CROCHET SCARF FOR SISTER

Well, here we are in a warm soft scarf in April?!! Actually I finished this before Easter but it IS still cold enough here in the mornings to wear it!
Day 12 or more of wet ,grey , cold and rainy. Sooo unlike last year.
Back to the scarf: this is EMMA lace scarf from Robyn Chachula's latest crochet book, the exact name of which escapes me for a moment: something to with Simple Crochet or it may be Simply or some such. It's a lovely book by the way although it doesn't quite live up to it's promise of projects out of one ball of yarn in Europe because a lot of our yarn balls don't have thr huge meterage that USA yarns sometimes have. I am briefly only modelling it here because I gave it to my sister in Delft. These are ''her'' colours.

Details for UK residents: Use EMMA pattern as is, with a 3.5mm hook and REGIA hand-dye effect sockyarn from e.g. Hobbycraft. You'll need just over 2 balls, but only a tiny bit from the 2nd ball so you could probably make 3 scarves out of 4 balls....?!!
The stitch pattern is fun and the constantly subtly changing colours keep it interesting.

I made it 36 ''hoop'' repeats long or 288 sts per row.

The yarn is 420m in a ball, 70%wool and 25% polyamid, 5% polyacryl, machine washable and soft enough to wear around the neck. I used colour 6552. There are about 5-7 more colourways to choose from according to the label.

My scarf finished dimensions were: 22 cm wide and 204 cm long.
It took quite a while to do and 3.5mm is not my favourite hook size but I think it's turned out really well? Can be worn in many different ways due to the length.



Bye!

In love with a stitch

Hi : had such a lovely relaxing day albeit with a massive sinusitis headache in it that I thought I'd share it.
Here's it is. The STITCH. In love. that's me. In love with THIS stitch. All day.
It's kind of lacy and yet NOT lacy, it looks sort of solid and yet more interesting than that and then it actually has a raised texture too.
Been playing with striping a few regia sockwool colours, VOILA`.

Oh yes and this is the finished cardigan awaiting a large pink button to fasten it. Wrote up the pattern last night, up till 1 am counting stitches and rows, very tiring.

Will be putting it on word as a ''proper'' pattern tomorrow IF I can drag myself away form the colourplay in this scarf, fascinating. Can you see the texture? It's not flat like lace usually is. And I'm not blocking this, oh no jose, no blocky blocky. I love this bumpiness.

This is the stash I acquired from Kemps, but I'll be using the bottom 4 and the top middle one as I think the other 2 the colour spacings are too wide, too stripey.

I've also spent HOURS on the net searching to find more of REGIA COLOR 4 FADIG 5171 but to no avail. It's the browns/ beige/denim blues one that I have quite fallen for and now fancy a long slimline ''duster'' type cardi- jacket in, no sleeves I think.

It's the really wide stripe above. Yummy combo and so wearable with jeans and no end of navy or pale/sky blue t-shirts. This was earlier today, I have 5 colour stripes now and am about to repeat a sequence, but no photo of that yet.

It's very drapey and I think it may become a scarf but alas it's not really REALLY soft, it's kind-a- OK but not as dreamy sofffffft as my angora and alpaca moebius from Yorkshire....

Love love love the colours though and the stitch- it's almost MISSONI- ish don't you think?

Jj's 40th BIRTHDAY today!!!

Hip hip hooray! So it WAS the coldest most windy and hail-ridden day for some time. And it was also JJ's birthday: 40 today! We started with a cupcake tower around 11 pm yesterday and this was ready for breakfast to be snacked on all day...
We were going to go skiing at x-scape in MK but at the last minute JJ wanted to stay home so we walked the dogs at the Prebendal instead and explored a field reached by walking UNDER the by-pass.
Daffodils were the only bright spot as there was an icy wind and lead grey skies all day.

The dogs loved their walk and after we had a super-cosy lunch together and then JJ slept all afternoon. Made me think of my 4oth which was when Miss Y was one month old and I probably slept all afternoon too?

Was thinking how I can't really remember and how I should keep a ''birthdays-book'' to see what we did and how we are/live in all the years as they rush by at ever increasing speed.

My dad died aged 51 and I'll be 50 in 3 weeks from tomorrow so I'm a bit contemplative re birthdays at the mo.

My day was GREAT! Reserved for JJ but not called on much, so apart from cleaning and tidying and baking I finished my book: the self preservation society- very good- and had a shower and hairwash- not so good: rash on face is back.

Having done the goal setting workshop with TR last night I DID do 25 minutes fast ''power'' walking for fitness: to an old Charmed DVD , but then subsided back into procrastination by crocheting some sockwool instead of working on my pleated cupcake cases and my cupcakes.

My tutor didn't approve of my lovely white pleated case nor my chocolate beaded cupcake yesterday.... It has to be more pleated AND embroidered and the cake has to be embroidered too, NOT beaded; aaaah this has to be thought about.

Cupcake tower slightly depleted after the day of snacking, my phone has the ''before'' photo but it is only compatible with JJ's computer and I don't want to disturb the love.
Miss E and Y did splendid pieces of art and literature for JJ on the computer for him and made cards too and small pressies were made as well as bought. We also invested in a load of hardy perennials for the front AND back garden so he will enjoy seeing them grow as he sits on his ( and OURS) beloved swing seat. Miss E wrote an amazing ''newspaper article'' for JJ.
And after a yummy dinner- JJ wanted to cook a pork belly roast a la Jammie O.; we had a log fire and tv time as well as barrel fulls of laughter at Miss Y's video clips. ( she was given a wee video camera for her b'day and has been recording 58 clips since then)

Doggie and person cuddles and a wee bit more crochet for me 2.

I'm LOVING this: a Kaffe Fasset Regia sockwool worked with a 4.5mm hook and a pattern from Kathy Merrick's book: Crochet in Color. ( USA TERMS)

Very denim-y with lovely cafe au lait and milk chocolate as well as dark chocolate accents.

I'm planning to add other variegated KF sockwools though- all in broad stripes of lace.( ????)

So far it's 37 cm wide and 10 cm long and is about 7 width ways pattern repeats and 6 whole pattern-repeats in length. ( it's a multiple of 10 sts plus 3) and this weighs only about 14 g.

The yarn is 210m for 50 g. I'm even thinking a long loose duster coat in this stitch and this wool, open low V at front, very slimline.

It's very easy to work while watching TV as it's such a simple - mainly chains- design in an easy to remember sequence.

I went a little crazy at Kemps wools ( i.e. bought lots of ''to try out'' colours) when I'd tried this pattern stitch out in an acrylic King Cole sockwool before Christmas and these balls of wool have been ''bugging''/ calling to me for some considerable time now....oops.

I'll share the ones I bought with you tomorrow if time allows- I WILL need ( NO not need I'll LOVE TO )to make 2-3 entire cupcakes by tomorrow as I have to have 23 finished by April 19th! EEEEK.

i know i have to think i WANT to make all those cupcakes as because- as soon as you think ''HAVE TO''- it makes you NOT want to do it at all.... SIMPLE psychology really.

i DON'T have to do anything, I CHOOSE to do the course and I desire to pass so I'll be loving it, making those cupcakes. Really I DO.