The "Here comes the sun" blanket....

This lap blanket has just gone off to SIBOL where the industrious Sue will add it to her collection of blankets from other volunteers. When the pile threatens to take over her house, she delivers the blankets to people living in care homes in and around Birmingham in the UK.  Apparently, they are always very well received.

I started this blanket in the depths of a very cold winter and finished it just as the weather started to improve.  From the first stitch, I intended it to look like a sun bursting through a blue sky and I think I achieved that.  I didn't want it to look like a baby's blanket.  I'm not sure I achieved that!

A lot of the wool was given to me by a colleague of my husband. When I sent her this photo, she was very pleased that it went to a good cause and she has more for me!! I'd better start my next project.....

A blanket of finishes....

Do not adjust your set.  My latest blanket really is this bright! I'm using up a cone of shocking pink yarn that I bought a couple of years ago. It knows how to pack a punch!

I started this blanket with a daisy motive.  It turned out much bigger than expected. All was explained when I read the pattern more closely and discovered it was for 4 ply yarn...Duh!

Then I introduced my last ball of grey yarn and kept going until it was all used up. I also finished the variegated yarn except for a nugget which wasn't enough to complete a whole round of crochet. 

The blanket was still too small.  So I took the opportunity to make inroads into my shocking pink cone and I like the effect of the wide border so much that I might repeat it again in a future blanket. The shocking pink yarn ISN'T finished.  So it will star in another project next year.

This blanket has gone off to SIBOL from where the busy Sue will deliver it with many others to Care Homes in the Birmingham, UK, area. I find it very satisfying making blankets for elderly people who may have few visitors to give them gifts at this time of year.

Now that my blanket is finished, I can make some smaller things and blog about them more frequently.  I have missed writing blog posts, though I have still enjoyed reading all my favourite blogs. I am thoroughly enjoying my enforced retirement.  I think that is an odd word.  A better phrase would be "new beginning".

The Tickled Pink blanket....

Why is this called the Tickled Pink blanket?  Apart from the obvious fact that 99% of it is various shades of pink:

1. I learned how to crochet a new granny square
2. I learned how to crochet a new edging
3. I used up some of my shocking pink yarn
4. I managed to sneak in some grey
5. I finished it!!

The new granny square is the Not So Square Granny by Bob Wilson and I added the link to the brilliant video tutorial in a previous blog post.  I will definitely use this square again in future as it is so pretty.

The edging is the Attic24 Bobble-shell Edging by Lucy. This is another great tutorial with some very helpful photos.  It is a quick and easy edging and most crocheters would fly along with it.  However, I made things difficult for myself because I was using two strands of yarn held together.  That meant that, at one point in each cluster, I had eight strands of yarn on my hook!  This slowed me down a lot.  It would obviously be a much easier with one strand of yarn and I will definitely use this edging again.  A lot of people commented on Lucy's page that this is a great edging for a baby blanket.  I think that is probably because there is something for baby fingers to wrap around but no holes to trap them.

I vastly overestimated how much shocking pink yarn I would need for the rounds and the edging.  Consequently, I still have miles of it left to use on more blankets. That will not be a problem.  I like the colour when it is used in small amounts.

This blanket has gone off to SIBOL from where the busy Sue will include it in her next delivery of blankets to a care home for the elderly somewhere in the UK.

What is there to do when a blanket is finished?  Well, I could start another one.  So I will, though it will probably take longer as the summer months are always busy for me.  Watch this space...

The Clew Bay blanket...

I started this blanket months ago and then had to put it away to protect it from the clouds of dust that filled the house while we were renovating the ground floor.  Well, the renovations are over and I have almost finished dusting, polishing and painting. So I felt it was safe to take out this blanket and finish it.  It is basically just one very large granny square.  It has now gone off to SIBOL from where the busy Sue will add it to others and deliver it to a home for elderly residents.

Sue likes to name the blankets.  The only name that sprang to mind when I was making this was "Clew Bay".  Anyone who knows the west coast of Ireland will know where I mean.  The bay is best viewed from high up the Croagh Patrick mountain in Mayo. Here is a typical view of the bay.

