The Gilmore Girls Blanket

Over the summer holidays, The Gilmore Girls came out on Netflix and I spent many an afternoon hanging out with Lorelai and Rory.  It's nice easy viewing, perfect to watch while indulging in some afternoon hooky.  

Having very eclectic tastes myself I love the style of Lorelai's house.  I particularly love the crochet blanket you can see in some of the episodes, draped across her sofa.  It's a beautiful pale duck egg colour (this just happens to be my most favourite colour).

I decided that I wanted to try and create something similar.  First I needed some yarn.  I discovered that Woolcraft New Fashion DK had added some new colours to their range and one of them just happened to be Duck Egg.  So I ordered some right away.  I use Woolcraft yarn a lot and particularly like it for blankets.  It's a bit thicker than some DK yarns and has a really soft almost fluffy texture.  It makes lovely squishy blankets and has a good choice of colours.  

I searched the internet for the right pattern but didn't find anything I really liked.  So I had a look in my trusty 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix-and-Match book by Jan Eaton.  

There was one square that was almost identical.  The Circle in a Square block.  I made up a tester square and although it looked nice I wasn't amazingly thrilled with it.  I tried another test square this time in the Willow pattern (this is probably my favourite pattern from the book...).  I was much happier with how this one looked and even though the blanket will not be exactly the same as  Lorelai's, I am hoping it will have the same overall feel to it.

I added a couple of extra rounds to the block to make the finished blanket a bit more open and lacy.

This is the first time I am making a blanket in just one colour.  I was worried I might get bored making the same square over and over, but the Willow pattern is so pretty I enjoyed making each and every one.  Many squares were made over the holidays, then School started again and it got pushed to the side.

Now that the weather is getting a bit on the chilli side I am newly inspired to finish it.  I only need a few more squares and then I can start joining.  I will probably agonise for hours over which joining method to choose and then even longer deciding on a border.

To be continued...

Have a wonderful week

Catherine

x

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Glorious Sunshine and Sandy Beaches

I can't get over the weather we have been having lately and it's almost November.  We are spending a well earned weekend away by the seaside...

Just look at those skies!  The beach here at Camber is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.  It stretches for miles.  The sea a distant patch of blue on the horizon while the tide is out.

Meandering streams and pools remind you just how far it's travelled and the glorious sun glistens and sparkles on the water.

Little T is in his element.  Splashing in the water, sailing his Frisbee along the fast current of the streams, chasing after it laughing and giggling.

There was of course digging and castle building...

and collecting pebbles for mummy.

We treated ourselves to a Full English at a beach cafe with steaming mugs of tea.  Then back to our chalet...

for some pebbly hooky!

Bye for now...

Catherine

x

Free Pattern! Sock Yarn Baubles

Hello everyone, I would just like to share with you how I made the sock yarn baubles from my  previous post.  This is my first time writing a pattern and some lovely people over on Ravelry have been testing it for me.  You can find the test page here.  

I use US terminology (I know I'm from the UK but American terminology just makes more sense!).  

You will need 

 sock yarn (small ammounts)

 3.5mm hook

sewing needle

60mm plastic bauble

ribbon for hanging

stitch marker

Stitches used

sc  single crochet

sc2tog  single crochet 2 together

Round 1 Starting with a magic loop work 6 sc into the loop, place marker in the last stitch pull tight

Do not join we will be working in a spiral

Round 2 starting in the first sc from previous round work 2 sc into each stitch around (12 stitches)

Remember to move your stitch marker up at the end of each round

Round 3 [2 sc into the first stitch, sc into the next stitch] repeat around (18 stitches)

Round 4 [2sc into the first stitch, sc into the next 2 stitches] repeat around (24 stitches)

Rounds 5-7 continue to increase by 6 stitches in each round until you have 42 stitches

Rounds 8-14 sc in each stitch around.  At this point try your crochet around your ball.  It should be a little over half way up the bauble.  If it is not over half way you can add a few extra rounds of sc in every stitch until it is ( during testing some crafters needed to add 4 extra rows here...)

Round 15 [sc2tog, sc 5] repeat around

Round 16 [sc2tog, sc 4] repeat around

Round 17 [sc2tog, sc3] repeat around

Now comes the tricky part, stretch your crochet over the plastic bauble and continue to work around the ball.

Round 18-20 continue to decrease 6 stitches in each round until you have 6 stitches.

Bind off leaving a long tail and thread yarn onto a sewing needle.  work your yarn under each stitch and pull tight.  Bind off hiding yarn inside the crochet.  Tie a ribbon onto your bauble and admire your new unique tree decoration.

Why stop at one? Why not make a whole bunch to fill your tree.

Have a great day.

Catherine

x

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Christmas Baubles? Too Early? Never!

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.  I have been busy using up the left over sock yarn that I used to make my crochet coin purses.  You can read about them in my blog post here.

So I thought my left over wool would be great to crochet over some Christmas baubles.  

What! Christmas decorations already?  I know some of you may be thinking this, but in our house it's never too early for Christmas.  We love everything about Christmas and this time of year is always spent getting ready making home made decorations, baking, shopping and countless other Christmasy things...

Every year I make some new decorations for the tree and every year little T makes some for his tree too.  Here's what I made.

