Finished at Last!

It has been just over a year in the making but my my Knit a Block a Week Blanket is finished at last.... 

You must forgive me for the picture overload but I'm trying to get a photo of each angle

I can't tell you just how pleased I am with this blanket.  I had no idea if it would work or not.  My original plan was to place a plain cream block between each patterned one, but I got bored making the plain blocks and decided to make a sampler blanket instead.

Some of the blocks didn't turn out six inches square some were bigger and some smaller, knitted blocks don't sew up as well as crochet ones either so I thought there was no way the blanket would look good when it was sewn up but it does!

It's so interesting to look at too, of course I had to take it to the Day Unit to show the ladies because they have seen me knitting the various blocks throughout last year and have been asking me to bring it in to show them, they loved it so much I had to leave it with them for a while just so they could admire it.

and stroke it because I lined it with fleece which is great idea for hiding all those ends it means as long as they are tied off securely you don't have to be quite as meticulous and neat with the weaving in or really you don't have to bother because the fleece hides them all and...

It feels so cosy and warm

I cut the fleece to size and then zig zagged around the edge with my sewing machine, folded it over one cm all around and then crocheted sc around the edge of the fleece through the two layers using a thin metal hook, tricky but entirely doable.  

I added a sc border around the blanket then I crocheted them both together with three rounds of sc.  For the final round I used crab stitch or reversed sc.

So there you have it...

My two favourite living room throws, both lined with fleece and super warm to throw over your lap on a chilly winter evening.  I need to make one more because my daughter and daughter in law grab one each when they come to visit and I need one for me :) 

You can find the tunisian crochet throw how to here

Materials
I used Marriner DK yarn which I had in my stash in shades of cream - emerald - mint - saxe - sky - turquoise

Pattern 
Made with blocks from the book 200 knitted blocks by Jan Eaton you can see details of all the blocks I used here. If anyone would like to know the exact blocks I used and the layout please let me know.

I hope you like it as much as I do, has it inspired you to make one too? If you can't knit it's a great way to learn or perhaps you would like to join in with the 200 crochet blocks challenge which I'm hosting this year.

Hope your week is a good one :)

Linking with

Rockman Afghan

The great tadaa.... day has come at last, most of you thought it was going to be the Afghan sampler well no... that one I'm afraid has me seriously stumped, I managed to do the inner rectangle but as for joining the rest I will need lots of time and patience to figure how to do it so that it doesn't look a complete mess but I will get there eventually. 

It's the Rockman CAL which Astri introduced here.

I have to say I have enjoyed making it and I would have completed it ages ago had I not been making other things in between, but you know me I can't just have one thing on my hook at once.

If you haven't tried Tunisian crochet before do give it a go, I found it very soothing making long strips of lovely bright colours.  I was a little alarmed after I had completed the first strip because it seemed all wonky and curly, I couldn't imagine how it could ever be turned into a blanket but once I did the second strip and joined it to the first I was relieved  because the wonkyness disappeared with the joining.

Astri joined her blanket with sc on the wrong side and it does look good but I have to be different so I have my joining sc on the right side because I like it like that.  So the wonkyness disappeared but the curling remained so I thought some serious blocking was in order.  However......

Astri decided to line her blanket, so I thought yes very good idea because although the back wasn't too bad and all the ends had been neatly weaved in I thought because there had been so many ends some were bound to escape eventually so...I backed mine too with bright red fleece which I thought was in keeping with the lovely bright cheerful colours of the blanket.

Then I edged it with two rows of sc and a row of reverse sc and guess what... the curly edges disappeared like magic so no blocking was required.  

 So there you have it one lovely warm, bright and cheerful blanket.

The blanket took 450 grams of yarn and it measures just over one metre square. 
I am pleased to say this blanket was made entirely out of my stash yarn, there is something great about creating something beautiful out of materials that you have just lying about the house no purchase necessary apart from the fleece which was a fleece blanket that I cut to size, bought from my local Poundstretcher for just a couple of pounds.

This is what is left of the yarn, I will call this my what's left in the bag stash and do you know what.... I'm using it all ready. 

See you soon :)

Christmas Tree Cushion

Tunisian crochet is ideal for cushions and I thought how nice it would be to make a Christmas cushion and this is what I have come up with.

I have made this for myself but I think this little cushion would be lovely as a gift too.   It was very easy and quick to make so there is still plenty of time to make one if you wanted to.  

This is how I made it.

Dc = double crochet UK or Sc US

Using  a 4.5mm hook and Dk yarn chain 16 and work 12 rows in Tunisian crochet as shown here for each colour.
As you can see, I alternated green and red and made three strips.  I then used Dc. to join them together with white yarn. (that's supposed to be the snow you see)

I then made five little Christmas tree's to decorate the front, you could use any  
Christmas applique really but the tree's were easily made just by using triangles.

Tree make 5 
Beginning with 10 ch, work one row Dc  and decreased at each end of next and every alternate row until there is one stitch left, fastened off then Dc in white around the tree.

Trunk
Beginning with a 4 ch, work 2 rows of Dc, sew to bottom of tree.  You could crochet them directly onto the tree but I found that making them separately and sewing them on gave a neater finish.

For the back I just made a simple granny square.
I then joined the two sides together  with a row of Dc in red and finished off with a white picot border (more snow) and you can find that here 
(Remember to leave a gap at the top to insert the cushion)

Three little buttons for the top and that's your cushion all done.  
My cushion measure's twelve inches square but you could make it any size you like.

Another CAL!

As you all know I love crochet-a-longs and if I can follow one I will.  Astri from Apple Blossom Dreams is hosting her Rockman Afghan CAL, the beauty of this one is it's made in Tunisian crochet something I have never tried so it will be a challenge for me.  I know I shouldn't really be doing this because I have still got the afghan sampler CAL and my own blanket to finish both of which are progressing very slowly but you know what they say, variety is the spice of life haha.

Week one of the CAL is for gathering your materials and I am going to use the brightest yarns I have in my stash because the resulting blanket will be a baby blanket for Africa and we know African mothers love bright happy colours and won't it lovely to work with these colours in the darker winter months.  I thought I would need a special hook too but no, a good old size 5mm crochet hook is all you need.
So sun glasses at the ready and here we go.

I may add more colours if I can find more brightness in my stash it does take a while to look through it all because I have so much I can never remember where I have hidden it all :)
Do join us it will be fun, it looks and I hope it will be, nice and easy and you can make it any size you like there is also a dish cloth version too.