Shawl, Stole or Wrap?

Hello folks,

What do you call them? I usually go with shawl or wrap, rarely using the name stole. Last week I wrote about making a wrap with the summery merino lace yarn I had. Thank you so much for all the lovely comments you left, I loved reading them and was delighted that you all liked this yarn too. I'm pleased to announce the wrap is now finished!

This worked up really quickly and I finished it a few days ago, it then languished the next few days waiting to be blocked while I took advantage of the better weather to get back on top of the garden. I finally got around to blocking it and here it is.
  

I kept the edge very plain in the end, just a single row of double crochet all the way around and then a row of picots at either end. My picots were made by working 3 ch, sl st in 1st ch and then sl st to where I wanted the next picot. I loved these colours the moment I saw them and I'm really pleased with the way this shawl has turned out, simple definitely was the way to go as it really shows off the colours. It looks green shown on some lime broderie anglaise,

and the turquoise is brought out by this dress.

When I wrote about making this last week I had been thinking how lovely it would look over a summery white top or dress, I'd completely forgotten I had this simple long turquoise shift dress for which it is also a perfect match.

Isn't it lovely how a single layer of the wrap looks turquoise but where it is hangs in folds it becomes green? Would you like a closer look?

I'm going to really enjoy using this shawl, matched with this dress it would even look good for a summer wedding reception.

Are you enjoying the summer so far? It's been somewhat wet here this year which hasn't been good for getting out in the garden but has been good for cracking on with my crochet projects. Yes, it's plural again, I don't seem to be able to limit myself to just one, my mind races off with too many ideas. Do you find that too? I want to make another Paisley cushion but with a slightly different design, I have some small, items to make in thread crochet and last but not least, I want to try some broomstick lace. I think that should keep me busy for a little while.

Til next time,

Hx

Summer Colours

Hello there, first of all I'd like to say a big thank you for all the lovely comments on my cushion, I'm really chuffed you all liked it and took the time to let me know.

I wasn't able to post last week, life has been both busy and sad here as I was helping N sort out his late mother's home. It was also the hottest week of the year so far so it was exhausting. Arriving home late in the evening I didn't feel up to doing anything too complicated but I did manage to squeeze in a little crochet to relax before bed time. Do you remember this?

It's the lace weight merino yarn I wrote about buying here. I fell in love with these summery colours and have, from the day I bought it, pictured a summer wrap to throw over light summer dresses or white tops in the evenings. I've enjoyed browsing through different lace stitches, picturing the end result before trying a few out and finding that actually, it looks far nicer if I keep it simple.

I loved the effect of the different colours in a simple chain made with a large hook, the bright green fading to yellow, turquoise and lilac so I decided to keep it simple and make the wrap in an easy diamond mesh pattern. This is just the thing for working in a nice easy rhythm when I'm too tired to concentrate on a pattern. It also has the benefit of showing off the yummy summer colours of this yarn much better than the more complicated lace patterns. Isn't this gorgeous?

By Thursday we were shattered and ready for a break so worked really late to finish up and stay home on Friday. We had a quiet day relaxing and pottering about and inspired by Elizabeth's post at Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse I was pleased to see the elder flowers finally out in our garden so I could make a batch of cordial. This Elder is called Black Lace, the cordial it makes is pink and the newly opened flowers have a delicious citrussy elderflower aroma. It also looks absolutely gorgeous in the garden.

So that was the first week of our summer holiday - clearing, cleaning, pottering in the kitchen and garden and of course a little crochet.

The light is much brighter today when I took this last photo and the yarn looks more blue, mostly it looks green though. If you would like to make a wrap like this, I'm using a 5.5mm hook with a 3 ply laceweight merino yarn with 400 metres in a 100g skein. This is a bigger hook than would usually be used for this yarn weight but I chose it as I liked the effect of the bigger hook and wanted the wrap to work up quickly. It only uses chain and double crochet stitches (single crochet in US) so is ideal if you are new to crochet and want to move on to making something a little bigger than squares. I made 242 stitches then working in UK terms:

1st row - miss 1 ch, 1 dc in next ch, *5 ch, miss 3 ch, 1 dc in next ch* repeat to last st, 1 dc, 5ch, turn

2nd row - *1 dc in ch space, 5 ch* repeat to end

Repeat the second row until the wrap is the size you want and that's it, nice and simple. I don't know yet how wide mine will be or how I will edge it, I'll just stop when it looks right.

Til next time,

Hx

The Paisley Granny Cushion and Mini Construction Tutorial

 
Hello there, it's finally finished, the Paisley Granny Cushion had it's first outing in the garden yesterday. I am very pleased with this cushion, the colours look so good in the the sunshine, especially the turquoise, the bright light really brings it out.

The schools here break up earlier than other parts of the UK, finishing up today for the summer holidays, so yesterday I took my finished cushion, a magazine and my ereader and had some quiet me time. This is my favourite shady spot in garden, I love to see the sunshine but don't like sitting in it as I'm fair skinned and burn too easily so while everyone else soaks up the sun on the patio I'm to be found enjoying the dappled shade under the tree. Both N and I like to have a scented, bee friendly garden and I was really pleased to see buds yesterday on the Graham Thomas honeysuckle I planted a couple of years ago to grow up through the tree.

Once I had joined the motifs for the cushion front it wasn't quite tall enough so I worked two stripes at the top and bottom of the cushion first with pink then orange. I knew I didn't want to make the back the same as the front so decided to crochet it in one piece which I wanted to make in blocks of colour. To break up the turquoise, I chose orange and pink for the colour blocks, making a pink central block which I decided to make slightly bigger than the two orange blocks at either end. I like this, it would make a nice summer cushion even without the paisley squares.

As I will be using this cushion outdoors I wanted to be able to easily slip off the cover for washing so using the orange I made a chain long enough for a 50cm cushion, then worked a foundation row of double crochet before continuing in treble crochet. I worked an extra three rows on the bottom section so I would be able to fold it over the cushion inner and tuck in when finished before changing to the pink yarn.

Constructing the Cushion

 

To make up, I double crocheted with wrong sides together starting at the bottom right corner with the granny front facing and worked around the sides with three dc in each corner.

When I reached the bottom of the third side, I double crocheted the two sides together until I reached the join of the first two motifs, then marking the join for the last motif on the other side, I continued to dc along the front edge only.

When I reached the stitch marker, I again double crocheted the two sides together to the end of the row then all I had to do was tie off the yarn, weave in the ends and lightly press the fold. You could add poppers at this point but I was too impatient to get into the garden with mine.

 

I popped in the cushion inner, tucked the flap inside and headed into the garden. I love that this cushion is a one-off and as all our garden furniture and camping chairs are different blues, it goes with them all.

As N will now be on holiday until August I hope the rainy weather we have mostly been having will ease off  and we will get some lazy, sunny holiday days to chill out in the garden, with some crochet for me of course. I hope the mini cushion construction tutorial is helpful if you also want to make a summer outdoor cushion.

Til next time,

Hx