Aran Cushions - Part 2 - Blackberry Stitch DONE!

Do you remember  way back when? The summer sometime, before the trees turned, before we moved house etc etc etc Middle one wanted an assortment of cushions for her uni room. Aran Cushion number 1 was completed before the start of term, but number two was finished for her birthday last week. It was going to be a knitted bobble stitch with a plain back but I decided to have a bash at a crocheted Blackberry Stitch instead based on this pattern.

I Bobbled Along.... quite happily. Working in Stylecraft Chunky was harder on the hands, and each bobble takes some working, 5 stitches into 1 do go with some elbow grease.

The lovely effect of this stitch does come at a price, you need a massive amount of the yarn. I was so far out I used double what I expected and that was keeping the back as plain trebles. It is a gorgeous effect though, just be warned on the yardage!

I worked a simple button closure slip stitching along the last row of trebles and just working a 3-4 chain loop where a button was sewn on accordingly on the opposite side. The cushion is a large 60cm square, and cost a fortune to post with its pad to my daughter.

Pictures were hard to get on a gloomy day when rushing to pack and post off.

But she did like it! One of those "DONE" projects that was enjoyable but I am glad to be moving onto something else, namely my Vintage Solid Granny that is progressing well, no update so far this week as my mum has been here for a few days and I just worked on the odd square here and there keeping the rest hidden away.....

BLACKBERRY STITCH CROCHET CUSHION finished 5th November 2012, it took me two months off and on.

FINISHED SIZE: 60cm square

YARN: 3x100g Stylecraft Special Chunky each in Fondant 1241 and Cream 1005

Hook: 5.5mm

PATTERN: Based on this Blackberry Stitch Baby Blanket

HAPPY HOOKY INDEX: 7/10

Bobbling along...

I have been a little bit busy (and absent from blogging) the last couple of weeks. After planning to move house for so long we suddenly did, with a week's notice. Rental houses are so hard to find, especially when there is a dog in the family. This one came up when S was in the US so I just paid the deposit and here we are. We still have our house to sell so this one is temporary. No more commuting to work for S, other than an 8km bike ride through Somerset countryside, and little S started 6th form here in September so now she is walking to school too.

We are now in Somerset, just south of Bristol and very nice it is. This is a sensible move. It is only an hour from our old house but still a new start in a new area after 15 very happy years in Gloucestershire. I can walk out the door with Rolo and walk him in the park, or into town, through the woods or go and see the swans and walk round the lake. The cycling is fabulous too, lots of off road Sustrans cycle paths. A much healthier, more economical and greener way to live!

I have been crocheting in between the moving ourselves, cleaning and unpacking, thank goodness for a portable hobby! I am trying to finish the large floor cushion for the student oop north, a companion to Aran Cushion 1. The blackberry stitch is very effective but uses a lot of yarn, 8 balls of Stylecraft Special Chunky 100g balls, I only bought 4 to start with and I have had to send off for more twice now, so I hope that is enough. It would be a lot more but the back is in plain trebles. I have to get it finished this week as it is her birthday soon! I'll be back soon with a "DONE!" post, hopefully.

Crochet Blackberry Stitch

I also finally got round to sorting my phone out (long out of contract and still paying £££s) and managed to get a superb deal on a Galaxy 3S that is far better than Martin's Money Saving Expert email could recommend  and cheaper than my old phone. So blogging on the go is now a possibility. I started this on my phone but after uploading the photos and saving I have resorted to PC blogging...hard to waffle on as much on a phone! My advice is  to order a phone with someone else, ring up and ask for the code so you can keep your number and, surprise surprise, they will then move heaven and earth to keep you even if you already asked for a price match. Take the offer there and then (I didn't, it took 10 days to get them to honour their verbal offer as I was cooking) and cancel the order for the first phone quick. The UK company in question starts with a "Vo"...I am saying no more!!

Neat Granny Log Cabin Crochet Cushions

I cheated. My Log Cabin cushions...

Log Cabin Cushions

are also my Bullseye cushions I have just made... Just two cushions, not four!

Bullseye Cushions

Since I crocheted the double sided Gingham/Provencal cushion for my friend who lives in France, I have been smitten with double sided cushions. They have to have a back so why not make it different so you can have two looks for the effort and cost of one?  These cushions, including the pad, have cost less than £4 each, not counting my time.

Crochet Log Cabin Cushions on bed with Moroccan Throw

I wanted to try a crocheted log cabin patchwork effect, but the only pattern I found was a granny cluster style one and I wanted the blocks to be defined, so I risked life and limb and had a go at winging it! A brave thing to do for me, I like following patterns. I did ground myself and started off with a solid granny square, the same pattern as I used for the gingham cushion.

