Adventures in Patchwork - Rainbow Bargello!

Hey everyone! 

We are having such a confused winter here - one day it's gloriously sunny, 25 degrees and shorts weather, the next it is literally raining ice and so cold I feel I will never be warm again :/ 

Fortunately I've had lots of inside projects to work on! I finished my second pair of socks (which deserve a post all of their own), wrote up two new designs, helped organise a fundraising High Tea for Days for Girls, and all the administration for our next batch of inbound and outbound exchange students. Phew! I also wanted to spend some time with my mum so we decided to make a king size rainbow bargello wave patchwork quilt for my new king size bed. 

Aren't these colours just glorious?! Most of them are the same print, a (now discontinued) fabric called Flutter, plus a few ring-ins to smooth out the rainbow gradient.

I think the thing I love most about making bargello patchwork is that it is as much about organisation as it is sewing. Sewing is not my greatest skill; I can do it, but not nearly as accurately or well as my mother can. But I can contribute to a bargello by doing the maths, organising the pieces, keeping track of where we're up to, and enabling mum to just concentrate on sewing! 

The first step in a bargello is making the strip sets. This involved cutting strips of each colour, then sewing them together in the right order to make panels of striped fabric. Then, we cut the strip sets into strips the other way, at different widths. 

The easiest way to keep track of each size (as they are only 1/4" different!) is to have a ziploc bag for each size! Then I can take out what I need for the next thing without having to keep track in my head of what's going on.

Once the strips are all cut and the ends sewn together to make a loop, the bargello fun begins! Each strip gets unpicked at the right spot, its row number pinned on, the correct edge pinned together, and then back to the sewing machine!

I made two mistakes with this quilt, fortunately both fixable but still irritating. 

My first error was, I very carefully calculated the width of the quilt and worked out how many strips of each size we would need; except, I forgot to account for seam allowances. So it was too narrow by 1/2" per column. SIGH. We ended up adding rows -3, -2, -1, 64, 65, 66 and 67 to make up the extra width.

My second error was caused by getting too excited about being finished, and I unpicked a few strips in the wrong place. This caused metres of unpicking but it was all worked out! Unpicking in sewing is even sadder than frogging crochet :'( 

The quilt grew bit by bit, wave by wave...

... until it was finished!! 

Now it's off to Goulburn to visit Yvonne and get quilted, with that glorious teal fabric on the back, and I cannot wait to get it onto my bed!! 

New Project: Colour Planning Made Easy!

Hi everyone! 

The busy time is starting to finally tail off around here - I ended up leaving the Law Society job because it was too much for the fatigue monster to manage, then got a sizeable crochet order finished, and now the Carousel CAL has settled into a nice sedate rhythm (can't wait until we get to play with pentagons next week!). 

So, I've had a bit of a chance to pull out some long-considered ideas about how to make things easier for myself to plan out colours for crochet project. 

How many of us have done this before to work out a rainbow, or grades of colour for a project?

It's messy, takes up a lot of space, and gets yarn ends all tangled up (or at least it does for me). I've seen Lucy's gorgeous peg system, and a few other similar ideas (yarn wrapped on embroidery thread cards, paddlepop sticks, etc etc) but I don't think those would suit me. I need really secure, solid colour samples, that pack up really small and light, and to avoid using my terrible handwriting on anything! 

I do have the Stylecraft Special DK shade card (now somewhat out of date)...

...but it's not great for seeing how different colours look together. 

The solution? Two inch, two-row solid granny squares in each colour, with the colour name and number stapled on the back! I started with the new Stylecraft Batik range to see if it would work (only 16 colours at the moment).

Ta-dah! The staples are really secure, but barely show on the front of the square. I made a little chain string for them out of scrap yarn and a button, and now they are hanging on one of my drawer handles, ready to pick colours! 

Next stop: the Special DK, which currently has 74 colours (gulp).

In anticipation of getting around to doing this, I've been making a solid granny square out of each colour as I pick them up to work something. There's... 30 so far. A long way to go, but once it's done it should be far far easier to choose colours for a project! My husband is tracking down a large hinged plastic or metal ring that I can string the squares onto, so it's easier to just open the ring at the colour you want rather than having to pull them all off. 

EDIT: Giant Hinged Rings are called Jailer's Keyrings! Thanks craftymummy! 