It shows a few of over 100 sunken drumlins or small islands.  I have happy memories of climbing that mountain when I was 11 and being amazed by the view.  Little did I know then that I would end up marrying a man whose ancestors had close connections to this part of Ireland.

I used a variegated blue and green yarn that I bought in Poundstretcher.  I find their wool to be a very reasonable price and a more than acceptable quality.  It is a strong acrylic which is perfect for items that will need a lot of washing.  I added to that various balls of blue and green yarn that I needed to use up.  

I like some parts of the blanket more than other parts.  But that's life. I learned a good lesson near the end of the blanket.  I could see that I would not have enough green to complete a round so I turned the blanket and went backwards.  This produced two corners that needed a lot of concentration to sort out.  I just about got away with it, but I won't be repeating that mistake again!

I used my favourite easy Double V-stitch edging that can be found on the Knot Your Nana's Crochet blog.  It is pretty and does not use a ton of yarn.

I am already planning my next blanket.  I can see it in my imagination, though it will be a long time before it stars in this blog. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge before then!

The Snowy Sky blanket...

This was finished in June but the colours, if you can call black, white and grey  "colours", looked all wrong for the summer.  So I waited until November before sending it to SIBOL.  Our weather this week is very foggy and I expect we will see snow before spring!   The amazing Sue from SIBOL will deliver it and many more to care homes for the elderly in the UK.

I enjoyed making this giant granny square.  The idea for the centre square came from the Sunshine Granny Square pattern by Theemuts Tinka on Ravelry.  One of my 2015 resolutions was to crochet a snowflake.  I decided that this square looked close enough despite its sunny name.  

The rest of the blanket was just a typical granny square and the edging was the Double V edging that I found on the Knot Your Nana's Crochet blog.  Once again, it was a new skill for me.  But it was easy and really finished off the blanket nicely.  This photo isn't very good.  I promise you that the edging looks better in real life.

Sue likes to attach a name to each blanket that she delivers and I think "Snowy Sky" suits this one.

The vital statistics are 37" x 37" and 380g of dk yarn.  Most of the yarn came from donations and bargain buys.  I have quite a bit of black yarn and like to sneak it into projects with a bit of white and variegated grey to lift the mood.

On a slightly different subject, my second cataract operation went ahead as planned and things are looking good.  Eyesight takes weeks or months to recover after surgery.  But I am already happy and looking forward to what future improvements might bring.  My crafting pace is increasing again, though I am supposed to be resting for a few weeks.  "More haste, less speed" definitely applies to recovering from surgery.  The rest of 2015 will be quite gentle for me.  In 2016, I can start firing on all cylinders again.

My first half granny square shawl...

Here is my first ever half granny square shawl.  I crocheted it for SIBOL and it will end up on the shoulders of someone in a UK care home for the elderly.  Sue at SIBOL is currently accepting shawls and lap blankets and always lets you know when your items arrive and even when they are delivered to the homes.  See more about SIBOL here.

The pattern I followed was "The original half granny square shawl" by Ambar E. Rivera.  There are other similar patterns, but I found this one very easy to understand.  It was also the only one to suggest a way to prevent the top edge curving too much.  I could see early on that mine was going to curve like a banana, so I was very pleased that Ambar's simple remedy worked.

I used a lovely pink and purple variegated yarn from Robin.  My knitter's brain expected it to make stripes.  But it has short colour changes which make splodges when crocheted.  So I added a few rows of grey yarn at regular intervals to highlight the shape of the shawl. 

I will definitely make this again, so here are my stats:

dk yarn and 5mm hook

45 rounds plus edging 

weighs  240g

measures 54" across top edge, 28" from neck to point, and 42" along sides

I followed the pattern exactly but added my own simple edging.  I think I even made up this edging as I haven't been able to find it on Ravelry.  It deserves a blog post of its own....watch this space...

The "Days of Wine and Roses" blanket...

I completed this large granny square blanket for SIBOL recently.  It has become a tradition that these blankets are given a name before being delivered to residents in care homes.  

