Crochet with Cotton

 This week I have been playing with cotton

very pretty cotton

in my favourite Cath Kidston colours

 

Stylecraft Classique Cotton

Playing with prettiness is such a treat

and was real holiday therapy 

for my last week off school.

I have been working on a commission of table mats for

The Sugar Plum Tearoom

in Ruthin N Wales, 

where I am running some crochet workshops

The pattern I am using is from an old copy of

Simply Crochet Magazine issue 12

written by the very talented Wink.

(I have adapted it slightly to make it flat 

to be suitable for sitting under glass table tops)

I've had oodles of fun playing with colours

and it wasn't long before I had a pile of ten mats

but looking very sad and curly

 it has to be said!

However a day later

 after some pinning and spraying on my blocking mats

just look at the transformation!

I must admit that I rather love these 

and am going to find them very hard to part with

and it seems that many of you do too!

So I do have plans to make more to sell in my

 Etsy Shop

 soon

My Easter holidays have been and gone now

and for now I have to go back to school.

Last week I had an amazing time

 taking The Spring Flower Blanket our Instagram Community Project

on its travels

It is now in the safe hands of the winning maker

Crafternoon Treats.

Crafternoon Treats

Kath has very generously chosen to raise money for

 Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The charity raffle has reached an amazing £6300

 and is open till midnight on 23rd April.

 If you would like to donate and have a chance to win

 this beautiful blanket click

  HERE 

I will be back next week with the final story of the blanket,

 the total raised and the winner of the charity draw 

happy hookin friends

Heather

X X X

Crochet Inspiration Workshops

 I have a dream

 to be full time at The Patchwork Heart,

 making items to sell in my Etsy shop and teaching my craft.

At present school holidays are a time when I can live my dream

and this week has been a lovely little taste of my future. 

People often say they would love to visit my home

 full of colour and yarny goodness. It is indeed my happy place

 and I am blessed with time off now to enjoy much crochet therapy.

This week I began an exciting new chapter in my crochet journey

with a beginners crochet course at the lovely

 Sugar Plum Tearoom, Rhewl, N Wales

Oh what a beautiful place it is

and such a perfect spot I'm sure you will agree

 for an evening of crochet inspiration

The happy faces say it all

what a wonderful time we had

learning to make granny squares

and of course there has to be tea and cake!

I am very excited to tell you

 that as well as more workshops at this lovely venue,

 I am in discussions with another local gallery space

 and will soon be releasing a programme of

 Crochet Inspiration Workshops

 for the summer and autumn!

I am planning workshops for experienced crocheters,

 to come along and enjoy sharing a time of colourful yarny goodness . . . 

time to meet other crochet enthusiasts and learn new skills.

It is hoped that some will be evenings and others will be Saturday afternoons,

 to allow people to travel from a distance to join us!

If this is something you would enjoy

 I'd be really pleased to hear from you,

 as I plan the projects for these Crochet Inspiration Workshops. 

Why not bring a group of friends and make it a day out?

Wishing you all a happy weekend

Heather

X X X

Granny Square Tutorial

As much as I love to crochet all sorts of different blankets there is something so very special about the humble granny square. There are many wonderful examples around some with small squares others with big and some with varying sizes of squares. You can view many lovely examples here on my

 Pinterest Board ~ Granny Squares

 But it is the colours which always excite me and draw me to any blanket!

You can buy the Turquoise Colour Pack

HERE

 It is a crocheter's basic right of passage to learn how to make a granny square and something many of us start out on. I have fond memories as a young teenager sitting with my Mum with a massive sack of colours crocheting granny squares and have recently spent time with my own daughter passing on this lovely skill.

Over the past few weeks I have been making many rainbow baby blankets

 and enjoying the simple granny square

blending the colours has given me oodles of fun

you can find the colour palettes

 that I use on a page at the top of my blog

I must add there there are loads of tutorials and You Tube videos out there

 and many different methods available. This is just straight from my head 

and a method I have developed that works for me!

I am using Stylecraft Special DK with a 3.5mm hook. This is my preference as the yarn is soft and snuggly for a blanket, is very affordable, easily washable and comes in a fabulous choice of 63 wonderful shades!

So here to help with the many questions I have been receiving is my version of

how I make a Granny Square. (I am using UK crochet terminology. You will find a handy conversion to US terms on the Crochet Conversions page at the top of my blog)

1. Make a magic loop (I prefer this starting method as it does not leave a hole that is too big in the centre)

2. Pull through a loop for the 1st stitch

3. Make 3 chain for the 1st treble

4. Make 2 trebles to complete the first cluster

5. Make 1 chain then 3 trebles thus forming a corner

6. Repeat this twice more

7&8. Pull the tail to close up the magic loop. Make 1 chain then join with slip stitch into the 1st treble of the round

9&10 Fasten off 1st colour by pulling yarn through loop and cutting to leave a tail about 10cm /  4inches

11. TURN WORK OVER and make 2nd round from the back. This is very important to stop the granny square from twisting.

12. Using a new colour pull up a loop making sure you leave an end of about 10cm / 4 inches for sewing in later.

13. Holding the tail firmly at the back of the work make 3 chain for the 1st treble

14. Make 2 trebles to complete the first cluster (this is half of a corner)

15. In next chain space make 3 trebles 1 chain 3 trebles (this is a corner)

16. Repeat this twice more in the next 2 chain spaces

17&18. To complete the 1st corner make 3 trebles then 1 chain 

19&20. Join with slip stitch into 1st treble of the round

21&22. Pull yarn through and fasten off cutting yarn to leave a tail 10cm / 4inches

23. TURN WORK OVER. You are going to do this every round keep a perfect square. It prevents the awful twisting that is often seen and has the added bonus of making both sides the same so there is no right or wrong side to the blanket!

24. Using a new colour pull up a loop making sure you leave an end of about 10cm / 4 inches for sewing in later.

25. Holding tail firmly at back of work make 3 chain for the 1st treble

26. then 2 trebles to complete the 1st half corner. In the next chain space make 3 trebles and the same in the corner. 

27. Complete the corner by making 1 chain 3 trebles

28. Continue around the square making clusters of 3 trebles with 1 chain only in the corners. Note this is different to many other granny square patterns as I prefer a closer texture. Fasten Off.

29. TURN WORK OVER each round  - this means you work in alternate directions, anti clockwise then clockwise which prevents a twist forming.

30. Keep hooking until you have your desired number of rounds.

31&32 On completion of each square use a darning needle and sew the tails into their own coloured  stitches

33. I sew in half on the front and half on the back

34. Trim ends neatly with sharp scissors

35&36. The result is a perfect square which can be used from any side! Notice it has 90 degree corners and parallel sides, all very pleasing to the eye and easy for joining.

So there you have all the information you need to make squares!

Get hookin and come back in a few weeks for my next tutorial on joining!

Of course if you are a complete beginner 

you may wish to make solid squares to avoid all the colour changing

these are equally pretty

and can be joined very simply to make a beginners blanket.

To avoid the joining why not make just 1 big square! 

(I hasten to add though that a big square does tend to become frilly

 after about 60cm so I only use these for small baby blankets!)

I hope this helps answer the questions you have.

Do please leave me a comment if this has been helpful or  

if you have any questions

 and I will try to edit and update the tutorial to help!

If you have enjoyed my free tutorial

 please consider making a small donation to support my crochet work. 

You can do this using the Paypal App on the sidebar of the blog.

Happy Hookin

Heather X X X