Now, I am spoiled by mostly working in my fave Stylecraft yarns, but if you have a range of brands in your stash, you could mix up all the colours of the same weight (just add the brand and "model" to the paper tag) and put them all on one ring! 

Do you have a colour sample collection like this? Would it be useful to your project planning? 

Ta-dah! The Lotus Moon Tiles Afghan

Hi everyone! 

Today is going to be mostly pictures... because I've finished the Lotus Moon Tiles Afghan by Polly Plum! Made using all Stylecraft Special DK (as a stashbuster), it has 24 lotus flowers, and finished up at 100 x 150cm. All the yarn colours are over on my Ravelry project page.

The pattern was so well written and introduced me to more new stitches and techniques. It's made up of octagons...

... squares...

... and triangles.

Kiah and I took it down to the riverside this afternoon to take some pretty pictures! And, well... I think the pictures speak for themselves <3 I love sunset for crochet photos!

Such a glorious bundle of rainbows! 

Ta-dah! Rainbow Cozy Stripes Blanket

Hello everyone!

Finally a new blog post from me. Somehow I have troubles getting back into a good blogging habit this year. I shall try to do better from now on (as I love blogging)!

You might remember I have been working on the blanket which shall be a wedding present for my honoary aunt for quite a few weeks now. I think I started in February and guess what - it is finally finished!

The finished blanket is about 170 cm x 190 cm and weights over 2kg. I used 24 colours and tried (...) to use them in the same order all the time. It worked out more or less but in the end the skipped colors don't matter much. The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK - man, I am in love with this yarn! So soft and great to work with! Instead of buying new yarn, I used yarn from my stash - I wasn't aware I had that much (and there is more in the stash!).

Altogether the blanket is huge! And just right for some people to cuddle under :) As the blanket is so big, I wasn't able to take a picture of the whole blanket yet. I hope to be able to spread it on grass outside sometime the next week but at the moment it is too rainy outside. 

The pattern is from Lucy from Attic24 which I followed for the blanket body but not the border. The border is a linen-stitch-repreat with all the colors I used for the body (except one as I ran out of yarn). I adore the border so much! Next time I would go up a hook size for the border though as it is a bit to tight for the blanket to lay flat.

I am in love with this blanket! It was a pleasure to have in the living room while I was working on it because it was so rainbow-ish! I hope the new owners will love it as much as I do! It will be a wedding present. 

  

What are you working on at the moment? Now that I have finished the cozy stripes blanket, I will start on the Stylecraft CAL. :)

Take care

Anne

FREE PATTERN: Rainbow Crochet Shorts Keyring

I am sure this is a universal experience of anyone who crochets and has a Facebook account - someone has either shared in a group you're in, on your wall or messaged you one (or more!) pictures of crochet shorts or onesies.

Sigh. They, of course, think that they are being very funny. But, I don't like the idea of laughing at someone else's hard work, even if it's not necessarily to my taste! I would be devastated if I posted on the internet something that I was proud of making, and others shared it around for laughs :/

Going by the principle that what you make jokes about reveals your deepest desires, here is a little, quick and easy pattern to give as a gift to those people :)

Queue or Favourite this pattern on Ravelry here: 
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rainbow-shorts-keyring

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PATTERN: RAINBOW CROCHET SHORTS KEYRING
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Materials:

Small amounts of DK yarn in 6 rainbow colours - I used Stylecraft Special DK in Lipstick, Spice, Sunshine, Green, Aster and Violet
3.25mm/D hook
Yarn needle
Scissors
Keyring with short chain and second smaller split ring

Stitches:
This pattern uses all US terminology

sc - single crochet
st - stitch
blo - back loop only
slst - slip stitch

Notes:

- For the only time ever, I recommend crocheting over your ends as you go rather than having to spend time weaving them in at the end. I crocheted over the starting end of the current colour for the first 6 stitches, and over the tail from the previous row with the final 6 stitches.

- Use standing sc stitches to start each row if you can! Reducing bulk will make your tiny shorts less flare-y. 

- If you're not good at remembering which end you started at, I recommend using a stitch marker to mark the end! You only really need this for the construction phase.

- Don't turn after each row!

PATTERN

Leg Sleeves (make 2)

Row 1 - Using Lipstick, ch13. Turn and sc into the back loop of each chain. Finish off and cut yarn (12 sc). 

Row 2 - Using Spice, join yarn with a standing sc in blo of first sc of Row 1. sc in BLO of each st. Finish off and cut yarn (12sc).