Sometimes, I think of a name first and then plan the colours. Sometimes, I start to crochet and hope that a name will suggest itself.  This blanket fell into the latter category.  It is a mixture of pinks and purple and was lovely to make, but a name eluded me until near the end.  Then the phrase "Days of Wine and Roses" came into my head and kept coming every time I thought about the blanket.  

So, I Googled the phrase and was amazed at what I discovered.  The words come from a poem by Ernest Dowson who was born in the part of London that I have lived in since I was 32.  He died, aged just 32, in another part of London that I lived in until I was 32.  Eerie!

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:

Out of a misty dream

Our path emerges for a while, then closes

Within a dream.

– Ernest Dowson, from "Vitae Summa Brevis" (1896).

Without going into too many details, Ernest Dowson had a short and tragic life.  But he understood how precious it is.  His poem and the sentiments behind it are beautiful.

Sunshine Granny...

Persuing my goal to challenge myself more in 2015, I crocheted a square that was a bit more than a granny square.  It has a different centre which I found quite challenging.  I still have a lot to learn about crochet and I tend to do this a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights.  I just sit and fixate on my work until it is done.  Then I can start breathing again!

I rarely give up on something and I definitely couldn't give up on this as it was already promised to SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love) for the 1000th sunshine blanket.  Various SIBOL regulars have contributed one square each and Sue, SIBOL's founder, will sew them together to make a very special blanket. These blankets go to residents of care homes in the UK.  

SIBOL usually collects completed blankets and shawls.  Individual squares are no longer collected.  But Tinka, the author of the pattern, is happy to receive squares which she then makes into blankets for people being treated for cancer.  There is more information about her work here on Ravelry.  You will need to log in to Ravelry to see the complete information.  

The pattern is here on Ravelry.  It is no longer a free pattern, though I was lucky enough to be sent it free just after it was published.

The "Something Blue" blanket

Here is my biggest ever granny square.  It measures 36" x 36" which is the perfect size for SIBOL whose founder, Sue, distributes blankets and shawls to care homes for the elderly in the UK.

It weighs 400g and consists entirely of dk yarn that I already had left over from other projects.  I enjoyed planning the stripes and even relished the suspense of whether or not I would have enough of each shade as the blanket grew bigger.

I will definitely crochet more of these as I have now progressed enough to understand what other crocheters mean when they say granny squares are therapeutic to make.

I used a 4mm hook and crocheted 2 chains in the corners and 1 chain between clusters along the sides.  I find that combination works for me as it gives a compact and even finish which I like.  I also turned the square at the end of every complete round.  That method avoids the twisted spiral effect.  I would post the link to the website where I found that tip, but I unfortunately can't find it at the moment.

SIBOL blankets are usually named before being donated to the care homes.  The name "Something Blue" suggested itself to me.

Something old, something new.

Something borrowed, something blue.

I think many care home residents would love the romance of that old wedding rhyme.

The Warm-At-Home shawl.....

This shawl is basically a large knitted triangle.  It measures a generous 64" from point to point and 29" down the back.  Here are the front and back views on an average size person:

It is a very simple shawl that involves a lot of mindless garter stitch knitting.  The end result is a shawl to keep someone warm indoors. If you prefer a delicate, lacy shawl to wear to a wedding, stop reading now!!

I made up the pattern as I went along.  I plan to knit it again.  So, for myself and anyone else who might like it, here it is:

• Aran yarn or 2 thinner yarns held together to add up to 10 ply.
• 5.5mm knitting needles.  My stitches fitted onto straight needles even at the widest point of the shawl.

• Cast on 3 stitches.
• Row 1: knit 3.
• Row 2: slip 1 knitwise, knit through the front and back of the second stitch, knit to the end.
• Row 3: slip 1 knitwise, knit to the end.
• Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the shawl measures 32" across the top edge, ending on a row 3.
• Row 4: slip 1 knitwise, knit to the end.
• Row 5: slip 1 knitwise, knit to last 3 stitches, knit 2 together, knit 1.
• Row 6: slip 1 knitwise, knit to the end.
• Repeat rows 5 and 6 until there are only 4 stitches left.
• Next row: slip 1 knitwise, knit 2 together, knit 1.
• Next row: slip 1 knitwise, knit 2 together.
• Next row: knit 2 together
• Cut yarn, thread it through the last stitch and sew in the end securely.

