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Wednesday WIP #5 – Call the Midwife Blanket

Wednesday WIP #5 - Call the Midwife Blanket

Wow, that was a long time between posts, wasn’t it? My bad, things just got crazy, and then I just wasn’t in the right headspace and got lazy. Rest assured though that the crochet continued!
A lot has happened since I last posted and a lot of items have been crocheted in that time. One WIP that has taken quite a long time already is my call the midwife blanket.
I’m not even sure when I started this one as it was so long ago. I know it was over 18 months ago though as I posted about it on Instagram in December 2018.

My Call the Midwife Blanket

The pattern I used is from the Little Monkeys Crochet blog, http://littlemonkeyscrochet.com/call-the-midwife-inspired-baby-blanket-free-pattern/. I created a longer starting chain so that I could get 10 of the pattern repeats across the blanket.
The yarn I am using is Bendigo Wollen Mills 4ply Cotton in pink rose, with a 3.5mm hook.
I have managed to get quite a bit done in the last couple of weeks and have just joined my 2nd ball of yarn to the project.

There are 11 rows of the pattern blocks completed and I will do another 4 to get it to 15. This will make the finished size of approximately 90cm x 90cm excluding any border. I am still not sure what I am going to do there. If you have any suggestion of a good border to use with a call the midwife please leave me a comment.
As long I don’t get bored with it again, I’m hoping to finish this one in the next 2 weeks. Just in time for my next markets at Glenbrook.

Next time I make this blanket I will definitely use thicker yarn. I love how the 4ply cotton of this one is turning out, but it is very fiddly and is taking me too long to complete.
What is your favourite yarn to use for a call the midwife blanket?

Carmen
xoxo

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WIP Update

WIP Update -Bright Rainbow Ripple Blanket

Happy WIP Update Wednesday Everyone!
I know it’s been a long time between posts. The end of last year was just crazy! I had to have my gall bladder removed, and then it was the end of school, and then Christmas, and school holidays. The kids’ birthdays were in the mix too. Not to mention this endless heat in Sydney has sapped my will to do anything lately.
Then you blink and it’s nearly February and it’s 2019!

So for the first post of 2019 I thought I’d come back to you all with a WIP update and show you what I have been doing, crochet-wise, lately.
I actually managed to finish some projects over the last few weeks, it’s almost a miracle.

Riverbend Cardigan

The first thing I finished was the Riverbend cardigan. Okay, technically it’s not quite finished, I have yet to sew on the pockets and sew in the ends. But the crochet part is done! And I will complete the rest when it gets cool enough to wear it.

WIP Update - Almost finished Riverbend Cardigan
Almost finished Riverbend Cardigan

Bright Rainbow Ripple Blanket

Next on my hooking list was a rainbow ripple baby blanket that I started a while ago. I had wanted to do a star blanket for a while. I started this one with acrylics I already had in my stash, but i did have to buy more in suitable colours to finish it.
I used this free pattern by Celeste Young that I found on Ravelry. It’s a lovely simple pattern but so effective.
I am really pleased by how this one turned out, it’s much brighter than the colours I usually work with, but you have to get outside your comfort zone sometimes. I think I’m going to make a pastel version of this next, and then one using the Moda Vera ombre delights yarn packs I have laying around.

The blanket ended up quite large at 124cm across from point to point.
This one I’m going to try and sell, I will take some better photos and list it in the shop soon.

WIP Update -Bright Rainbow Ripple Blanket
Bright Rainbow Ripple Blanket

C2C Blanket

I have had a c2c blanket in my stash for ages. I started making it using sweet roll yarn I found in mill-end bags in Spotlight. The yarn is premier sweet rolls in Cherry swirl and I love the yarn, it is so soft and lovely to work with. I even bought more of the yarn so I could get a decent-sized blanket.

But when I picked this up the other day to start working on it, I wasn’t happy with it. It was going to end up quite small, and as I had used a 5mm hook it wasn’t as drapey (is that a word?) as I wanted it to be.
I ummed and ahhed, but in the end, It was not bringing me joy so I frogged it!

I am not sure yet what I am going to do with all that lovely yarn, maybe make scarves and cowls and matching beanies ready to sell in winter.

WIP Update - Results of frogging

But that is a WIP for another day, right now I have dug out my luila shawl and am about to add some more rows to it. I am determined I am going to make a dent in current projects before starting something new again.

