Knit, Crochet and Natter into 2021

[lazylinguist]

A thread for chat about woolly crafts. All welcome, including complete beginners.

Previous thread here

Thank you! I've tried to make it 10 sts, 3 times now & it's just clicked that they don't add up right. I could have had the little chef hat done hours ago if I'd realised this afternoon

@lazylinguist I'm looking forward to it, it's only early days but it's going to be a summer baby

I'm in on the Cali downloaded it will look at dimensions

Great - I'm going to order some yarn today. @CrochetBug was it you who posted a discount code for Wool Warehouse?

I've used rav10 before for 10% off!

I used sc19 which was posted on the previous thread. 10% off too. Just ordered some Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK in cream and silver grey. I wanted to use natural wool, but it's too expensive for making a blanket!

So, just checking who's said they're going go do the CAL so far...

By my reckoning we have:

@lazylinguist
@CrochetBug
@MindyMalik
@sophs29
@InTheNightWeWillWish

I meant to ask - do many of you crocheters often have to use a different hook size than the pattern suggests to get the right gauge (in situations where gauge matters)? I think

I must be quite a loose crocheter. For my other crochet blanket I had to go down a hook size, because I had trouble getting the hook through reliably without making the stitches too baggy. This Spicier Life blanket looks quite tightly stitched from the pictures. I'm wondering about using the recommended hook size this time (rather than adjust for my loose stitching), to make it a bit bigger and more drapy for a bed throw.

Oh brilliant! I'm just adding some to my basket now! thinking of just ordering 10 balls for now and maybe using some other neutral ones from my stash if needed otherwise it's going to get quite pricey!

And to be honest, I never ever test my gauge So I wouldn't know what to advise but from what you said about wanting a slouchier blanket I think it would be fine to just use the hook stated - even if you do crochet slightly on the looser side!

What do people think of this colour way? for a baby boy?

Those colours are gorgeous @sophs29

@lazylinguist sc23 is the code I always use for 10% off but there are a few that work.

Im not buying any yarn. I'm going to use my stash. I think I have enough.
I never do a test swatch for gauge, I generally use the recommended hook size. The only time its been an issue is when I made a cardigan. I went up 3 hook sizes and it still wasn't right. So I made them in bigger sizes than I needed (eg made age 7-8 for a 4 year old)

Beautiful colours, @sophs29! I'm being very dull by comparison! Dd always berates me for my boring, colourless decor tastes . I just really like the whites and neutrals Scandi look - I find it kind of clean and restful.

Dd's bedroom is mostly purple and has one glittery wall. I went a bit bold colour-wise with the living room (lots of teal with a mustard yellow fireplace and made my first crochet blanket to match that), but everywhere else in the house is calmly neutral!

Thank you @lazylinguist & @CrochetBug
Oh I love mustard, we're decorating our living room at the moment and that's the feature colour I wanted but DP wasn't sure! I might make some crochet mustard cushions at some point
My basket comes to nearly £17 but free delivery is £25 so I'm half tempted to just get the 14 balls!

I bought 18 balls , but with the discount code it only came to just under £30, which I thought wasn't too bad. I don't know whether I'll use quite all of it - depends how big it comes out with my loose crocheting. But I figure having some cream or grey dk left in my stash would be no bad thing!

No lazy I don't think that's bad at all! especially when you think how much use it will get and how long you'll treasure it for! Was it 100g balls?
I decided to add some glittery mint and white yarn as my sister is obsessed with sparkles and glitter so I thought that would make the blanket that little bit more special! I was inspired by your DD's glitter wall haha!
Just quickly been on the creators YouTube and looks like she has tutorials for each stitch too for those that aren't overly crochet confident

Wow - sparkles! It will not surprise you to learn that I have never used sparkly yarn.

Yes it's 100g balls. I don't really feel bad spending money on yarn, because it's such a double bonus of hours and hours of enjoyment making things, plus the use you get out of them too. My beloved granny was a keen and excellent knitter, and I'm the only other one in the family who does it, so it always makes me think of her too.

I'm not earning at the moment due to Covid stopping my teaching, but dh is perfectly happy for me to buy yarn out of the joint account.

Meant to say - I have a crochet blanket my granny made too, though she was mostly a knitter. It's a granny square one made with rather lurid colours that don't entirely go well with each other, but I'm fond of it nevertheless!

My Grandma was also a keen crafter, of various types. She tried to teach me to knit as a child but i just wasn't interested in making knickers for my dollies
She did teach me to cross stitch though. And her picture is on the shelf next to my seat so she's always watching over me whilst I craft.

And I have some jewellery that she made.

Oh wow what a beautiful blanket!!
My mum is also a very keen crafter, knitting, cross stitch, card making etc, you name it, she has the items needed for the job I also dabble in many different crafts but crochet is my new favourite!
Not sure how my DP will react to me surrounded by various balls of coloured wool for this CAL

My granny tried to teach me too, several times. I was interested, but I didn't have the patience at the time! She used to make jumpers etc for us sometimes. She once made me and my mum matching ones in beautiful sea green and blue mohair. Beautifully made, very pretty... and horrifically itchy.

I have all her old knitting needles. There was some yarn left in her knitting box too, but it was decidedly musty-smelling acrylic in awful colours, so I decided not to inherit that!

Oh how lovely @lazylinguist my mum always used to try and teach me to knit too but I just didn't have the patience either and I still don't!
I get bored very easily, however reading through the spicier life blanket pattern I'm so excited to start as it's all so varied!
My order has been placed! I ended up ordering 15 balls of yarn to get the free delivery after the discount, I have two boys so if I have lots leftover I'll just make them some jumpers etc!

Yes I loved the variety of the Seaside Stashbuster blanket, @sophs29 and I was pleasantly surprised by how easily I learned the new stitches as I went along. I need to decide how frequently I'm going to swap between the cream and grey for the CAL. I wasn't even sure what proportions of each colour to do, but I ended up buying 9 balls of each.

lazylinguist I’ve put my yarn order in this morning. 24 balls! Not all for the CAL, I bought half the wool for the next big blanket I’m planning, despite my many other projects that I’m planning and have not yet started I think I might have a problem with planning too many projects...

My CAL blanket should match your living room! It’s currently magnolia but we’ve just had a new sofa delivered which is teal and the walls will be going to either a neutral grey or honey colour. I’ve ordered some teal, jade, mustard, lime and aubergine for my CAL (along with some neutrals to balance the lurid colours).

sophs lovely colours for your CAL.

@lazylinguist I loved the seaside one you done! Did it come together fairly quickly or?
I was thinking that too about the colour order, I saw on the pattern there's a part to print and create your own little colour chart but I've got quite a few different colours haha!

Oh thank you! @InTheNightWeWillWish the colours for yours sounds lovely too!

@InTheNightWeWillWish - 24 balls, wow! Your colour combo sounds great. I did my living room one in cream, beige, teal, a lighter blue-green and mustard yellow, with a dark chocolate brown border.

@sophs29 - it came together more quickly than I'd expected considering its size and that I was a fairly beginner crocheter and generally slow at knitting etc. It was during the first lockdown though, and I didn't have much else to do.