Your choice of needle size will influence the amount of drape in this shawl.  I tried 4.5mm needles which produced a very dense fabric that was more like a rug!  I then tried 6mm needles but thought the stitches were a little too loose.  I eventually used 5.5mm needles which have produced a very warm shawl that will withstand daily use and regular washing.  But everyone knits to a different tension, so different needles will work for different people.

This pattern is a real yarn guzzler.  I used about 400g of oddments.  You could just use one colour if  preferred. If you are knitting in stripes, it might help to know that you will be knitting from the right hand corner to the left hand corner.  On my shawl I started with the green stripes and ended with the pink stripes.

As my shawl is garter stitch stripes and I always joined the new colours at the top edge, there is a definite right and wrong side.  But it might not be obvious to a non-knitter.  So I knitted 2 flowers and sewed them to the right side at the front points. These are also useful for weighing down the shawl to keep it in place.  You could add other decorations such as buttons, tassels or ribbons.  Or you could just leave the ends undecorated.

That's it.  When you sew in the yarn ends, your shawl is finished.  No blocking is required!  I found that commencing every row by slipping a stitch knitwise produced a firm edge that did not need any other additional edging.

This shawl has gone off to SIBOL from where the industrious Sue delivers shawls (and blankets) to care homes for the elderly.  Take a look at the SIBOL blog if you feel like knitting or crocheting a blanket or shawl.

Breaking news:  I uploaded this pattern to Ravelry here.  I'm chuffed to see that 14 people favorited or queued it within the first 2 hours.  Incidentally, most of these Ravellers live in countries such as Canada or Germany where the winters are cold.  I hope this shawl keeps them warm!

Introducing SIBOL.....

Just a quick post today to introduce a lovely organisation called SIBOL which is an abbreviation for Sunshine International Blankets of Love.  It is run by the tireless Sue who is really good at drumming up support from knitters and crocheters.  The completed blankets and shawls are dropped off at care homes in the UK and we have recently started to make some smaller items such as hats, gloves and scarves to give to the residents as C******** gifts.

Sue always lets you know when your items have arrived and also when they have been delivered to the homes.  It is so satisfying to see a blanket that you made actually in situ in its new home.

For people who use Ravelry, there is a friendly SIBOL group here.

It's a wrap...

After the ten stitch blanket that took me ten weeks to knit, I needed a quick crochet project.  Sue of SIBOL requested some shawls for the elderly in care homes, so I spent a week making one.  Yes, crochet really is quicker than knitting!

My crochet skills are still fairly rudimentary.  This is what I did:

dk yarn and 5mm hook

chain 200

crochet 39 rows of trebles (UK)

That produced a shawl or shoulder wrap measuring 172cm x 47cm.

To finish the ends, I did 58 double crochets (UK) which became the foundation for 14 shell stitches. The pattern I was following for the shells called for skipping 2 stitches between the shells.  But mine turned out very sloppy.  So I skipped only 1 stitch and have ended up with some strong edging shells.

This blanket had a definite right side and a wrong side which surprised me.  To mark what I considered to be the right side, I added a practical granny square pocket.  I made it nice and roomy.  It will be useful for holding tissues, glasses or anything else bigger than the holes in the granny square.

This was the fifth granny square I have ever made (who's counting?!), so I was pleased with it.  There are a zillion online tutorials for making a granny square and I eventually followed this one which is very clear.  It is aimed at beginners and shows how to crochet a granny square that does not twist.  

The 5mm hook and the trebles (UK) made a soft and cosy wrap, though  I used a 4mm hook for the granny pocket because I wanted it to be a bit firmer.

I love the colours in this wrap.  I won't say what they remind me of because it is still mid-summer!  The red yarn came from a huge ball that I bought at a Boot Fair for £1. The green and cream yarn was either free or very cheap.  I still have enough of these colours left to make another shawl one day

The Northern Lights blanket....

