Getting a Straight Crochet Square

This is the pattern I see a lot on the internet - the edging is all done in treble crochet. I've crocheted this up just to demonstrate what I mean. Look at the straight outer edges - they bulge a little in the middle. I'm not happy with this. When it is joined, it will bulge in an ugly way, and the bulges will be magnified at the outer edges of the blanket, giving a wavy, scalloped effect, rather than a straight edge.

Here's an improvement, using trebles in the middle of the outer edge, and extra long trebles for the corners. It has straightened up: the edges no longer bulge, and this would join up nicely, but in my opinion it will give too much white between the flowers. Another reason for not choosing this is that I don't really like doing the long trebles.

So here is the final version which as you can see is also straight edged, but has reduced in size.

 So, this is the one, with trebles in the corners, and half trebles in the middles.

100 Flowers in the Snow

 Or 93 Flowers in the Snow to date. Need to do a handful more and finish off sewing in the ends.

Change to URL

Morning
I've changed to www.primroseberesford.com.

You should be re-directed. Please point your bookmarks in my new direction.

Apologies if you are inconvenienced.

Thank you so much.

Back soon with more crochet related news. The flowers in the snow blanket is progressing well. I just need to buy the "snow" now. I'm very picky about what colour of white to get, so have been unable to choose so far :) It is not holding back progress though, since I have approximately 600 wool ends to stil sew in.

Bright Flowers Crochet Blanket

Here we are - in progress. I like to lay it out on the carpet, like this, so that I can judge what other colour combinations I need to add. I'm thinking that there is too much hot pink and purple here. I need to add more blue. Also considering adding in some green if I can find a good green. I'm intending to join these all together with white, for the traditional - flowers in the snow - look, so I have not added white yet. I might add in some grey or black later. Still a long way to go.

Permutations

Sometimes I like a colour combination so much that I make all permutations.I'm obsessed with not having 2 of the same square in a blanket. These rounds will be squared off when joined together.

Other times, the colour combination will not work for all permutations. This dark purple, dark blue, violet combination only works for me when the dark colours are not next to each other. So, only 2 permutations are possible here.

Crochet Colours

This kitchen island, made entirely of Lego is from Maison Francaise, September 2009 edition.

20,000 pieces of lego, 7 days to construct, and cost about 1000 euros. I showed this to my husband, and instead of saying "madness" there was that wicked glint in his eye. I said - if you had 1000 euros to spare would you? - "yeah" - we both said at the same time :)

 

I reckon that the choosing of the colours, and colour placement would be a lot like choosing the colours when making a blanket. You know when you've done, say lilac, purple, then do you choose pink, or do you choose yellow? I think that one of the best things about crochet in multi-colour is that interaction of colours. Would be very similar I think making this.

Not so sure what my postman would say when I got the required 53 boxes of lego delivered? Or what my boss would say when I asked for a week off work to play with Lego :)

Choosing Colours

I always find choosing colours very traumatic. Some wool ranges are better than others, but often you find that the colours in the range just don't seem to go with each other. So for example, there might be a nice pastel yellow, pink and blue, but the only green is a completely luminous glow in the dark acid colour.

What I try to do is choose pinks - blues - purples then, I make the best of the rest.
For each of : pinks, purples and blues, I try to pick a pale pastel, then a mid colour, and then a bright. So for the pinks I'll choose a baby pink, a rose pink, and then a hotter pink. That usually works. Then I check that the pales all match, the mids all match, and the darks all match. So for example, I check that the baby blue, the baby pink and the baby purple look ok together.

Then its on to trauma territory, because I hate yellow, but know that it tends to make other colours sing. So I choose the least worst yellow - usually a mid tone if they have it.

I find that the worst colours are the greens. Green is my favourite colour, but there are usually very few greens in a range. Mostly the greens are a dark earthy sage colour. I'll take that if there is nothing else, but try to find a mid green if there is one.

Red I love, but often find that the red in a range clashes horribly with the hottest pink. Sometimes I'll take it, sometimes not.

Then I look at the other colours, and see if they tone in with what I have already - I might choose a hotter orange, but never peach since peach is my worst ever colour (worse than yellow).

Then the base colours - I never use black. I sometimes take a soft grey if it tones in. I usually prefer a cream to a white, so long as it is not yellow toned.

The pictures are Rowan DK wool, one of the better ranges for having colours that match each other. It is expensive though.

Off on a work trip till the end of the week to Cambridge. Hoping I can sneak out at lunch to find a wool shop, but suspect we will be having working lunches, sigh :)

Little Flowers Cushion

Just found this in a bag in the linen cupboard when I was tidying up. I forgot that I made this cushion front earlier in the year. It is made from Rowan DK wool: lovely colours, but quite expensive so I don't use it much.

Now I need to sew in the ends and sew it onto a cushion cover.

edited to add:

I'm particularly bad at keeping the sleeves around wool, but from memory the colours used were :
008 Marine (mid blue)
044 Frost (pale blue)
046 Tudor Rose (pale pink)
042 Dahlia (mid pink)
037 Port (burgandy pink)
002 Shale (grey)
019 Avocado (green)
036 Kiss (red)
013 Enamel (cream)

Summer Squares Blanket

After having advised all travellers to travel as lightly as possible, to pack their possessions into the littlest bag possible. After having packed the car to drive to France for the summer holiday. Small car, 2 kids, 2 adults = one very full car.

Then on my way to pick my husband up at work, to start the journey, I just had to stop at a wool shop for a little look.

I came out of the wool shop, happy with myself, whistling tunelessly, bag in each hand, containing 20 large 100g balls of wool ....oops....literally no room in car at all. I mean... at all.

Youngest child travels to France with feet propped up on case...

Here's the result.

The edges are straight in real life, but today when I took these pictures, it was windy and starting to rain. I held the blanket down with pebbles and my foot, but the edges still look a bit wibbly.
 

I used 11 colours plus 4 balls of blue for the outline, then zipped round 10 times with odd wool for the border. All of the squares are different, but each one contains all 11 colours.

Bring Me Sunshine

It is feeling a bit end of summer here; end of season, like a 1950s holiday camp packing up at the end of summer.

The bunting on the shed is looking a bit forlorn and droopy in the grey light.

A few shells lie scattered around from beach trips.

And there is a little pile of beach stones at the front door.

 

There's only one thing for it.... Get out the wool odds and ends.... it is time for a new blanket.

Not having completely given up on summer, this one is for the backseat of my pale blue VW Beetle for little winter trips to the beach.

I'll race along the beach, in the cold north Edinburgh wind - "bracing" they call it - and then dive back into my beetle to watch the waves, with a cup of coffee from my thermos and a digestive biscuit or two to nibble on.

p.s. I don't actually own a pale blue Beetle, but we can all dream can't we? :)