The Cathedral Motif

Happy New Year!
Early in December I saw a post on Instagram from poppyandbliss of a cushion she had made using the cathedral motif... it was lovely and I fell in love...
So I tried to find it (preferably for free!) It is available on Ravelry but not for free however I eventually found it on a blog by lostsentiments.
I decided I would like to cover my old footstool with it, so with that in mind I choose the colours of mocha, meadow, grape, gold and parchment in Stylecraft Special DK.The footstool measures 21" x12".
This is where I lost the plot and somehow... no idea how...I estimated I needed 48 squares! Now this is a small footstool so my alarm bells should have been ringing...but they were silent and off I went and made 48 squares! They took a while!

Such a very pretty motif!
Then I found I only needed 15... seriously... I need locking up... I could have cried!

All joined with parchment with the join-as-you-go method which is a little different with a solid granny square.
Ooana has a good tutorial on YouTube

Blocking before I start the border to fit the stool. You know how much I love to block!

This is where I thought I might have trouble making it fit and look nice.
On the first round I decreased at the corner by 3 stitches and this gave a really great corner shape... so happy!
Then decreased each row starting with every 5th stitch, then 4th, 3rd and 2nd which made a super fit.
Just to make it secure and not get rucked up by bottoms, feet or cats, I made a long chain and threaded it through the final row and fastened it tight with a bow.

Ta'Dah! So pleased with how this turned out and have enough squares left over to make some matching cushions... which is of course what I always intended...

xxx Eirawen

And here they are :)

 

Cushions are the easiest and quickest things to make and I will tell you how I made these.                                 

Each cushion needs 18 squares... 14 x cathedral motif and 4 x  three round solid grannies.

This makes the cushion have a different design on each side. There are 9 squares on each side and I have joined them in a continuous join as you go. If you are stitching them together or some other crochet join you need to add a round of trebles to both the cathedral motif and the solid granny. 

This is the pattern for the solid granny square:

4ch, sl st to join ( or magic circle)
1. 3ch 2tr, 2ch 3tr, repeat twice more until 4 corners, sl st to join.
2. 3ch, tr into each tr, 2tr 4ch 2tr in each corner, sl st to join.
3.Repeat round 2
4 Repeat round 2 (OMIT THIS ROUND IF JAYG)

Once all the squares were joined I added 2 rows of trebles around the whole edge to give the size I wanted (14" x 14"). Now they are ready to join together.  So many ways depending on the effect you want. You can crochet them or stitch them , whatever you fancy! I joined mine with a simple slip stitch . You get a slight raised edge which looks very neat.

I left an opening at the bottom for the cushion insert and then made a chain of 130 to close the bottom with. I doubled it over to give more strength that is why it is so long! Then using a darning needle I threaded it through and closed it with a bow.

This makes a 14" x 14 " cover and will need a 16" x 16" insert to plump it out properly!   

I am so pleased with these they look so pretty and elegant in these colours. 

xx Eirawen

    

Nia's patchwork blanket

For two years my daughter and lovely son in law have lived with me... plus their unsociable cat...well he's lovely, beautiful to look at but not a people or other cat person and I have two other cats so things have been a bit fraught at times!

Awww doesn't he look sweet! Do not be fooled! Anyway they are moving out this week so when I was first told I thought it would be nice to make them a blanket to snuggle under.
Off I went and delved into my yarn basket and decided on autumnal colours all muted and warm.

I added two extra colours to this... burgundy and khaki.
So this blanket uses Stylecraft Special DK in gold, khaki, meadow, grey, graphite, mocha, burgundy, parchment and copper.
For a while I have wanted to make a blanket using blocks from Jan Eatons 200 Crochet Blocks so chose 6 of my favourites

... though after I had taken this picture my daughter decided to use the parchment for the joining and not in a block!

The blocks chosen were:

Centred square no 55
Seville no74
Willow no189
Wisteria no113
Gothic square no 94
Criss Cross no 137

So 8 colours and 6 patterns made 48 6 inch (15cm) squares.

( Picture is missing the  graphite colour squares as I hadn't done them yet!)

With this project and the type of squares I was making I needed to block each one as I went to shape them and make it easier to join.

Now who would have thought that blocking would be such a topic of conversation... well it is!
Blocking is so satisfying for turning a wonky looking wiggly block into a professional looking handmade block!
It straightens out the stitches, sets the shape and helps lock in the ends.
I spray the blocks with water and pin them onto a Boyes crochet blocking board  with brass rustproof pins and leave about 24 hrs to dry.

The top one has been blocked.

This is the Gothic square mid block.

 This is one of the hardest parts... setting out the pattern so no two colours are next to each other and achieving a pleasant looking random pattern blanket...this took an hour with the help of my husband who kept spotting things I had missed! Once happy the joining can begin. Solid grannies are harder to join I think than granny squares and one of my favourite methods is the 3 or 5 chain flat braid. Bethinx1 has a great tutorial on Youtube about this. I used a 3 chain braid.

It is a very pretty join and quick too!

Half way... and loving it!

I always have to look at the blanket and then decide on the border. For this one I thought I would do a pattern of shells for 5 rows and then added a final row of  3 chain and double crochet.

Ta'Dah!

Finally after two weeks work I have the most amazing blanket I am so happy with... I love it!!( More importantly so does my daughter). It has a lovely 70s retro feel and the most fantastic drape from the Stylecraft yarn! Love, love, love!

Oh and the final size was approx 153x115 cms

xxx Eirawen

P.S. Made a reversible cushion to match.

Frozen Stars

I love the flowers in the snow pattern by Solstrikke. It is simple yet very effective and can look very different depending upon whether you use few or many colours.
Its a while since I made anything with this pattern so decided it was time for a revisit!
I decided on a cool colour palette.

Stylecraft Special DK in white, bluebell, silver, graphite and sherbet and a 4mm hook.

This is the finished circle to square. I will be omitting the final round of turning the circle to square as I will join as I go. The flowers in the snow pattern by Solstrikke is here.

48 circles later...

I used three different pattern colour ways:
Top-2nd and 3rd row same colour.
Middle- 3 different colours
Bottom-2 diffent colours

I went for a random pattern... always so difficult as it doesn't matter how much you scan the rows you are bound to find one in the wrong place after joining! I am also a symmetrical girl and this made my eye twitch but I persevered!

Ok all ready to join. Join as you go here we come... Attic24 has a good tutorial on this.

 It is just so neat!

I did a block stitch border of 11 rows and then a 3 chain braid to finish. Simples!

This was going to be a very exciting blocking moment as my new blocking boards had arrived. I had ordered 12 as they are sold individually and at a cost of £4 a block not a cheap investment but they did not disappoint! These are Boye Crochet Dude blocking boards.They have a grid and are 12x12" square. I got mine from http://www.carolescraftsuk.co.uk/  with free shipping.

Sooo much easier than running round the table with a tape measure and it seemed to dry much quicker too... result!!

Ta'Dah!

Blanket size 100x80cms. I wanted to give this blanket a 'cool' name and toyed with arctic sea, winter's night, snow queen etc then it was suggested on Instagram to call it Frozen Stars... I liked that :)

xxx Eirawen