Stylecraft Blog Tour 2016 | Harmonious Hexagons Quilt Free Pattern Release

Posted in Blanket, Blogging, Crochet, Free Patterns, Pattern Release, Patterns, Tah-Dah by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

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So following on from my last post about this I must say again how chuffed to bits I am to be one of the bloggers for this years Stylecraft Blog Tour to celebrate the winning colours, from the recent poll they conducted, for their Special Aran and Special Chunky yarns.

Monday the tour visited Emma Varnam’s blog and we got to see her beautiful Blencathra Blanket, yesterday we popped round to Janie Crow’s blog and drooled over her gorgeous Diego’s Flowers motif (make sure you check them out if you haven’t already) and today the tour is with me!

First off if you are new to my blog WELCOME one and all! So pleased you could join me, I have a brand new pattern, using Stylecraft Special Chunky, to share with you and later there will also be a chance to win your very OWN Stylecraft colour pack so stay tuned for that.

Right lets quickly recap about the colours which I reviewed here. The wonderful public chose 6 colours…

♥ Pale Rose ♥ Empire ♥ Storm Blue ♥ Sage ♥ Pistachio ♥ Saffron

but for my new pattern a couple more colours have been added for a nice balanced palette.

♥ Parchment ♥ Pomegranate ♥ Spice ♥ Gold

Although I played around with different shapes and designs on paper and in my head the thing I was certain about was that I wanted to use all ten colours in my pattern. Shape wise I’ve worked with so many squares / rectangles recently that I also knew that I wanted to do a different shape. But what to make…that was the quandary! In the end I decided I wanted to make a nice thick lapghan to keep me warm as our British nights grow ever cooler.

I have always had a fascination with patchwork and, as someone that can’t sew for toffee, love to see this medium re-created in crochet. There are some fabulous patterns out in the crochet-verse already inspired by quilts (like the gorgeous Sunny Log Cabin blanket by Attic24 or the Jewelled Star Blanket by Janie Crow) and this definitely motivated me to try and create my own patchwork inspired design.

I have to confess when I got my yarn to play with I kept on returning to the idea of a rainbow with chunks of solid colour (because who doesn’t love a rainbow) and there is just something so satisfyingly delicious I’ve discovered about pure colour chunky hexagons!

My finished pattern embraces a contemporary look that allows bold pops of rainbow colours to illuminate a classic patchwork design. So without further ado let me introduce you to the Harmonious Hexagon Quilt…

I had so much fun making these hexagons and playing with the colours that I didn’t want it to stop!

As the yarn is super nice and chunky the pattern works up quickly, and as it’s made in pieces it’s a great project to take out and about with you if you want to hook on the go.

The finished blanket measures 118 cm x 98cm (46.5 x 38.5 inches) so the perfect size to throw over your lap to ward off a chill.

The hexagon motifs do not require advanced skills to execute and, as always with my patterns, terminology is written in both UK and US terms. I have included explanations of all stitches and abbreviations and also added some photos in the pattern to hopefully help with any tricky parts!

Click the link below to add the Harmonious Hexagon Quilt to your Favourites and Ravelry Queue.

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If you’re not on Ravelry and you’d like a copy of the pattern, you can get in touch with me via email at kcacouk at gmail dot com and I’ll send you a pdf version.

If you would like to win a pack of Stylecraft Special Chunky in the colour pack I have used follow the link below to enter the competition.

♥ COMPETITION now closed, congratulations to Beverley Lotz ♥

And the exciting news is that the Stylecraft blogtour has only just begun! Make sure you check out Stylecraft’s Facebook page for details over the next couple of weeks to find out the blogger of the day, get their fabulous free pattern and to be in with a chance to win a yarn pack! Still to come at some point are the following bloggers:

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

24Oct2016

Stylecraft Blog Tour 2016 | Part 2

Posted in Blogging, Crochet, Yarn by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

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Just so you don’t miss it I thought I’d do a quick post to remind you that the Stylecraft Blog Tour starts TODAY!! 12 crochet and knitting bloggers are taking part this year and they have been busy creating designs in their own style in Special Aran and Chunky featuring the six new shades.