I started this blanket about 10 weeks ago.  I still had quite a bit of the bright yarn that my sister gave me many months ago and it seemed perfect for Ten Stitch Blanket pattern.  This is an intriguing pattern for a square or rectangular blanket that is knitted in an ever-increasing spiral.  I had it queued on Ravelry for quite a while and just decided to get on with it.

There are over 3000 projects posted on the Ravelry pattern page and many useful comments about the easiest and neatest ways to turn the corners and join the stripes.  I found detailed instructions that worked well for me.  The important tips included slipping all stitches purlwise except for the stitch just before joining the stripes.  This is slipped knitwise and makes an edge which is easy to join to on the next round. Another tip is that each stripe has garter ridges in multiples of nine.  Sadly, I printed off the instructions but didn't make a note of the helpful knitters' names.  They are somewhere in those 3000 projects!  I'm sending a big "thank you" to whoever they are.  

I kept knitting until I was happy that the blanket was big enough at 37" x 37".  This is roughly the size needed at SIBOL.  The founder, Sue, distributes the blankets to care homes and bright colours are in demand.

The beauty of this pattern is that it can be knitted in any weight yarn.  I used dk yarn but Aran would work just as well.  There are some great versions of this blanket on Ravelry.  I think the most eye-catching are those where the knitters have used the same colour for each complete round.  But I was trying to use up yarn and didn't want small amounts left.  So I joined colours anywhere and am treating the effect as a design feature!

There are lots of online tutorials for anyone needing help with knitting this blanket. I have also just found a brilliant web page here which has detailed charts for planning the colours and even has a link to a crochet version of this blanket.  I will seriously consider making the crochet version next time as I find crochet much quicker for blankets.

I managed to use up all the bright colours my sister gave me.  I added a navy blue outer row which doesn't show in the photo.  I had the theme of the "Northern Lights" in mind while I was knitting so I needed a night sky colour for the last row.  I've never been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights, so this blanket is probably as close as I will ever get to them.

Ten weeks sounds like a long time.  But this is a really busy time of year for me.  Then the heatwave arrived and I had to take a break and make some smaller, cooler projects.  I enjoyed knitting this blanket and have saved the pattern as I have plans to knit another one in the (far distant) future.  At this moment, I actually have zero WIPs. But that unnatural state won't last long!

The Pretty Polly blanket....

I've been taking part in the "Knit a block a week" challenge which is being hosted by Linda on her Linda's Crafty Corner blog.  The people taking part in the challenge are knitting squares from Jan Eaton's "200 knitted blocks for blankets, throws and afghans".  Some of us make our squares into blankets and some send the squares off to charities listed on Linda's blog.

My sister gave me some very bright wool for Christmas and I have been knitting a couple of squares per week since then.  The photo shows the colours fairly well except for the green in the outside rows.  This is actually a bright emerald green, not a soft teal.  This green together with the other bright colours remind me of a parrot, so I have called this the "Pretty Polly" blanket.

The square in the centre is sewn on as a pocket.  This square was an afterthought, but turned out to be my favourite.  At a big stretch of the imagination, it could be the parrot's wing.  That all sounds a bit mad.  But I find sewing squares together a bit more interesting if I give the blanket a personality.  I made it easier by knitting the squares in strips of six which meant the amount of sewing was halved.

The blanket has gone off to SIBOL for eventual delivery to a care home.  The residents use these as lap blankets and a little pocket is always useful for life's little essentials. This is one of my favourite blanket destinations as Sue at SIBOL always lets crafters know when their blankets have arrived.  Her blog is very colourful and full of photos of the blankets when they arrive and when they are dropped off at the care homes.

I had good fun planning and making this blanket.  I have enough wool left from my sister to knit another batch of squares.  But I am going to make hats and other things for a while.  Then a hectic few months await me.  So it will probably be late summer before I start on another one of these patchwork blankets.  

The blanket is finished.....

Here is the blanket I have been sewing up recently for SIBOL.  As you can see, the squares are very varied and posed quite a challenge.  I brought them all up to more or less the same size and edged them with the same pastel green ....or is it blue?  It looks like a baby green to me but I think some people call it duck egg blue.  The ball of wool is actually the large one in the picture of wool at the top of my blog.  That means it is at least 18 months old but probably even older as I can't remember where this came from.  There is still a lot of it left even after edging the squares, sewing them together and edging the whole blanket.

