Tag Archives: Stylecraft

Oct25

FO: Demelza

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TA DA!

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Yay! She’s done. Demelza is officially moved from the WIP category to the FO category.

(I actually have no Works in Progress now, but you know that won’t be the case for long.)

Even though we had heavy rain last night, we had a dry day with some sun and cloud and right now it’s absolutely beautiful outside. It’s so mild I was down to a T shirt when I went walking along the lakefront earlier. I laid Demelza on a blanket to get a photograph. The ground is a bit lumpy but the lighting in the shade of the lilac bushes is quite good.

I am not 100% convinced that the gold border was the right choice – maybe green or petrol would have looked better – but heck, it’s done now and I’m not ripping it out!  In real life, the contrast is not quite as stark as it is in the photo above and it blends better.

I weighed my yarn at the end and used approximately 3150 yards of the Stylecraft Special DK which is about 9.75 skeins in all (in 15 colours). Lots of leftovers to enjoy in the future. Hook used was 4.5mm and I obviously had a tighter tension than the designer as my blanket came out around 45″ square. It took 7.5 weeks to make. If it hadn’t been for the Crochet-along, I would probably have taken twice that long.

So, what’s next for my hook?

Well, I just received those ten balls of black Stylecraft Special Aran from Wool Warehouse which I plan to use for the granny square coat. There is a pattern, I just can’t remember the name of it right now, but it’s the one that takes its inspiration from that $3000 one that some celebrity was seen wearing. I have to put away my Demelza leftovers and pull out my Aran colours and figure things out.

Time for dinner now – need to blend the butternut squash soup we can eat. Happy crocheting!

PS: If you follow Stylecraft on Facebook, you will see there is a blog tour happening right now where a different blogger each day shows off what they have made with the new colours of the Special Aran. There’s a draw every day to win a pack of the yarn.

 

 

 

 

Aug28

WIP: Attic24’s Neat Ripple

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Last night I finally finished the last stripe on the Neat Ripple blanket. There were so many ends to weave in that I thought it would take me all day but it actually went very quickly. A few ends before I went out with Tai Chi Man to the farmers and crafters market, and the rest when I arrived home, having stocked up on fresh produce for tonight’s dinner and recharged with the most amazing raspberry matcha latte and Mexican chocolate cookie at Chai Baba.

So, just the border to go. It’s a narrow one, only three rounds I think, and I’ll probably just do it all in turquoise. And then my little teddy can have his photo shoot with his matching blankie.

Linkies: Neat Ripple know-how (border and notes)

Neat Ripple Pattern

I am so glad that this is nearly done. The Demelza blanket, (link will take you to the Ravelry project page as it’s a free Ravelry download) which I will be starting September 1st with a bunch of other Crochet-along-ers in the Colourful KALs/CALs group on Ravelry, looks quite challenging and I didn’t want other WIPs nagging me from their bag in the corner while crocheting Demelza!

Of course the Peacock Tail Bag will overlap Demelza somewhat during September.

Anyone is welcome in the Colourful group – Ravelry is free to join if you haven’t discovered its wonders already. And it’s such a friendly chatty group with frequent posts – important for a successful interesting group, I think.

One more recommendation while thinking about crochet and Ravelry…I am actually watching a podcast (and the latest episode featured a bit of free advertising for Ravelry and its features). I have tried various podcasts over and over again but find different aspects of them offputting for whatever reason, but I like this one: Crafternoon Treats. Kathryn is an experienced crocheter living in Yorkshire, England, relatively new knitter, new spinner, new dyer, and she talks about what she’s making, her adventures in playing with yarn and colour, and other stuff. She’s one of Stylecraft’s new Blogstars too. This is a group of bloggers, most but not all of whom are in the UK, who have been chosen by Stylecraft to get sneak peeks of new yarns, offer their own designs with the yarn, offer giveaways, etc. If you haven’t tried Stylecraft yet, it’s worth it – their yarn is good quality and reasonably priced. I order mine from Deramores but you can also get it internationally from Wool Warehouse in the UK.

She is on Facebook as Crafternoon Treats and Bagalong with Crafternoon Treats, and has her own group on Ravelry. The latter has not been particular active so far but I got the impression that she was thinking of making it more of a priority in future.

Well, enough waffling. It’s a beautiful day, and even though I feel like I made the most of my morning, there is still the afternoon to enjoy. Such a link-heavy post! I hope you check out some of them.

