By Helen

crochet jumper…

Way, way, way back in May, I started crocheting myself a jumper.  I have actually crocheted myself four jumpers: three of which I don’t like, and will be recycled into something else.  The fourth, I have to say, I am just-so, ever-so, a-teeeeennnnny bit proud of.  I had to share it with you ready for the tah-dah moment?  Here we go…

From the front…

Close-ups of the pattern detail…

Doesn’t look too bad on either…

I would love to share the pattern I followed, but in true crochet tradition: I didn’t really follow a pattern.  I started with good intentions, and I followed a pattern for six-teen (yes six-teen) whole rows.  The pattern I “followed” was in Simply Crochet, a few months ago: a very pretty pattern for a bolero, by the talented Ruth Maddock . The issue was that I was “following” a pattern for a bolero, but wanted to crochet a jumper.  Do you see what I mean?  I had no choice, but to improvise! That said, the six-teen rows of the pattern which I did follow, where brilliantly written.  They gave the jumper the shape: as you crocheted from the top down. 

I can’t tell you how pleased I am with the jumper.  I’ve crocheted something that I would actually wear: this is quite an achievement.  More than that: I’ve crocheted myself something, which if I saw in a shop – I would buy.  I love crochet :-)

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Ps – enjoy Yarndale, if you’re going…

crochet shawl…

Wow!  The weather here in the UK has really turned to Autumn, it is cool, breezy, rainy and sunny all at once.  I love our seasons!  As the wheel of the year turns towards Autumn and Winter: I find myself wanting to curl up on the sofa, cup-of-tea at my side, and crochet.  I am sure I am not the only crocheter (or crafter of any kind) who has more than one project on the go at once?  If I was I would be very, very, VERY, shocked and surprised.  I have started another project.  I love the thrill of starting a new crochet project: the searching out of the pattern, the finding the perfect yarn and the anticipation of something lovely in a few weeks(?) time.   

I’ve started to crochet myself a shawl.  The pattern is by the incredible Debbie Bliss, and was in Issue Four of Simply Crochet.   The yarn is also by Debbie Bliss and is a wonderful inky blue colour, in Rialto 4ply.  Blue is not normally a colour I would choose.  In fact I don’t own any blue clothes, apart from jeans – but they don’t really count, do they? 

I love the look of the shawl, made up of clusters of treble crochets…

…but I have to confess that the four row repeat, which makes the pattern, is very slow to work.  When I first started; one repeat was taking me nearly an hour.  One whole hour for just four rows of crochet! I am now managing to crochet one repeat in about forty-minutes, which I am still finding slow going.  So, I’ve made myself a promise: to do at least one repeat every, yes EVERY, day.  So far it is working, and I am making progress – I’ll let you know how I get on! 

Autumn in York…

Autumn is here.  Yay!  The trees haven’t started to turn the beautiful hues of oranges, purples, greens and golds: but the weather has defiantly taken a turn towards Autumn with chilly, misty, mornings.  It seems like the perfect time of year to make chutneys, jams and pickle things!  I decided to make jam: bramble (black-berry) jam.  First thing I needed to do was to go and pick brambles: armed with a large tub, Si and I set off – foraging urban style!  York, in the city centre is very short on hedge-rows and we didn’t feel like driving into the country-side, so it was foraging city-style.  We knew exactly where to head: to York Cemetery.   York Cemetery is an amazing place full of high Victorian monuments and nature at every turn: from butterfly walks, herb gardens, ponds to, yes brambles…

Lots and lots of brambles…

The hint of Autumn was with us at every turn…

After a couple of hours picking the brambles, our tubs were full, so it was time to head home to make the jam.  Looking back through my blog, the picis I took of the jam making looked very very similar to those from a couple of years ago: there was something very reassuring that as the seasons change something’s stay the same. 

Fortunately we had picked sooooo many brambles that we found ourselves with a surplus: so we just had to make some bramble whisky – tis a hard life! 

crochet blanket for September and beyond…

It’s  September.  I love September!  I said it last year: I said it the year before, and yes – I will say it again next year.  I love the last hazy days for Summer as the year turns towards Autumn.  I love the thought of the colours changing, the early morning mists and dusky evenings.  I love this time of year.  I have spent the last week, thinking about my Autumn / Winter crochet project.  Inevitably I will have more than one crochet on the go over the next few months: a girl needs variety!  My main crochet project is going to be a biggy: a long term project that will grow slowly as-and-when the mood takes me.  I am going to be crocheting a Lucy blanket: as in Lucy from Attic24.   I ordered my yarn from Wool Warehouse, to my absolute delight a massive box arrived the very next day, full of yarn…

I have to confess I was a little unsure about the some of the colours, they are not what I would normally choose, but I love how Lucy puts her colours together: so I trust that the finished blanket will be great.  I decided that I needed to take a super organised approach to crocheting the blanket and sort out my colours.  Putting the colours in order took a lot of thinking about.  At one point, I have over thought the whole project and was very close to giving up before I started.  Then with one last attempt I found a combination that I was happy with (I think)…

With my first colour (Stylecraft DK Special – Clematis) in hand I started crocheting a chain, long enough to cover a double bed (I hope).  I would love to tell you how many chains I crocheted: but the truth is I lost count.  I crocheted somewhere between 250 and 300 chains…

The blanket is going to be a crochet granny-stripe blanket, so I set about crocheting my first row of treble clusters…

I decided to crochet straight into the chains, rather than crocheting a proper foundation chain.  Why?  Well the thought of crocheting a foundation row of 250 – 300 chains, really put me off.  When the blanket is finished I am going to edge it: any foundation row would be hidden, so no point in doing one!  Right?