on or off the needles (and hooks) ...

Things have slowed down a little bit on the design front. I have one more pattern I want to design using some 'leftover cake.' (aka Caron/Lincraft Cakes) and while I have an idea in my head about this and need to bring it to fruition, other things have taken priority lately and easily, probably because I am (just quietly) over knitting with this yarn! I'm eager to get back into knitting with yarn I really love using! And, because in the last few days it has been really cold in my neck of the woods - I have been thinking about designing something that will cover a bit more of the body than just the head! In fact, I have actually started planning for that and doing some swatching. I have yet to finalise my plan though so it could take some time before I even cast on! Not only, but also, I have had an idea for a design incorporating a colourful hank of indie dyed yarn I recently purchased from an Etsy seller in Germany , using an Etsy gift card I was rather delighted to receive for Christmas.

So I think ... I could possibly be working on two designs at once ...

So what have I been up to, you may wonder? Some of you may remember from a previous post, that I have recently become quite keen on counted cross stitch again. My criteria for an enjoyable cross stitch experience has evolved somewhat however, in that the pattern I choose must have no backstitch (or very little!), minimal (or preferably, no) shading, and be Christmas themed. I think the latter is because I am over store bought decorations and I would therefore like to start building on my small collection of handmade items. So it seemed fitting that after Christmas 2017, when the weather became too hot to knit, I started working on some cross stitch instead.

Among other things, I found a lovely design in Issue #325 of a 2017 edition of Cross Stitcher Magazine (my new favourite cross stitch magazine) for a Scandi Stocking designed by Emma Congdon. I was drawn to it, and have already (almost) completed the stitching! Note, there are only two colours ... which means that you could actually vary it quite easily if choosing to personalize and gift it to someone. I was showing a friend of mine my (what I thought) 'finished' stitching a couple of days ago when I discovered I had somehow failed to complete a few stitches!

Thankfully, not difficult to remedy.

I also have yet to decide how I will form the actual stocking, because I want to finish if differently to the one in the magazine.

I have also been working on this fun, crochet design a bit more! I purchased the kit to crochet the Eastern Jewels Blanket late last year, after reading about it here and being totally captivated by the colours used in this new variation of the Persian Tiles Blanket, which is the original pattern, available for purchase as a printed booklet here. Sorry, there is no download option. Please note also, that purchasing the original pattern does not give you the Eastern Jewels Colour changes, since that particular booklet is only available with the kit. For anyone wishing to choose their own colours however, this would not be an issue.

So popular has the Eastern Jewels Blanket Kit been, that I hoped to be able to share the purchase link here, but once again it has sold out in a very short time. A few days ago there were over 100 kits for sale on the site where I originally purchased mine from! Admittedly I have not looked elsewhere, and I believe it is also available from other sources. The kit includes two booklets, one mapping out the new colours and providing full colour illustrations, and the other including the original pattern and accompanying, comprehensive, also well illustrated instructions. Both are in a very easy to read format.

There is an extremely active group on facebook devoted to this design and the original. There are over 9000 members! Some people have gone so far as to make their own colour choices, using their own choice of yarn, by following the original pattern from Janie Crow. There are also so many beautiful variations being rendered on this latest collaboration between Janie and Stylecraft blog star Lucia Dunn, that it is absolutely mind boggling.

In my opinion, if you are interested in making this blanket, buying the kit is a worthwhile investment. Because the yarn is acrylic, which I usually try to stay away from, it is very reasonably priced in kit form. The yarn used is Stylecraft Special DK which is a very soft, premium acrylic. I have now completed 8 of the 16 octagons in the blanket, so I am pretty pleased about that. This project is another in between designs project. It's fun to work, because every single piece looks different - it's kind of like completing a new project every time you finish a motif! There are 16 Octagon Motifs to complete, 9 Granny Squares, 12 large Persian Triangles and 4 small Persian Triangles. All of which are crocheted together before proceeding to crochet a border around the edge.

And on that inspiring note, I shall love you and leave you ... for now.

I have some new designs to start working on!