Hello and welcome to Patchwork House . . . . .
my little corner of the world in England, where you will find me addicted to colour and playing with yarn!


9 August 2015

The Photographer's Blanket 2015


 Back in summer 2014
 I had the pleasure of designing a special colourful granny blanket
 for a photographer to use in her work with children. 

It gives me great pleasure to work with customers
 and discuss a special make to suit their needs.
 Lorna wanted something traditional
 that would be suitable for boys and girls.

I am so proud and excited to see my blanket
 in these beautiful photographs
 and am wishing I had young children again
 to have her photograph my family!

 is based in the Cardiff area
 but will travel to take your photographs.
This week I am delighted to have been featured
 on her Facebook Page

Photography by Lorna

Yet again I am pleased to be working with Lorna
 and this year she has commissioned me
 to make her a traditional granny squares blanket.



The colour recipe she has chosen is
in denim cloud blue grey silver and white.

This is going to make a lovely blanket
 with a timeless quality and vintage feel.


I like to make my squares in batches,
 doing the same colour on each square,
 I find this increases my production rate
 and makes best use of my time as it saves changing colours.
Then I will have a session at the end of sewing all the ends in.


All the squares will be the same
 and they will be joined with silver using the 

For those of you who ask
 how to make a perfect granny square
 you may like to read my tutorial

Do watch on Facebook and Instagram
 for daily updates as I make 
and come back next week
 to see how this blanket is progressing.

Happy hookin friends

Heather

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6 August 2015

Corner to Corner Blanket

This summer I have discovered a new love . . . corner to corner stitch.
Using just uk trebles and chains
 this blanket is so easy, incredibly fast
 and it has the most wonderful close texture.
Another huge bonus is there are no calculations involved,
 no counting and no starting chain needed!


My son
 who has just graduated from University and qualified as a teacher,
 has moved from a shared student house
 into his first bachelor pad this summer.
 A house warming present was needed fast
 so I dug out the ever so popular grey blanket pack
and rustled this up in no time!


1 each of spice, parchment, meadow, aster, silver, lime,
 storm blue, mocha, denim and graphite
and 2 grey
You can buy the yarn

I used the wonderful pattern by Sue over at
It is a free pattern called Spring into Summer
 and can be found on Ravelry
Many people use random or self striping yarn for this
 but as a colour artist
 the pleasure for me is creating my own colour recipes.
  I have chosen to work in stripes using 2 rows of each colour and
I have used a random colour order that does not repeat.


You begin working in the corner
and increase at both ends of each row.
As a mathematician this is incredibly pleasing to me!
 Just look at those perpendicular sides!
Keep going until the blanket reaches your desired width
 and you will have created an isosceles triangle
 which is of course half of a square.


Working in 2 rows of each colour
 it creates a lovely geometric pattern rather like a brick wall.
The texture that develops is an added bonus and attraction to the blanket.
It is really thick and one of the warmest blankets I have ever made!


Now if you want a square blanket that is easy,
 keep working till you reach the desired width
 then follow the pattern instructions and decrease next.
This will now make the triangle go smaller
 and you will complete your square.

To make the blanket rectangular
1 ~  increase at each end of each row until you have the desired width
2 ~ then work straight keeping both ends of each row the same
until you have the desired length
3 ~  now decrease at each end of each row to complete the final corner


Of course there are lots of ends to be sewn in when making is complete!
 I actually enjoy this and think of it as an evening of embroidery! 
The final blanket is certainly pleasing and a real reward for your labours!


Every blanket needs a border to set it off.
As this is a man blanket I wanted a geometric pattern
 to compliment the shapes made by the corner to corner stitch.
 So I came up with this triangular pattern and am pleased to share it with you.



Geometric Edging
 (using UK crochet terms)

1 ~ 1 round of dc
2 ~ 3 chain then in next 4 stitches 1 treble, 1 half treble, 1 dc, 1 slip stitch 
3 ~ repeat all the way round and fasten off.


I have definitely had the c2c bug the last few weeks!


Rainbow colours were calling to me
and I played with a little square baby blanket
creating an ombre effect.
To make a slightly deeper border on this blanket
 I added a round of trebles after round 1.


Another experiment found me making a c2c
 using single rows of each colour! 
What a different look this creates.
I wasn't sure if I liked it at first
 but the final blanket was pleasing and sold fast in my


However the ends were another story
and needless to say I wont be going there again!


So 2 rows of each colour
is my suggestion for wonderful stripes!

If you have been inspired by my work
and enjoyed my free tips and advice
please consider making a donation to support my crochet journey.
This will enable me to provide more
 free
colour recipes
 help
tips
advice
 and encouragement
 for your pleasure.
To make a donation please use the Paypal button on the sidebar.


Thank you for all the love I have received from around the world.
My health is improving as new medication takes effect
and life has taken on a new pace.
Crochet is wonderful therapy and a great distraction
 to fill many hours as I rest and await a diagnosis.

Sending you all best wishes and hope you are having a happy hooky summer

Heather

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