The colours were chosen to co-ordinate with the Bullseye side and the bedroom blinds and also the throw we bought in Morocco last summer that is on our bed at the moment. So in addition to Stylecraft Special DK in Parchment, Mocha and Walnut I added Claret 1123 Meadow 1065 and Teal 1062. Throws on bed are in the cushion category, they get kicked unceremoniously into a heap on the floor, but whilst the house is “up for sale” we are making an effort in the bedroom (that sounds totally wrong!) I’d like to think it may continue when we move, the way our bedroom looks that is.

The cushions being double-sided gives us added flexibility as they also look good on our leather sofas, we have some cushions on there that I ran up from another Moroccan throw but unfortunately the weave was too loose and they have disintegrated in just one year, even I acknowledge that, for once, it is not my sewing that is at fault.

Neat Granny Log Cabin v 1

The first cushion I changed colour every time I finished a block, I worked to the end of the row and turned so each block is 5 rows with the two granny cluster rows worked on the wrong side. I will write out the pattern when I find my little book with the notes in! When I turned I picked up 9 more stitches evenly from the end of the previous block, to keep the pattern correct throughout. I kept the browns as one half and colours as the other half.

Neat Granny Log Cabin v2

For the second cushion I had a brainwave and did two blocks at once keeping the pattern correct. I thought it would be far neater but the stitch count kept getting out and the finished result was quite distorted, I like the first attempt much better, so version 1 is the pattern I will go with.

To finish the cushions work a row or two of trebles around the last row to even out and make both sides the same size and to fit your pad. Then work front and back together (wrong sides together) in trebles with three chains at the corners leaving about two thirds of one side open. Treble down one side and treble with a one chain space evenly 4 times on the other side for the button holes.

Button Closure

The final round is 3 treble clusters miss 2 chains, on the second cushion I turned my work and the border lies much flatter.

Simple Granny Cluster Edging

Continue across the opening on the side without button holes. Sew on your buttons and there you go, four cushions for the price of two. So if the blinds stay here when we move, and cushions on the bed become too much of a pillow fight, both throw and cushions can go and reside the sofas...

How they are supposed to look...

...where they will be hoyed to the floor and the dog will think someone cares about him after all!

What really happens to throws and cushions on sofas, the unstyled version!

Bulls Eye Cushions

A pair of Bullseye Cushions

More cushions! I finished this pair off this morning that have been "nearly" finished for 4 weeks. I took them away last week to finish and very nearly achieved my aim but I still had one last round of border, the buttonholes and buttons to sew on. As "the husband" said "who are these for?" They are for us! They will remind me of: our holiday last week in the lovely Llŷn (or Lleyn) Peninsular in North Wales

Close up of Bullseye Square

I am quite pleased with them. The idea was that they are to go on our bed and reflect the spotty London Blinds we have at the two windows.

The lighter spots on the blind are mocha not sage green!

Now cushions on the bed....what do you think? Every magazine, shop, holiday house, house moving programme on TV all have beautifully arranged cushions on the bed. Usually with runners, throws and not just a pair but several co-ordinating and carefully plumped pairs in different textures and sizes. Where do they go at bedtime, on a heap on the floor in this house. That's why we haven't had them up to now. The reason, we are trying to sell our house and have been for a few months now. It's soul destroying, but perhaps the new bulls eye cushions will make us look a bit less like chaotic family house and slightly more "with it" But still I don't have that "touch" they are very rustic but I like them. If anyone drives down our road and a cushion comes flying out of the window at midnight you will know why.

Definitely not designer...more rustic chic!

Bullseye Square Cushions finished 9th Sept 2012, they took me a few weeks around other projects.

FINISHED SIZE: 45cm square + edging, each square was 11cm

YARN: Stylecraft Special 100% acrylic Double Knit in 3 colours,

Parchment 1218

Mocha 1064

Walnut 1054

HOOK: 4mm

PATTERN: Bullseye squares pattern by Little Tin Bird with an extra round of trebles

HOOKY HAPPY INDEX: 9/10

How do you get that smart hotel look?!

PS The cushions hold a secret, coming to you via a blog post very soon, watch this space!

Aran Cushions - Part 1

I have a bit of a problem. Too many things to knit, crochet, sew and bake but really I ought to do other stuff some of the time, unfortunately. Part of the problem is that the girls now want me to make some things for them too, which is very flattering, but the list grows! Perhaps my knitty knotty obsessions are not as fuddy duddy as they had previously led me to believe.