Row 3 - Repeat Row 2 with Sunshine. 

Row 4 - Repeat Row 2 with Green

Row 5 - Repeat Row 2 with Aster

Row 6 - Repeat Row 2 with Violet

Row 7 - Repeat Row 2 with Lipstick

Row 8 - Repeat Row 2 with Spice

Row 9 - Repeat Row 2 with Sunshine

Row 10 - Repeat Row 2 with Green

Row 11 - Repeat Row 2 with Aster

Row 12 - Repeat Row 2 with Violet

Weave in all ends. 

Construction

1. Thread a 30cm length of Lipstick onto your yarn needle. With the first leg sleeve, fold in half with the right sides together, with the Violet row on top. Starting from the right hand side (which is the side with the ends rather than the starts of each row), whip stitch the two edges together for 6 stitches. If you want to match the BLO pattern, stitch into the front loop of both the Violet and Lipstick only. 

2. Once you've joined 6 stitches, do an extra stitch in the last spot, and then pick up your second leg sleeve and fold in half with the right sides together, with the Lipstick row on top. Into the 7th stitches from the right, insert your yarn needle and do a little knot. Continue stitching towards the left - you'll do 6 stitches again. If you want to match the BLO pattern, stitch into the front loop of the Lipstick, and back loop of the Violet edges. Finish off securely and weave in your ends.

3. Now we need to do the front-to-back seam of the tiny shorts. Line up the un-joined edges of the leg sleeves so that you are joining one sleeve to the other (as opposed to one sleeve to itself to make the leg holes). Whip stitch along this seam, adding an extra knot in the crotch if you think it's necessary. Finish off and weave in your ends securely.

Waistband

Row 1 - Join Aster in the end of any row with a standing sc. sc in the end of each row around. Slst to join to the first sc, cut yarn and weave in ends. (24sc)

Row 2 - Join Sunshine into any sc. sc into each st around. Slst to join to the first sc, cut yarn and weave in ends. (24sc)

Row 3 - Repeat Row 2 with Lipstick. (24sc)

Keyring

Join your keyring to the side of the waistband using the smaller split ring, around a stitch on Row 2 of the waistband.

Ta-dah! Tiny rainbow crochet shorts!

Ta-dah! Overlay Crochet Mandala No.1!

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a good week :) 

Anne and I have not had such a good week - we have both been hit really hard by the fatigue monster. Stupid monster. When Anne comes to visit me in December we are going to crochet ourselves a Fatigue Monster so we can stick pins in it and hit it with a hammer!!! 

To cheer ourselves up we are having a little giveaway on Instagram, to celebrate reaching 500 followers! If you are on Instagram and haven't found us yet, we are @crochetbetweenworlds :) Go find us and enter the giveaway!! 

You might remember that last week, on a rainy and cold day here in Sydney, I posted about my crochet wishlist. This week I really needed some bright colour and quick satisfaction, so I decided to have a go at CAROcreated's Crochet Overlay Mandala No.1. Here are lots of photos of it, because I love it so much :D

Even the back is pretty!

Have you made mandalas before? 

What are your favourite mandala patterns? 

Success at the Sydney Royal Easter Show!

Hello everyone! 

Just a short blog post tonight, but I'm exploding with excitement that I just have to share with you all!!

Tonight was the Preview Exhibition for the Sydney Royal Easter Show Arts and Crafts Competition. You might remember that I entered a Road Trip Scarf, a candy happypotamus (General Millie, Captain Poprocks' future wife) and my Rainbow Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan into the competition. It was my first time entering, so I wasn't expecting anything - just getting my entries on display would have been amazing.

BUT! I did so much better than that! Not only did all three of my items end up on display...

... I won SECOND PLACE in the Crochet Art section for the Rainbow Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan...

... and FIRST PLACE (BLUE RIBBON!!) FOR GENERAL MILLIE IN THE CROCHETED/KNITTED SOFT TOYS SECTION!!!!

Plus, by the time we got to the exhibition, an hour after it opened, the scarf and happypotamus had already been purchased :D :D :D 

I'm still fizzing about the place several hours later, just so excited and thrilled and beaming like an idiot (see above pictures for proof)!! 

THANK YOU all for your support and appreciation for the crochet work that Anne and I create! It gave me the confidence to enter the Show, and I am just so happy with the results!