Now that school is back I might have more time for the blog again, and of course, time to get more crochet done.
Hope you all had a fabulous New Year!

Carmen
xoxo

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Wednesday WIP #4 – Nomad Shawl

I can’t believe I am up to Wednesday WIP #4 already. This week my WIP is a beautiful project that I wish I had more time to devote to. 
I don’t think I have mentioned it on this blog as yet, but I am a subscriber to Crochet Coach, an online crochet community. It is led and run by Carly Jacobs, a writer and blogger who you may also know from the blog Smaggle
Carly’s occasional crochet posts on Smaggle’s Facebook is what made me pick up a crochet hook again for the first time since I was a kid. So when Carly started Crochet Coach, I was all in.

One of the first patterns she released on Crochet coach was the gorgeous *Nomad Shawl. It is a huge colourful garment that uses multiple yarns and blocks of different stitches and I knew I had to do it, and I knew it was going to take me a looooong time!

Wednesday WIP #4 - Crochet Coach's Nomad Shawl
Image used with permission from www.crochetcoach.com

The first challenge was picking the right yarn to create the shawl. There are so many beautiful yarns out there. I started my search in Spotlight, thinking maybe Moda Vera faith yarn might work, or an acrylic baby yarn. But nothing really worked for me, until I saw a gorgeous trio of Merino sock yarn from Fiber Lily. It was love at first sight and I knew it had to be mine. This was my first purchase of hand-dyed yarn, but it certainly wasn’t my last. 

So 15 months ago I bought the yarn, and yet I still didn’t start my shawl until January this year. Other things kept pushing to the front of the crochet queue. Currently, it is only 20cm long, and it needs to be about 210cm long. But when I finish it would have been so worth it. 

Wednesday WIP #4 - Nomad Shawl by crochet coach
Progress on the Nomad Shawl

What project has taken you the longest to complete? Please tell me in the comments below.

Love
Carmen
xoxo

*Please note the Nomad Shawl pattern is only available to crochet coach subscribers

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Wednesday WIP #3 – Liula Shawl

Progress on my liula shawl - Wednesday WIP #3

Welcome to Wednesday WIP #3, this week’s long-term project is my Liula shawl by Potter and Bloom. 
I Started this one in October last year when I first bought the Paton’s Summer Swirls yarn. 

Progress on this one was very slow, and at the end of the year, it got put away as I worked on other projects and I forgot about it. 
I found it a couple of months ago, and I was so close to frogging it and using the lovely summer swirl yarn for another project, but I decided to persist, and I’m happy I did. 
I’m enjoying seeing the gradual colour changes, 1 strand at a time, and I look forward to the finished product. Not sure yet if I’ll keep it for myself or try and sell it. 

Progress on my liula shawl - Wednesday WIP #3

Progress is still slow as it’s not a project I can do in front of the TV, as it requires concentration to follow the repeat, but I will finish it one day, and I think I’ll do a happy dance on that day 🙂

Have you completed a Liula shawl? Would love to see them!

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My First Wednesday WIP

C2C Minecraft blanket - My First Wednesday WIP

Hello and welcome to My First Wednesday WIP,  where I show you 1 of the (many many) projects I have on the go. 

I have heard rumours that there are people out there that finish off a project before starting another one. That is not me. At a guess, I have approximately 8 long-term projects going at the moment. 

Today’s project has been a labour of love. I had a request for a Minecraft a blanket from my then 6yr old son, And with my newly found skills at C2C figured I could easily do a graphgan. Over a year later this baby still isn’t finished, though it is close.

I had to go looking through my Instagram posts to see when I started it, and my First post about on May 8th last year.


I think I was going to give it to him for his Birthday in October, that never happened. I get distracted too easily. Though I have been warned by him that it had better be ready for his birthday this year!

As simple as this graph looks, the multiple small colour changes did my head in. Lesson learnt, even if I do have to sew in a million ends, next time (if there is a next time) I will use bobbins to contain the mess. 

C2C Minecraft blanket  - My First Wednesday WIP
Almost finished

In the meantime, it is sitting in a basket in the living room reminding me to finish it every time I go in there. Think I need to choose a  TV show to binge and just sit down and do it. Soon, I promise.

I would love to hear what other projects people are currently working on. Let me know in the comments

Love Carmen
xoxo