It’s a closely guarded secret as to where the tour is going to each day so make sure you check out Stylecraft’s Facebook page for details.

Each blogger (including me) are also going to be giving away a FREE pack of the different yarns each day of the blog tour.

You can read all about the tour and the new colours in my previous post here. I can’t wait to share my brand new pattern with you this week so watch this space!!!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

22Oct2016

Blog Spring Cleaning

Posted in Blogging, Life by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

It’s not spring so I have embarked on what I can only call ‘autumnal cleaning’ this weekend. My house is a bit of a state because of the building work, which is driving me a bit crazy, so I decided to turn my attention to trying to tidy my blog a little as it’s long over due. I have to confess my poor little area of cyber space has been neglected since I started it in 2014. I haven’t really tinkered with the site as much as I should have, although I have been trying to add a week posts (of which I’m getting better at) I just hadn’t got round to sorting out everything else I wanted to.

But that’s all changed…I have now spent a bit of time making sure that all the information on here is up to date! There’s a bit of a dossier about me for anyone interested… I’ve got my two beautiful little muses in my blog header (Little G now on the left, Little G when I started blogging (middle) and my new Little Miss (on the far right). I’ve collated all the crochet-alongs information in drop down menus (much to my endless delight! Simple pleasures and all that 😆), I’ve added all my pattern information (for free and for purchase) and also added a contact me page (which for some reason I had never got round to including).

But now I need your help…

I’d love to know what you think about the new look; have I missed anything? Is there anything you would like to see improved? Please drop me a comment or use the new contact me page, I’d love to hear what you think!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

19Oct2016

RainBOW holder | Happily Hooked Magazine Exclusive

Posted in Crochet, For Child, Magazine, Pattern Release by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

Issue 31 of Happily Hooked Magazine (HHM) has now hit the e-newstands and I am really thrilled to be part of the magazine again with my new RainBOW holder design.

My new RainBOW hair accessory organiser makes a beautiful addition to any girls bedroom as a fun way to tidy hair clips and bows away. Or you could just make it as a fun wall ornament to bring a little rainbow into your life.

The October issue of HHM is jam packed full of beautiful designs for children. Each issue of the magazine contains over 10 patterns with exclusive designs, projects for all skills and interests, tips, tricks and skill-building secrets from designers, and the thing that I love, you can now even store your favourite issues to your Ravelry account for free.

If you are new to Happily Hooked magazine you can find out all about it over on their website. Patterns are written in US terminology but HHM have a conversion chart on their website.

Finally if you are on Facebook make be sure to give the HHM page a like as they always include offers for the magazine and sales from designers on their Facebook page.

I hope you enjoy my new design.

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

12Oct2016

Tales of a Craft Room| Part 1

Posted in Family, Life by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

As well as having our new baby my husband and I decided upon the bright and wonderful idea of extending our house at the same time…

We are knocking down the conservatory that we hardly ever use (too cold in winter and boiling hot in summer) to have a heated brick building attachment built on the side of the house.

When we brought the house, before I had Little G, we thought the conservatory was a fabulous thing to have and so very grown up. However with the changing needs of our growing family, and our desire never to move house again, we knew it was time for an alteration.

The conservatory only looked like this for a very short period of time…then we had children and it became a junk room of doom! Also RIP Mr Cabbage the dog…

There is never a good time to start building work – sometimes you just have to get on with it so we decided to start the build whilst I was on maternity leave. As you can imagine we have discovered it’s a bit of an upheaval in our already ‘up-heaved’ lives! Cue days of the dulcet tones of a pneumatic drill, skips on the driveway, back doors having to be taken off and dust everywhere! It’s great fun 😑.

The conservatory part is dismantled, looks so strange!

It’s going to take awhile to build, and I can’t say I’m enjoying waiting for it to be done (I wish it could just be magic’d up straight away), but I’m rather excited about the finished product and I shall tell you why. Although extension is not just for me, it’s going to be a one size cram everything in it sort of room for everyone, I WILL finally have a dedicated area in there to store my craft materials – my lovely little yarn babies will have a home to call their own.