There was one square left over and I didn't want to waste somebody's hard work.  So I added it as a little pocket for tissues, mints, or even mobile phones.  This blanket is going to an elderly persons' care home and 70 is the new 50!

I hope all the knitters and crocheters who made the squares are happy with the end result.  It was an international team effort.  The centre crochet square was sent all the way from the Netherlands.  (SIBOL welcomes completed blankets and shawls but is no longer able to accept orphan squares.)

I had never crocheted until about 2 years ago and progress has been very slow.  This blanket was a great incentive to "get on with it".  I had to learn how to add extra rows to granny squares and I now understand how they are made and wonder why I have previously made such heavy weather over it.  There is an expression about "over thinking" something and I think that is true of me and crochet.  I also added a shell edging and found it much quicker than knitting.  I will definitely use both techniques again in the future.

The photo background is a bit colourful as it is children's floor mats from the Early Learning Centre.  I use them when I am blocking and drying larger items.   They work very well as they are foam rubber and pins stick in easily.  I've just noticed the bright colours are showing through the crochet squares, which I hadn't intended.  The blanket is now safely boxed up and ready for posting, so another photo isn't possible. Daylight hours this month have been mainly gloomy and not conducive to good indoor photos.  The constant rain has made outdoor photography a distant memory. Roll on summer.

That's better........

The random collection of squares that I am sewing together into a blanket for SIBOL now look like this.  They were all made by different knitters and crocheters and measured from 4.5" to 7".  I edged them with the same colour and added some extra rows to make them the same size.  The good news is that I developed my sketchy crochet skills and finally understand how to make a granny square.

I'm still getting to grips with editing photos on my new laptop.  The colours are a little darker in real life than in my photo.  The top square is definitely the prettiest and will take pride of place in the centre of the blanket.  The other squares range from completely plain to interesting!  I've been experimenting with the best layout and think I have arrived at one that is slightly better than just tossing them up in the air and seeing how they land.

Hopefully my next blog post will show the completed blanket.  SIBOL blankets are distributed to elderly residents in UK care homes.  Sue at SIBOL welcomes completed blankets and shawls but is no longer able to accept orphan squares.

Works in progress.....

I'm currently working on sewing squares into a blanket for SIBOL which is an organisation that distributes blankets and shawls to care homes for the elderly in the UK.  An avalanche of squares hit the SIBOL HQ in December and some of us offered to sew them together.  (Please note that SIBOL now welcomes completed blankets and shawls but cannot accept any more squares due to the extortionate postal rates in the UK.)

My little parcel of squares arrived at the beginning of January.  Here they are:

As you can see, they are a mixture of knitted and crochet squares in a variety of colours.  They range from 4.5" to 7" square....quite a challenge!  I decided my first task was to make these squares the same size.  So I found the largest square and edged it with a row of double crochet (UK) in a soft pastel green.  I had a huge ball of this green in my wool bag.  It goes with most of the colours in the squares very well and there will be enough to make an edging after the whole thing is finished.

The first square I edged is at the bottom of the pile in the photo.  The edging will make it easier to join to other squares.  All the squares have to end up the same size as this one.  Yesterday I sat down and completed nearly half the squares.  I just added 2 or 3 rows of double crochet until the squares were big enough.  I have a few of the knitted squares to finish.  Then I have 7 crochet squares to make bigger.  I have already practised adding more rows of granny shells (is that what they are called?) and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.  I might even use this as an edging for the whole blanket.

My navy blue Jana vest is almost finished.  I'm really pleased with how it has turned out.  I just have to sew the side seams and then it will be starring in a future blog posting.  I'm also taking part in the Knit a Block a Week Challenge which is hosted on Linda's Crafty Corner blog.  I am averaging 3 blocks per week and plan to sew these into another blanket.

I normally only blog about completed projects.  But this year I am working on bigger projects that take a while to complete.  So I think this is the first of many "works in progress" posts.