Raspberry Aran Cushion

L, the middle one, has also hampered me, in a very nice way, she is home from university over the summer and when she isn't serving cheese on the deli counter of a well-known supermarket to earn pennies for next year, she is sewing. L is studying 3D Design (Product and Furniture) up at Northumbria in term time, not textiles. Since I gave her my refurbished sewing machine at the start of the summer break (thank goodness we have a proper sewing machine shop that does servicing and repairs) it has been permanently up on the dining room table, I dare not get mine out too until she is back up north for the start of Year 2. She has made some beautiful cushions, the owl one was a present that she has now sent to a friend for her birthday, but I photographed with my rainbow ripple.

Owl Cushion close up

The red patchwork one she was not as happy with and I love it, so I have acquired it by default!

Patchwork Floor Cushion

Reverse of patchwork floor cushion

The large patchwork one is her most recent creation, and she likes the stripy back better. The cream and pink linen stripe one was a bargain somewhere, and the raspberry Aran creation was me finally doing some knitting again.

Cushion Collection for a student!

I found a pattern on Ravelry she approved of, and L chose some Stylecraft Chunky in Raspberry. I adapted the pattern and added another pattern repeat to fit a 40cm cushion pad, so a cast on of 72. I used my new Knit Pro circular needles that I had for Christmas!

Cable Close Up

L didn’t want any buttons or ugly closures, they dig in when in serious lounging mode, so I just knitted a 100cm length, finishing with a few rows of K2P2 rib.  The sewing up was the hardest bit, keeping it straight and at times catching in 3 layers and hoping I had worked the structure out correctly. Phew it did!

Finished Raspberry Aran Cushion

Now she has commissioned a 60cm floor cushion in Fondant and Cream, with a bobble pattern, to go with all her other cushions, student digs were not this posh 25 years ago! Hence the plural in "cushions" in the title, and the need for a Part 2!!

RASPBERRY ARAN CUSHION finished 19th August 2012, it took me a couple of weeks mixed in with other projects!

FINISHED SIZE: 40cm square

YARN: 3x100g Stylecraft Special Chunky Raspberry 1023.

NEEDLES: 6mm

PATTERNS: Based on this cabled cushion pattern, I will write up my adaptation soon!

KNITTY HAPPY INDEX: 8/10

PS I scheduled this to post last week whilst I was away and Blogger didn't obey, so with no thanks to naughty Blogger here is my post better late than never!!

Crochet gingham cushion

I haven’t really crocheted anything for a gift before (except for the heart bunting) as a lot of people don’t “get” crochet, people can be very dismissive of so called "grannyish" crafts.

Just love the colours!

Tots (or Tottie Limejuice as she is often known) has been a wonderful online penpal of mine for several years, we met on twitter. On “paper” we don’t have that much in common, but we get on like a house on fire. We chat most days, on twitter, Facebook and via email. I hope when we finally meet we don’t burn anyone’s house down! It’s very likely we will do something very daft though.

Tots was a journalist in a previous life, and finds words easy, she has recently Kindle published a book about why and how she moved to France about 10 years ago, called “Sell the Pig”. In her words: "What happens when dementia, depressed dipsomania and downright dottiness decide to uproot from the UK and move to France together?"

Without any self pity, she describes tragic life events but two sentences later you are snorting out loud and holding your sides trying not to wet yourself from laughing so much. Tots works from her remote cottage, or Grottage as she fondly calls it, that she has bought and renovated over the past 18 months, in the heart of the mountainous Auvergne region of France. Her outlook is about 20-30 years younger than her official age, with a dry and very quick sense of humour.  Her two dogs are the best dogs in the world, well I let her think that! Tots has always been there for me the last few years, when either of us have tough times we chat, about the world, his oyster, politics, religion, human and animal rights and the downright dottiness of most the world’s inhabitants.

Tots’ new kitchen is beautifully simple…hand made carpentry by her French artisan carpenter neighbour, and cream and blue wall tiles. Tots is a talented writer, but she freely admits that numbers and sewing/crafting are not her forté . Her mother turns in her grave when Tots thinks about threading a needle to patch her trousers. She is very resourceful, and found some bargain gingham curtains online and asked if I could forward them on, which I gladly did, I have seen pics on Facebook but is it my imagination or for real that there is a rocking chair in there too? There definitely is a wooden deck outside the back door with stunning views.

