Shawl Tadah!!!!

Well as per usual my blogging habits are shocking! But let's not dwell on that ;-) I've been pretty busy with yarn projects. Lots of new things and finishing up the "almost finished" stuff! Well trying to!!! I've still got 2 blankets at that stage. I'll get there....eventually! So today I thought I'd share my finished Scheepjes Kika Yarn Kit. I do believe you can still buy a kit from Deramores! So without further ado..... 

One finished shawl! At this point I need to tell that photographing the finished article was a complete nightmare! I was either windy and rainy, windy or just plain rainy. You gotta love the North East weather! I managed to grab a very dull but wind and free day and did my best. Some of the photos aren't as crisp as I'd like (ummm....maybe a little blurry might describe them better!) but you get the general idea.

Oh I love this finished shawl. I've completely forgotten the pain of all those teeny 3 million ends that I wove in.

I love how it drapes.

I'm still not convinced about the pom pom though!

But those little star motifs all joined together make my heart sing :-)

So there you have it! One finished shawl. Invicta Extra and Invicta Colour remain my high up there in my favourite yarns :-) The good news is that you can now buy both of these yarns from Deramores here and here. Next time (hopefully a bit sooner than this post!) I've got some brand new yarn to share with you! Til then!

Oooops!

Ok I'm really bad at this regular blogging thing! It's really not intentional. Life just kind of races by at a stupid speed and I end up playing catch up.... ALL OF THE TIME!!!! I hurt my back way back in October. It was my own fault. I lifted something really badly. I have got years and years of moving and handling training behind me and I still lifted something at home in the most stupid way I could!! Ouch! It's taken til now to get back on track because when I hurt myself I like to do it properly ;-) Anyways....enough of that! Let's talk yarn and new projects! I've not been sat idle...oh no! I've been hooking and knitting (!!!!). So lots to share over the next few posts. Let me start with the Scheepjeswol Kika Yarn Kit :-)

15 gorgeous colour combinations to choose from. Talk about spoiled for choice! And best of all? Every kit sold has a donation to a children's cancer charity :-) So actually, by buying a kit you're donating to charity! Win win if you ask me! You can buy the yarn kit from Deramores!

I opted for Deep Ocean as I'm addicted to green!

So what's in the kit?

You get 2 balls of Invicta Colour and 3 balls of Invicta Extra in your chosen colours. You also get a pattern with the option to either knit or crochet, a giant pom pom template and a Sheepjeswol label.

These are the 2 stunning shawl designs you get the pattern for :-) Or alternatively you could just ahead and do your own thing!

I decided to crochet mine....because, whilst I can knit, I'm pretty slow at it. Plus I really wanted to conquer the join as you go thing! Ok this isn't for the faint hearted. There are 238 flower/star motifs to make! 2 rounds in the Invicta Extra then a round in the Invicta Colour. That's 952 ends to deal with!!!! if you say it really quickly it doesn't sound that bad ;-)

I decided from the start to weave in ends as I progressed. Much much easier!

And so it starts.....

The pattern is in both Dutch and English and there's also a chart

I'm really enjoying making this. I make the centres and then when I have a pile of them I join them to the shawl.

Oh just look at those pesky ends!!!!

I love the colour changes!

And this is where I'm at now! Obviously it hasn't been blocked. That will make a huge difference. I know it's wonky in the photo. It was the only photo I had without a cat in it!!!

I've mastered the join as you go thing. I can see lots more projects with this technique in the future :-)

I'm hoping to have this finished by the weekend. Optimistic I know!!!! I think I've only got 57 flowers left to go.....doesn't sound too bad if you say it quickly ;-)

Til next time!

A couple of pretties!

Evening! Earlier in the year I decided I needed a break from making blankets and looked for something smaller (and quicker) to hook. A quick fix if you like! I had some yummy yarn and I wanted to make something special with it. Actually I had two lots of yarn. 

Some delicious Icelandic wool yarn by Lopi. Isn't that colour amazing? Einband is a 4 ply yarn. 250m/50g and it's 100% wool. The colour I used is Vivid Blue - 1098. Pssst.....Deramores have started to stock this yarn ;-)

The yarn I used is the gorgeous Invicta Extra by Scheepjeswol. I just adore this green! It's another 4 ply yarn (210m/50g) and it's a 75% wool 25% polyamide blend. 

I had 3 balls of each yarn. What to make????

Well after much searching of internet I stumbled upon a gorgeous Etsy Shop that sells the most yummy patterns. I chose 2 scarf patterns and set to work!

I decided to make the Izumi pattern with the Einband.

It grew very quickly which was the plan I guess!

And for the Invicta Extra I decided on Silver as the pattern.

Again, it was a breeze to make. Please excuse my non staged pic ;-)

I found the patterns easy to follow and had the hang of the patterns in no time.

