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!


19 April 2019

The waffle blanket



This year I have discovered a new love!
If you too like texture
 and want to make the thickest, most squishy, dreamiest blanket ever,
 then take a look at the waffle stitch blanket.


For my first adventure in texture and colour,
 I used the
 in my favourite 
 with a 3.5mm hook.

The colour packs I have put together also have 2 balls of cream,
 as they were originally set up for the rainbow granny blanket.

I learnt how to do this stitch,
 using an excellent video tutorial on You Tube
 by Olivia aka Girly Bunches
You can find this 

It really is a very easy stitch and you will soon be hooking,
 while talking and watching tv.


This blanket has the most fabulous texture,
 with interesting patterns both back (above) and front (below).
I made 2 rows in each colour to achieve this narrow striped design.


Immediately I finished the red rainbow,
 I was fast onto another using 
I was totally hooked and enjoying every stitch.

 Colour therapy from this fabulous colours
 and crochet therapy from the amazing stitch.
 It soon became easy and I was hooking away fast from memory.


When you look at the waffle stitch from different directions,
 it has different looks. The texture is fascinating
 and I soon found myself running my fingers along the waffles.
It is so very tactile and sure to be a winner for children in pushchairs!


To frame my blankets I chose a plain linen stitch border in 1 colour.
 This sits nice and flat and makes a stunning frame to the blanket.


Linen Stitch border
(UK crochet terms)

Foundation row ~ dc in corner, 2 chain, repeat, dc 2 chain, all the way round,
 spacing out the dcs so as to make your blanket edge straight and flat,
 we do not want a frilly blanket here!

Round 1 ~ dc in dc, 2 dc in chain loop, repeat with 3 dc in corner stitch.
Round 2 ~ 3 dc in corner stitch, chain 1 miss a dc, dc in next dc, 
chain 1 miss a dc repeat then slip stitch into first stitch
.
TURN YOUR WORK 
so you are now working from the back

Round 3 ~ dc in the chain space, chain 1 , dc in next chain space chain 1 
repeat with 3 dc in the corner, slip stitch into first stitch. Turn your work.

Turning the work after every round helps to keep the border nice and flat.

Keep working until you have the required depth of border.
It can be left with a nice straight edge as here in the pink rainbow blanket
or
an edging can be added as in my pink/grey blanket (see later).
For this I changed to a different colour
 and made the final round in reverse linen stitch.
 This feels strange at first working backwards,
 but you soon get into the rhythm of it.


After the bright waffles, orders started coming in
 and I had the pleasure of making 2 grey blankets for customers.


Lemon, silver and white



then candyfloss, silver and white





is the most fabulous place for crochet inspiration.
Try searching for appropriate hashtags
 and you will have hours of pleasure discovering new people to follow
 and new ideas to make!
 I was inspired by many wonderful blankets and crocheters
 and next discovered the square waffle blanket.

For this pattern I learnt from another excellent video tutorial on You Tube,
 by Natasha aka Buttonnose Crochet, you can find this 


This time I chose blues,
denim, cloud blue, silver and white,


and again the reverse linen stitch edging 
completed my square.


By now I was totally smitten with this
gorgeous
squishy
warm
cosy
blanket
and decided I needed one in my own life!
Sitting under a blanket to rest is a big part of everyday life for me.


So it wasn't long before I had picked out the beautiful soft vintage colours
I used 8 shades,
 duck egg, parma violet, grape, pale rose,
 mocha, vintage peach, mushroom and grey.



My border this time was made in stripes,
 using up the oddments I had left and I like the simple straight edge here.


If you too have caught the waffle bug
 do share your photos in my Facebook group

and use
 #inspiredbythepatchworkheart 
as a tag on Instagram.

It makes me so happy to see what you are making!

My blog has recently been updated with 2 new pages
and 
to make it easier for you to find things again in future.
Yoy can find these pages listed at the top right of the blog.
Take a look now and see what a wonderful resource this is!

Happy hooking friends

Heather
x x x






12 April 2019

The Patchwork Heart Colour Packs at Knitting Network



Hello my hooky friends,
 I have some very exciting news to share with you!

I have teamed up with the lovely people at 
 and am delighted to announce that they will be stocking my 
from now on!

I have received fantastic service
 when buying yarn from Knitting Network
 and want to offer you this fabulous service too.

You can look forward to
A Price Match Promise - best price or they refund the difference
Same Day Dispatch - they aim to dispatch orders received before 4pm
Excellent Customer Service - a readily available contact number should you need it
Free Royal Mail Delivery - when you spend over £20
Worldwide delivery in eco friendly packaging
A fabulous selection of patterns as seen in Woman's Weekly.

As well as making my colour packs available to purchase,
 I will also be working with patterns from Knitting Network
 and sharing ideas with you each month on
and 

Baby blanket 64cm square
 To open up my Colour Pack Shop
I have begun with 2 rainbow packs
which are always great favourites

Child's blanket 88cm square
I have put together 2 packs for you to choose from

Each pack contains 
7 colours with 2 balls of cream
in my favourite


This pack is enough to make
 a baby blanket 64cm square
or
a child's blanket 88cm square     
with plenty of colours left to add to your stash for future projects.


How to make a granny square blanket
If you are new to crocheting
 you will find the following tutorials helpful
(click on the links to take you to the tutorials)




So now all that you need is your yarn,
you can buy the packs here








These colour packs are exclusive to Knitting Network.
I do not sell colour packs anywhere else.

Don't forget to post your work on Instagram and use the tag
#inspiredbythepatchworkheart
so I can see what you are making.

Watch this space,
you can look forward to more packs being added,
including some popular favourite blanket packs from the past.

Take a look at some new additions to my blog page here
for all your favourite 
and 

For future reference you can access these pages at the top right of my blog.

Wishing you all a happy hooky day,
remember crochet is therapy and makes for a happy day!

Heather
x x x






















7 April 2019

Crochet Flowers



Hello friends its been a while!
Sorry for my absence in blogging,
 but my health has had other ideas and kept me away sadly.
I've not been idle though, far from it,
 you can always find me on
and
 most days, to see whats on my hook!


I thought you'd like to see the gorgeous flowers I've been making recently,
 as this is something quite different and great fun!

I'm using a pattern from
 which in all honestly is the easiest flower pattern I've ever used.
 It's made in a flat strip which you wind it up to make the flower.
 Variations can be made with tighter winding for a bud,
 or looser winding for an open flower.
You can buy this pattern

I have used vintage knitting needles for the stems, which
 I have collected from charity shops.
 If you fancy trying this, do ask in the shops, as they keep them out of sight!
Simply wind up the flower tightly, stitch it in place
 and then push the knitting needle through the middle.



The flowers are best made in cotton yarn.
I have used
and 


These flowers are now for sale in my



Other news
 is that I've been doing a lot of work here behind the scenes,
 making some updates to my blog. To tidy it up
 and make it easier for you to find things,
 I have 2 new pages for 
and
 You can find the pages list on the top right of the blog.
I do hope this makes life easier for you and gives you much pleasure.

Next I will be working on a page for Colour Recipes
so watch this space!

Wishing you all a happy hooky day
Heather
x x x








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