-blanket 
We are working the CAL along with you all (in the Classique Cotton, provided by the wonderful Stylecraft team), and will post our tips and tricks for each part at the same time as the pattern is published over at the Stylecraft website. If you have any questions or need help, there are Facebook groups (English: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1555519964767343/ , German: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039765272753087/ and Dutch:https://www.facebook.com/groups/145851979128898/ ),

and you are always welcome to leave a comment here or ask us on Facebook. As you know, Anne is doing the German translations for the CAL, so ask away in German too!

So, Block 4 - Rosa:

Front

Back

You'll need to make 4 hexagons.

Yarn usage:
11g Sunflower (21m)
7g Plum (13m)
12g Poppy (22m)
5g Shrimp (10m)
13g Greek Blue (24m)
7g Nocturne (13m)
6g Toffee (11m)
47g Black (87m)
19g Ivory (35m)

Remember: We are using the Classique Cotton, so use the meterage above if you are making Frida in another DK yarn.

Here's a little spreadsheet tool that Michelle is using to track yarn usage - just enter your start and finish weights for your yarns, and then the weight and meterage used will be automatically calculated! 




Our Top Tips for the Rosa Block:

1) Jane suggests in the Get Ready Document that is clever to work on all four parts at once, that is you do each row/round on each of the four flowers before moving onto the next row. We highly recommend this way of crocheting the squares as well. They work up far more even this way, as it is highly likely you will crochet the rows with the same tension.

2) Sew in the ends after finishing off a colour. Block 4 has - just like block 3 - a whole lots of colour changes and thus many, many ends to sew in.

Just about everyone hates sewing in ends but doing it straight away has two advantages: 

a. you won't have lots and lots of ends to sew in after finishing the block. If you are like me, you might be put off by all the ends and won't finish the block or lose the joy in making the square. By doing the sewing in bit by bit, you don't have a massive pile up. 

b. You will crochet over your sewn in ends and thus they will be stitched in even safer.

3) Round 3 can be a bit tricky! 

Into each group of 5sc in Round 2, you do:

1st sc - sc
2nd sc - hdc
3rd sc - 2dc
4th sc - 2dc
5th sc - hdc  

I think the pattern wants us to sc into the stitch you skipped at the beginning when you get back around to the start :) If you're lazy like me, just do the first sc into the same stitch as the ch1, and follow the pattern from there! 

4) Start Round 4 with a standing sc instead of a ch1 pretending to be a spike stitch! Your work will be neater and easier to join into when you get back to the beginning of the round. You can find a tutorial for the knotless standing sc here: http://mrsmicawber.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/crochet-turning-chain-alternatives.html

For our tips from previous weeks, visit:

Block 1: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-1-white-cosmos.html

Block 2: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-2-dahlia-bud.html

Block 3: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-3-bird-of.html

Happy hooking! Don't hesitate to comment, visit a Facebook group or ask Anne or Michelle on Facebook if you need any help :D