All fall down…

Most of my yarn has been packed away safely in storage (sad times) and I have just 3 (quite large it must be said) boxes left out stacked behind my sofa for projects I’m working on. I’m still able to crochet, thank goodness, and that is helping me to keep (moderately) calm at least while the build goes on.

The groundwork’s for the foundation is now well underway so I’m hoping we will see new walls going up really soon… In the meantime wish me luck on keeping my sanity whilst the build continues! Must just keep thinking about the end goal!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

5Oct2016

Stylecraft Blog Tour 2016 | Part 1

Posted in Blogging, Crochet, Inspiration, Yarn by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

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Okay I need to try to keep calm about this but I can’t!!! I can’t tell you how excited and pleased I am to have been chosen as one of the bloggers to take part in this years Stylecraft Blog Tour to celebrate the release of some of their new colour packs!

Earlier in the year Stylecraft did a public poll to help choose some new colours for their Special Aran and Special Chunky ranges. From a list of nominations six gorgeous winning colours have now been added to both yarn weights…but more about that in a moment!

If you haven’t heard of Stylecraft they are a family run business based in Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire who aim to produce high quality yarns and patterns with the best possible value. I’m a big fan of all their yarns, especially the Special’s Range, which I have used many times for various designs and projects of mine (like my 2015 Crochet-a-long blanket, Margaret’s Hug Healing / Prayer Shawl and River Rose Cushion to name a few).

For the blog tour I was asked if I’d like to produce a special new free design for you guys using Stylecraft Special Chunky so of course I said a big hunky chunky YES!! Stylecraft Special Chunky is a chunky version of Stylecraft’s Special DK (8ply / #3 weight yarn) and is the equivalent of US Bulky yarns (12 ply / #5 weight yarn). It’s good value for money, it crochets well and is really super soft and squishy. Personally I find it a delight to work with because it has a really fabulous range of colours for crochet (or knitted) projects!

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Sooo let’s talk colours! This is the palette I’m working with which includes the new colours chosen by the lovely public…

♥ Pale Rose ♥ Empire ♥ Storm Blue ♥ Sage ♥ Pistachio ♥ Saffron

but for my new pattern a couple more colours have been added for a nice balanced palette.

♥ Parchment ♥ Pomegranate ♥ Spice ♥ Gold

My yarn arrived for me to play with in July and I really enjoyed playing around with the colours. First of all I made myself some yarn colour pegs (an idea that I’ve been desperate to try since I saw it from the fabulous Attic24). Here are a couple of my combinations for inspiration…

Soft and cool ocean: Empire, Storm Blue, Sage, Pistachio & Parchment

Wonderful warm sunset: Pale Rose, Pomegranate, Spice, Gold and Saffron

Spring flower power: Pale Rose, Pistachio, Saffron and Parchment

Bright jewel tones: Saffron, Spice, Pomegranate and Empire

Stormy desert oasis: Storm Blue, Sage, Pistachio and Parchment

I have pretty much fallen in love with every colour combination I came up with! I can see these colours popping up in future projects for sure!

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So what is the Stylecraft blog tour? Stylecraft have put together two colour packs, in both Special Aran and Chunky featuring the six new shades with some highlight colours, and sent these packs out to 12 crochet and knitting bloggers asking them to create designs in their own style to inspire creative peeps all over the world.

The bloggers featured this year (in no particular order) are:

So when is my pattern coming out I hear you say…well the tour kicks off 24 October 2016… and at some point during that week my brand new pattern will be released. To whet your appetite here’s a sneaky peak…

OOooo so chunky and delicious don’t you think!

It’s a closely guarded secret as to where the tour is going to each day so make sure you check out Stylecraft’s Facebook page on 24 October. Each blogger (including me) are also going to be giving away a FREE pack of the different yarns each day of the blog tour.

Opportunities for fantastic new patterns and chances to win lovely yarn – what’s not to love!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

Disclaimer: I have not been financially compensated by the yarn company to write this review. All opinions expressed are my own and based on my own experiences of using the yarn.