The yarn is Drops Fabel and has lots of lovely colour combinations to choose from.  Drops yarn is always a pleasure to work with and is extremely reasonable.  To be honest it's the only real wool yarn I can afford to use, being on a tight budget...

It took me a few attempts to get the increases and decreases right to fit the bauble.  I used a 6 cm diameter shatterproof ball for this one.  You can get these pretty much anywhere, I think I got mine at Tesco.  The bauble is worked in single crochet in a simple spiral increasing and decreasing to fit the ball and finished off with an organza ribbon.

Of course I could never stop at just one!

I just had to try out some other colours.

I love the way the colour changes make each bauble unique.

Have a great week...

Catherine

x

Might I Have a Bit of Earth?

"Might I," quavered Mary, "might I have a bit of earth?"

In her eagerness she did not realise how queer the words would sound and that they were not the ones that she had meant to say.  Mr Craven looked quite startled.

"Earth!" he repeated.  "What do you mean?"

"To plant seeds in - to make things grow - to see them come alive."

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

As a child I read this book many times.  The Secret Garden always invoked feelings of magic and mystery, of old dead things coming back to life and of birds and woodland creatures.  This is the kind of garden I have always dreamed of having.  The garden that has lived in my imagination, hiding, waiting, patiently for it's chance to become more than just a dream.  

Living in a small flat as we do.  We do not have a garden.  Not any kind of garden at all... and this is something I have longed for, for many years.  Particularly now that I have my own child who would also like to make things grow and see them come alive...

So.... today we got an allotment!

I cannot tell you how excited I am, little T too.  All week he has been asking me "When are we getting the allotment mummy?"

It is obviously going to need a lot of work.  I have little to no gardening experience so this is definitely going to be one hell of a challenge. 

It has a small shed in desperate need of attention.  Half of it blew away in last weeks gales...

 and its full of rubbish;

but it does have a lovely little cherry tree that someone must have planted fairly recently.

So finally, at long last I have my little bit of earth.

Have a great day

Catherine

x

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Get Cosy With a Crochet Hottie!

Aren't the mornings and evenings getting chilli now?

 I was enjoying a peaceful evening to myself on Sunday.  Relaxing on the sofa and indulging in an episode of Poldark, thinking just that.  
What I need is a cosy blanket and a hot water bottle.  Well there are plenty of blankets in this house.  Blanket making is a bit of an obsession of mine... But you can never have too many blankets right?  I have a hot water bottle too, but it is very much lacking in the cosy department.

See very plain, very boring...

What it needs is a nice crochet cover for ultimate cosiness.  I have plenty of DK yarn in my stash, lot's of Stylecraft Special and lot's of Woolcraft New Fashion DK.  These are my two favourite acrylic yarns to work with and are both very reasonably priced.  Now, which colours to choose.... so many choices...

Then it struck me how pretty the fabric on my pyjamas was and I just so happened to have similar colours in my stash.  I went with silver, mint, coral and cream from the Woolcraft DK range.

Now for a pattern.  I have always loved Sunburst granny squares and thought they would work well with my colours.  I have made this square many times and now know it it by heart. The pattern I originally used is the Sunburst Granny Square by Pricilla Hewitt.  In order for my squares to fit the bottle I only worked the first 4 rounds of the pattern and also changed the last round to half double crochets and double crochets in the corners (otherwise it was going to be way to big).

I joined my squares using a twisted version of the join as you go method and made a plain granny stripe back.

Then I simply crocheted the two pieces together (leaving gaps for the neck and at the bottom), crocheted round the neck, added a couple of pink buttons and Tada!!!

  

Now my hot water bottle is super cosy and pretty and it matches my pyjamas!  

What more could a girl want?  

Perhaps a cup of tea and another episode of Poldark?

Bye for now and thank you for reading.

Catherine

x

The Beginning...

Hello and welcome to my blog.  My name is Catherine, aka Lullaby Melodia (as some of you may know me as on Ravelry).  It has been my dream for a long time to write my own blog, but have never had the time (and perhaps the confidence) to do so.  Recently my working hours have changed and I am only working part time now so thought it the perfect opportunity to start my blog. 

So where shall we begin?  I am hoping that this blog will eventually be filled with everything I love.  This means crochet, crochet and more crochet.  There might be the odd bit of knitting and the possibility of some cooking, who knows....  I am very impulsive especially when being creative, so I shall let each whim take me where it will.

Speaking of my impulsive nature, earlier this week I was rummaging through my yarn/craft stash and came across some sew in purse frames. I had bought these more than a few years ago.  At the time they were purchased I am sure I had something particular in mind to make with them, but now after being forgotten for such a long time I have not the slightest idea what I had planned.

I felt like a kid at Christmas finding such a treasure hidden away in my bedroom.  So now after a bit more stash rummaging and armed with renewed enthusiasm, some Drops Fabel sock yarn and my purse frames I set to work trying to figure out a pattern...

and after a little trial and error Tada!!!

Now I had caught the bug and just had to make a few more...

Perhaps they will make a nice Christmas present for someone, or maybe I'll put them in my Etsy shop.

Well thanks for reading and hope you have a lovely week.
Catherine
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