The Mutant: Progress

The Mutant blanket is marching on, but it has hit *that* point : it doesn't matter how much I crochet, it doesn't seem to grow.

It's become a bit of a delight to work on, especially in this cold weather. It's the warmest, snuggly-est project you can imagine. It's also a bit of a workout. It's certainly not as portable as crochet projects usually are - it weighs a TON!

I only have nine balls of cotton left. I don't think I want to buy any more, so I may be left with a slightly shorter-than-usual blanket. However, that nice holey pattern actually makes it quite stretchy, so it might not be too bad.

I was going to put an edge of DC all around it, but I think I might not. It might lose some of that stretch (and I don't have the yarn).

It's a challenge to photograph a big grey thing in February. Apologies for the odd light in the pics, but I had to point four different lights at it, as well as the light from two windows and some fairy lights just to get these!

The Ripple

I thought I'd share my progress on the ripple blanket. It seems to be going quite slowly, but I am quite pleased with how it's shaping up.

I want it to be bed-sized, so I've got a way to go yet.

I can't help thinking it looks quite good on the back of the sofa though...

It's going slowly because cat #2 has taken quite a shine to it and it's difficult to manage half a blanket, various balls of yarn and a (not very small) cat who's determined to sit on said blanket while I work.

Ooman! Why you no finish my blanky yet?

And I haven't forgotten that I promised to post the pattern for the bunting curtain ties. I will, soon, honest...

Wippitty WIP: NUNOs

The Beloved thinks I'm blanket-obsessed. To be honest, I don't have a problem with this. As I see it, my biggest problem is having them hanging around half-made and as my mother would put it, 'Neither Use Nor Ornament'. A quick glance around the room tells me I have three such NUNOs. Oh dear! Maybe if I tell you about them, it will shame me into working on them a bit more.  Want to see them?

Well, there's the mutant blanket. I've already told you about this one, but it's not grown since my last post about it...

This yarn-eater has been on the go for a while (and on the shelf for even longer).

It's quite a heavy blanket already and being yarn-hungry, it's also time-hungry. It does have a gorgeous scrunchy feel to it, especially the flip side of it...

And despite already having two time- and yarn-hungry projects on the go, I thought it'd be a good idea to start a ripple blanket. I have no excuse. My only defence is that everyone else is making them and I was feeling a bit left out.

Goodness only knows how long that's going to take to finish. You can't really see it in the picture, but it's really quite wide.

As I get fours rows out of each ball, it's also pretty yarn-hungry.

I'm pretty sure that's all the blankets I have on the go. Needless to say, there are one or two other bits hanging around - the one-eared bunny, for instance, and the half-made highland cow, and the baubles in need of bells...

Am I alone in this, or do you also have a stack of NUNOs peeping out from carrier bags, cupboards and crates?  Do share!

Wippity WIP: Extremes

Apologies for the radio silence, but there has been a lot of crochet going on here at the moment.  Well, a lot of crochet planning, anyway.  The problem with a lot of planning, is it often means a lot of making, frogging, making, frogging, so I can crochet all evening and have nothing to show for it. I have managed to tease a little bit of order out of the chaos of pile after pile of crimped, frogged yarn though.  Wanna see?

First up is an experiment with some super-duper-über chunky cotton.

I can't decide whether to stock it.  It's Rico's Fashion Big Cotton (super chunky) and I really do like it, but it's not the easiest to work with.  I love working with cotton, it's probably my favourite yarn, but it does leave you with a splitty yarn and this is no exception.  If anything, being such a chunky yarn, it's even splittier and not for the faint-hearted!  You definitely need to know exactly what you're going to do with it, as the more you work it, the less manageable it becomes. When it's crocheted up though, it's gorgeous!

I'm aiming for a big blanket.  It's going to be a slow-burning project, but I'm ok with that.  I like to have a 'long-termer' bubbling away in the background.  As you can see, I have a bit of a way to go...

At the other end of the spectrum, I have made a start on Christmas.  Sorry.

The covered bauble in the picture is made using some Lyscordet I have leftover from last year, but there are coloured ones too for which I'm using Rico's Maxi crochet cotton.  It's the exact opposite to the chunky stuff above: mercerised, fine, not-at-all-splitty.  It's a delight to work with and I will definitely be stocking it, just as soon as I can sort out some images for it.

As I'm working on these projects pretty much side by side, it does mean that I frequently swap from this crochet hook...

To this one...

Like the title says, extreme!

Problems with pink

I promised to come back and show you how the granny cushion turned out.  That was ages ago, wasn't it?  Sorry.  We've had rainy days here with the occasional burst of sunshine and every time the light's been great, I've been dealing with Other Things.  Anyway, enough is enough and I have embraced the camera flash so that I can finally share the granny cushion with you.