So before I knew it, I had 2 blocked lacy scarves ready for some ta-dah photos!

I decided to take them over to Holland with me to take the pics and after an hour or so in a field they were done!

Soooooo......I give you the finished items!

Firstly the Vivid Blue Einband Scarf.

Beautifully modelled by Lady May ;-) You can see it's a lovely length.

I love how the pattern varies on this scarf.

Oh and that lacy edge is just lovely!

I'm very happy with the finished effect.

And now the Green Invicta Extra...

Stunning isn't it?

I foresee me wearing this all winter!

It's got to be one of my favourite colours and looks amazing with jeans!

Cute little picots finish off the edge!

I'm very happy with them both!

Hope you like them too.

I hope to have a Luca update at the weekend. Best get hooking then!

Til then....

Without Further Ado.....

I give you....

KALEIDOSCOPE DREAMS!

As you can see by the number of TA DAH!!!! pics, I am truly smitten with the finished blanket!

It's been a long time in the making but worth every minute (I hope you agree!)

Thankfully the rain stayed away long enough for me to drive to my local beach and harbour, mind you, I was down there at silly o'clock this morning haha! I had quite a few puzzled looks as I was heading down the slipway with blanket and camera... I was surprised at just how many folks are around so early in the morning!

Details, Details!!!

Yarn

Scheepjeswol Invicta Colour - 968 (300g used)

Scheepjeswol Invicta Colour - 960 (300g used)

Scheepjeswol Invicta Extra - 1466 (375g used)

Hook - 4mm

Square Pattern - Shell Collection by Shelley Husband (Spincushions on Instagram and Ravelry)

Border Pattern - Adapted by myself (details to follow)

I made 88 squares in total and joined them 8x11. The finished blanket size is 127cm wide and 178cm long.

I started it on 13th April and it was finally finished 4th July!

Phew!!!

I was going to write a tutorial for the squares but Shelley's instructions are very very clear! Instead I'll share my border instructions/pattern with you all very soon!

Join me tomorrow when I shall be taking part in a blog hop and there might be a sneaky peek of the latest WIP!

Til then

Mx

Border Control.....

Ah don't you just LOVE it when you reach that stage in a project when it's time to decide on what border will suit said project????

Well that's where I'm at right now! OK, that's not exactly true. I'm a little bit past that stage! I've had a weekend of frantically joining and have managed to make a start on the border :-)

I just love how this blanket is turning out! I decided on a double crochet, chain 1, double crochet joining technique. I felt this gave a lovely solid edge to the squares. It might look a little bumpy in the  photograph but once blocked it will settle down nicely :-)

The border was a little trickier to decide on! I have to admit to ripping it back THREE times before I was happy. I've decided on a mix from different sources with lots of adaptations. There will be some nice rows of easy peasy stitch combinations and I'm planning to finish with a lacy edge. Well that's the plan anyway!!!

I'm having a mad hooky time trying to get it finished and blocked so that I can take some lovely TA DAH!!! photos at the weekend. Please pray for good weather ;-)

So to recap. I am using Invicta Colour (shades 968 and 960) and Invicta Extra (shade 1466) both are made by Sheepjeswol. I'm using a 4mm hook just because I'm a tight hooker :-) The recommended hook size is 3mm!

Invicta Colour is now available from Deramores :-) So far I've used 300g of each of the Invicta Colours and 350g of the Invicta Extra. 

Once it's finished I shall give finished quantities and I'll measure the blanket for you.

Til next time!

Mx

Progress....

Well! Since I returned from my lovely break in Holland my feet don't seem to have touched the ground! Busy, busy busy!!!
Work has been crazy busy and I've been out and about practising my photography skills. It's still work in progress but I can definitely see improvements!

I have been squeezing in some hooky time....honest!!! My Scheepjeswol Invicta blanket is almost joined!

Whenever I got the chance I've been joining, joining, joining....

I started joining using a zig zag method but was not happy at all with the effect so ripped it all out and started again! Such a gorgeous delicate square needed something quite solid to show it off to it's full advantage I thought.

The colours are just stunning in this yarn! It's Invicta Colour and edged with Invicta Extra.

I always join in the same order (Virgo!!!)...I lay out all the squares, put them in little piles so I know which order and then start the joining process. Because this is quite a solid join it's taking longer than usual but I'm really pleased with how it's looking so far.

The Vivid Green is making all the other colours POP!!!!

Have you heard the latest news???? Deramores has started to stock a range of Scheepjeswol yarns!!! I am soooo pleased :-) It now means that hookers outside Holland can now get their hands on the yummy yarns! Go check it out! I've been lucky enough to use all the yarns they have in stock and I can't recommend them highly enough!

Til next time!

Mx