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Saturday 30 June 2018

And another blanket! Geo-Squares!

A little delayed but here is a project I completed last year that I meant to share! Hot on the heels of my Vintage Patch blanket I started another. 2017 was definitely a vintage blanket year for me!

Cept for this one it wasn't for keeping unfortunately. The purpose, my brother was moving into a flat, and all family and friends whether they like it or not, get inflicted with a handmade crochet gift for such an event! And because I am the best sister, and the blanket was going to take sooo long, I made him this little cactus to keep him going..

Pattern (and kit) for this was from Simply Crochet magazine, sorry I forget which issue but it was last summer!!

I absolutely have a thing about clashing colours, in the right pattern it can look so effective and vibrant, the 'clashier' the better! And what better way to mix clashing colours in a simple geometric pattern offset with a muted grey. Makes it a bit more male friendly too! And another great thing about clashing colours is you can just attack your stash and use up all those odd colours you never though you would have a purpose for!

For the pattern I just used a simple treble crochet square, worked in rows, colour changing as you went along to create two diamonds. Colour changing projects can be so satisfying if you get it nice and neat. I made a stonking 120 of these and then sewed them together and edged with a simple treble stitch.

And tadah…

I think it looks really effective!


And it didn't even take that long, the simplicity of the pattern and variation of the colour change meant it was a really easy go-to project.


So yes my brother loved it and I struggled to let it go to be honest. I am definitely making another!

Happy Hooking!
Kelly@lovedotty

© All images belong to Kelly of lovedotty unless otherwise stated. Please link to pictures, content or DIY's if used on your own website. Crochet patterns are written by Kelly of lovedotty unless otherwise stated, please link to original post if used on your own website. Feel free to sell the finished product that has been created from the pattern, if sold via a website, please link to lovedotty blogspot. However please do not publish patterns in full or as your own, unless agreed by Kelly of lovedotty 


Thursday 21 June 2018

Seeing Flowers!

I was a little spoilt for my recent birthday as I was given the Scheepjes Studio Pack, and in this is a box which contains all 109 different colours of Scheepjes Catona, in their little cutie pie 10g balls!



Amazingly this was gift was from my husband! Yes, the man who constantly tells me I have enough yarn, who fears his fate is succumbing under a mountain of the stuff when he opens the cupboard door. In addition to his yarn fears, he also glazes over whenever I am talking about yarn (which is quite a lot), so it really was a wonderful surprise!

Obviously yes I had been heavily hinting and leaving magazine pages open etc.. but hints don't really work with him, this is the man, who every year asks me on Christmas Eve what I want for the big day!

So anyway, yes he scored major brownie points and I was one happy bunny as you can see from this photo.

I even had to take a picture of my son with them for extra cuteness! And yes, I actually let him hold them, although he had to wash his hands first..


So then the big question is, do I just leave the cutie pie yarn balls as they are and admire them or do we use them to make something!
For a couple of weeks or so, I chose the first, thinking I couldn't bear to 'spoil' them and wanted to be able to look at them whenever I needed cheering up. But on the other hand I was desperate to use them.
I love Scheepjes Catona anyway, it is one of my favourite yarns to work. I recently finished the Sophie's Universe Stool Cover which was designed by the fab Dedri Uys of Lookatwhatimade



The stool is a all made in Scheepjes Catona and a thoroughly enjoyable project. The kit to make this was also a present, this time for Christmas from my parents! I have been very lucky!

So yes in the end, the urge to try all these little colours and make something was greater than keeping them, and I also wanted to get a good feel for all the colours and see what would be my favourites for future projects.
So what shall I make, I thought? Well I love Catona and I love flowers, so decided I would make 109 flowers out of each colour of Catona!
I used my mini flower pattern (available on my blog) and a 3mm hook and set to work. The pattern on my blog advises a 4.5mm hook, but these were hooked with Stylecraft Classique Cotton which is a DK weight. The Catona's are a 4ply, so a bit more delicate.

And ta-dah...

I decided each 109 different coloured flower would have a different colour middle, so it was quite a production line in the end making sure each colour was only used once.




And of course my Studio Pack came in handy...


..as I could use the swatches and magnetic board to keep track of which colours I had used so far..



And the best bit? You don't actually use much of the Catona so they still sit in their little jackets looking yummy so I have the best of both worlds.


And the flowers? Well I played with them for a while...


...and then decided to make some wall art with them!

I had a wall I needed cheering up, so I bought a canvas which the husband painted blue, he is proving quite useful lately! And then the plan is to attach the flowers to it I some sort of pattern. Keep it simple to really show the colours off



Next bit was having a play and deciding how I was going to position them. I decided to very roughly colour group them an then arrange them in a pattern.




I eventually decided on a heart design, well, because I ♥ Catona!

To attach them to the canvas I was going to use a hot glue gun. Now I have a little phobia of glue guns, they scare me a little, not great for a serial crafter! So with the husband on hand for any glue type emergency I set to work. Of course I survived the experience and ended up with a lovely heart of flowers, and here it is....


Don't they look lovely!




Its strange as looking at it. doesn't feel like there are 109 flowers, but there deifnately are, my four year old counted them for me!!

So not only do I have a lovely piece of wall art, I also have my very own personalised colour card for when choosing my future Catona projects!

And I still have a box of 109 cutie pies to admire. I will plan another project at some point to use them, but I think I will enjoy these little bundles of joy for a little bit longer!

Happy hooking
Kelly@lovedotty

© All images belong to Kelly of lovedotty unless otherwise stated. Please link to pictures, content or DIY's if used on your own website. Crochet patterns are written by Kelly of lovedotty unless otherwise stated, please link to original post if used on your own website. Feel free to sell the finished product that has been created from the pattern, if sold via a website, please link to lovedotty blogspot. However please do not publish patterns in full or as your own, unless agreed by Kelly of lovedotty