Tots French Kitchen

Last week was Tots’ very significant birthday, the one where in the olden days you got a bus pass and a pension if you were a “lady.” What do you get someone who has very little but loves her life and her dogs, and has no desire whatsoever for “more”, and works extremely hard at leaving as low a carbon footprint and leading as eco a lifestyle as is humanly possible in the western world?

I have been reading lots of crochet blogs recently, and love this one by Little Tin Bird, I fell in love with Heather's “Bullseye” square which is what I was looking for for a cushion project for our bedroom, but I was distracted by the beautifully simple “Elmer” squares.

First Elmer Square

I quickly knocked up one in Stylecraft Aster that I was using for my ripple throw, and it measured a very satisfying 10cm exactly for 5 rounds. So easy, and almost shaker like in its simplicity, I love numbers, patterns and making things! I then made a Cream one, a Denim one and finally one in Bluebell. An hour (well two really) later I had 9 squares or half a cushion, albeit a little cushion.

A Portable Project!

I had more of the aster so I decide to try a gingham effect to go with Tots' kitchen and made those squares over the next few days, with the centre square Sherbet (or Cloud Blue?) and cream.

Elmer Squares in construction

Time was running out, and my parents were moving house, so I rushed up north to Cumbria to help with the 15 mile move, taking my crochet with me. Instead of a plain back, I carried on with squares and made a random patchwork of 9 different blues and lavenders (very Provençal in style!) I used a 35cm IKEA cushion inner (we all have hundreds of those)  and since both are washable I decided Tots had to wash the whole cushion and dry in the hot sun if a mishaps ever occurs as I had no suitable buttons for an opening. The cushion and cover can be tumble dried on cool but neither of us “does” tumble dryers. I don’t like things to be so “precious” you can’t use them for worry about spills and being dragged through a hedge backwards by a dog. The squares sewed up very quickly using the ends, so that eliminated the dreaded sewing in of most of the ends as well, I liked that efficiency. I sew right sides together but catch the outside loops of each stitch only, and then it doesn’t matter what colour yarn you are using for the join as it doesn’t show, and they lie really flat.

Neat Stitching!

Patchwork Provncal One Side and Gingham Reverse

Two rounds of treble round each of the nine square patch made a 35cm square , I just crocheted the squares together and made the edge in the same process  using treble stitch around three sides in cream then I inserted the pad and continued until it was closed. My husband said that was good for the border (I hadn't left for Cumbria yet!) He is a great believer that when a job is done it’s done, nice and neat no faffing.  Me being me, I wanted to play a little more so I added Attic 24’s very simple picot trim once I was out of his sight oop norf. I think it finished it off stylishly without being frilly or fussy.  You just have to count carefully coming into the corners to jiggle the spacing a little to get round neatly.

Simple Picot Edging

I took a few photos of the finished cushion in mum and dad’s house and garden, on the very last day of 15 years of living there. Mum is also a great gardener, just like Tots, I haven’t inherited those skills! I carefully wrapped the little cushion and posted it from Cumbria to France, with love, a little project like this is also satisfyingly economical to post abroad if wrapped in carrier bags (how glamorous) no danger of breakages! I knew Tots would approve of not giving RM too much money.

Gingham is "Vichy" in French!

Gingham Solid Granny Squares Cushion

Provencal Solid Granny Squares Cushion

Royal Mail and La Poste came up trumps and delivered the parcel on exactly the right significant day, and here it is in its new home.

Gingham Cushion in situ at Tots Grottage!

Provencal side!

I so enjoyed making it that I think a blanket with Elmer squares has to be a future project. Perhaps for Tots next significant birthday in 10 years’ time, I don’t want her getting ideas! Really I’d love to hand deliver next time. One day!

Gingham Solid Granny Square Cushion finished 23rd July 2012, it took me three days as there was a deadline!

FINISHED SIZE: 35cm square + edging, each square was 10cm

YARN:  Oddments of Stylecraft Special 100% acrylic Double Knit in 10 colours, each square is about 15m yarn (left over from my Rainbow Ripple)
Bluebell 1982
Wisteria 1432
Denim 1302
Sherbet 1034
Aspen 1422
Clematis 1390
Aster 1003
Lavender 1188
Cloud Blue 1019
Cream 1005

Hook: 4mm

PATTERNS: Solid Granny Squares (or Elmer Squares) pattern by Little Tin Bird
Picot Edging by Attic 24

HOOKY HAPPY INDEX: 9/10

PS Did you know the French for gingham is "Vichy" which is also where the mineral water comes from, a city close to the Grottage. Gingham is rumoured to have originated in Vichy although there is also likely to be an Indian connection as well. No I didn't know either!