I had originally intended to repeat the pink in the border, but it just didn't look right.  Then I decided I'd use pink buttons to echo the pink centres to the squares and that didn't look right either.  In the end, I had to step away from the pink.  I went for grey buttons and a blue and green border instead.

If I'm totally honest, I'm not altogether happy with the buttons.  I wish I'd either used smaller ones or only made three button holes.  Having aleady frogged the border once and replaced the buttons once, I had had enough though.  

Also, the buttons are left over from a long-dead H&M cardigan and the button jar had nothing else to offer in grey.  And I do like the grey.  It goes fabulously well with the pistachio.  The rest of the cushion I love.  The colour scheme is very me - I am a greeny-bluey person.  For those who are interested, I used Rico Creative Cotton for this project in the following shades:

80 White

44 Pistachio

37 Sky Blue

64 Candy Pink

I reckon I used a ball of each and two balls of the white. The granny square pattern (circle in a square) can be found on Sucrette's blog.

Wippitty WIP: The Mega Granny

A quick fly-by posting to show you a WIP in a teeny bit more detail.  Remember the mega granny from this post?  Well here it is in all it's glory, ready to be carted off to a friend's house tonight for a bit more attention (and pizza... and a movie...).

Yes, those are the freesias in the background.  They're whoppers now!

And closer up...

I love the way green and pink go together - a sort of gentle, spring-like palette.

Square children

There are just so many cute crochet projects for children and babies that I really can't help myself.  I have a little stash of patterns and whenever friends announce that they are expecting, I get a bit excited about impending crochet fun.  That being said, they usually wind up with a blanket of my own devising.  I cannot follow a  commercial crochet pattern.  I just can't.

I realise this is a silly state of affairs for someone who's been able to crochet for about 25 years.  How, in all that time, have I not used a pattern?  Simple: my mother can't use one either and she taught me.  We both make things by eye (although interestingly, we can both follow dressmaking patterns no problem).  Anyway, I have decided that enough is enough.  It is time to put this gremlin to bed once and for all and conquer a crochet pattern.  As I have a friend due to hatch a the end of June, I also have a perfect opportunity, so I have decided to have a crack at this:

King Cole pattern #3476.  I'm making the hooded jacket in size 0-3 mths

I should come clean and admit that I am not using the recommended yarn.  It calls for a DK yarn, I'm using aran.  In my defence, the colours are nicer.  So far, I've done the back and the two front panels:

Aren't babies surprisingly square?

I'm not convinced it's going too well.  According to the pattern photo, the front pieces meet without an overlap.  They are also edged in DC.  The pieces I have already overlap without the edging. I'm pretty sure my gauge hasn't changed though.  I'm intending to go back and redo the back panel as I want the green border at the bottom all the way round.  The best thing about baby clothes is that they are small, so I can always frog it and start again without wasting too much work.  I am intending to block it before I start putting all the bits together, but at the moment, that back panel measures 9" x 9.5".  What do people think? Does it look unfeasibly square/unbaby-shaped/just plain wrong?

On the plus side, the stitch used is really quite a nice one - crossed trebles - easy to do and very effective.  It gives the fabric a wonderfully squidgey, nobbley texture.

If there are any seasoned baby clothes-makers among my readers, I'd really appreciate any comments/instructions/suggestions!

Mmmm...yarrrrrrrnnnn....

Remember this?

Well I've been doing a spot of shopping and found these:

Cue: another blanket WIP!

Wippitty WIP

It hasn't escaped my notice dear reader, that for a crochet blog, there's been very little mention of any yarn and hook action. Sorry. I have been busy making things, it's just that every so often I get to a point where I have a number of things 'on the go' and not much seems to be getting finished. It's a bit like that at the moment. I'm plugging away at a couple of blankets while design ideas for new ones keep filling my head. The ones that are in progress are a mega granny and a yarn eater.

This is the mega granny:

It's essentially one massive granny square. It's a great project to do whilst watching TV or chatting with friends as it's an easy pattern and I can quite literally do it with my eyes closed. I took it skiing with me and it was great for the evenings as it's not at all taxing (my brain doesn't always work after a day's workout on the slopes) and I could still enjoy a little apres ski beer while I worked on it.

The yarn eater is quite a different story. I've had my eye on this pattern for a while now and have decided its time has come. It could just as easily be called 'the blue air blanket'. It's a lovely pattern and fun to do but it does require some concentration and it would appear that I can't always count to eight successfully. More annoyingly, I only make mistakes at the start of the round, so by the time I notice them (when I get to the next round) I have loads to frog. You can see why the air has been a little blue at times here at The Hookery.  It's worth it though:

The yarn is from the stash, although I'm clearly going to need more, so a yarn order is in the offing (ah, well...).  I'm using Patons cotton DK in cream, grape and (I think) moss. The green is reclaimed from an earlier abandoned project, so I'm not entirely sure of the shade. 

So there you go, that's what I'm working on. What about you?