 

 

 

Dec27

A preview

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I took some screenshots of the yarn packs I’ve ordered and also the type of crochet hooks that I like. I already have the 5.5mm Addi Swing and a 4.5mm one is on its way.

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You have to be careful about these colour packs. The Deramores Boxing week sale claimed to offer 25% off all yarn and I like the look of the colour packs, as there are about 70 colours in the Stylecraft Special DK range and it can be helpful if someone has already put together some coordinating shades.

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However, last time I was buying from them, only the single balls were on sale, not the packs. So I knew to check the prices carefully. Oddly, this time, the  Cosy colour pack was priced at the same cost per ball as the single ones, but the Coast colour pack was more (approximately $2.86 rather than $2.58 each). So I ordered each colour in the Coast pack individually and saved about $4.20.

Since I placed my order, the Cosy pack price has gone up to the same price as the Coast pack. So if you like these combinations, order them individually.

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I also invested in some Deramores Studio DK because I loved the Gemstone colour pack. I haven’t a clue if it’s any good but it’s the same price as the Stylecraft so not a huge investment.

So that’s what’s winging its way to me soon. Fun!

(I’m having a heck of a time uploading two of the photos so I’m going to publish and then edit and see if that helps.)

Sep5

Yarn!

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Stylecraft Harlequin Chunky in four colourways

Stylecraft Harlequin Chunky in four colourways

Bonus! Sale fleece - buy 1 metre, get 3!

Bonus! Sale fleece – buy 1 metre, get 2!

Bonus! Remnant from work. More Hello Kitty!

Bonus! Remnant from work. More Hello Kitty!

First batch of Stylecraft Special DK

First batch of Stylecraft Special DK

Stylecraft Special Aran for a future blanket

Stylecraft Special Aran for a future blanket

Second batch of Stylecraft Special DK

Second batch of Stylecraft Special DK

All of the new DK together

All of the new DK together

Woohoo! Two yarn deliveries this week. Deramores sent my order in two batches as some of the yarn was back-ordered, but maybe the mail was moving faster than usual because it didn’t seem to take long for it all to arrive. Not only that, but I brought home two pieces of Hello Kitty fabric tonight. One is a small remnant that was marked down at 75% off, the other was on sale for Buy One, Get Two. Both fleece.

Our family is going to Wild Play tomorrow. The boys have been warned to be ready on time, as I have booked and paid for it online. Sunday, Tai Chi Man and I are attending a class, and Monday is Labour Day and blissfully free.

After that, we will have to get used to a new schedule, as ds2 starts at the local college.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Aug14

Grandma’s Knickknacks – 46%

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It’s nice to be adding squares once more to the blanket. It’s still too hot to have a pile of yarn in my lap, but the first three rounds of each square are done first, then the fourth join-as-you-go round attaches it to the rest.  Not too much overheating time.

As I just completed the seventh row of squares, it seemed to be a good time to photograph and share. Eighty four squares out of a planned 180, therefore 46% done. I am expecting to add a border too.

The wooden box in the photo is how I’m organising my yarns. As I use each one, it gets moved over to the other side of the divider until they are all used and it’s time to reverse the process.

This Stylecraft Special Aran has a nice woolly feel to it, not acrylicky at all. It seems that a lot of bloggers, especially in the UK, love the Special DK, and I may have to try that one day, especially as it comes in twice as many colours as the Aran.

I keep receiving yarn company newsletters and it’s hard to resist the Deramores ones. However I don’t know whether I can justify to myself a yarn order right now, though that might change if I get some birthday money this month 🙂

I have enough yarn to keep me going until the next sale!

It feels like the end of summer is in sight. It’s been a hot dry one, with drought conditions and water restrictions and hundreds of wildfires around the province. Too many fires were human-caused, unfortunately. People just don’t seem to learn. A carelessly discarded cigarette butt or a (banned) campfire can start a massive burn that can cause death and property damage. There’s one at Rock Creek right now that swept through a campground, burnt down the owner’s home, and campers had to leave with just what they were wearing, in some cases bathing suits. I’m not sure what other damage has been caused.

We are forecast to have rain tonight and many people are praying for it. It’s windy and cloudy right now, but still dry. We had a short shower earlier in the day, but not enough to dampen things down to be safer.

The sun has looked orange again today because of the smoke in the air.

Wishing everyone a safe summer’s end. Talk to you again soon.