Free Crochet Pattern | Freccia Flor Scarf

Posted in Crochet, Crochet Accessories, For Adult, Free Patterns, Pattern Release, Tah-Dah by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

It was a pleasure to be contacted, at the end of last year, by the lovely folks at Anchor Yarns to see if I wanted to try out some of their new Freccia yarn in some brand new colours.

You may remember I’d teamed up with Anchor Yarns before to try their Baby Pure Cotton yarn and their Creativa yarn before which resulted in some free patterns for you guys (including the Anchor Owl, Sherbet Star Granny Square, Little Christmas Bell and Mini Tapestry Tree ornaments). So I was delighted to try out some of their yarn that was new to me.

Using five different shades of Freccia yarn I’ve put together a fun fashion scarf which is perfect for spring and summer accessorising. Allow me to introduce the Freccia Flor Scarf which is available for FREE from the Anchor website (see link below).

Freccia yarn is a high quality twisted mercerised cotton which is a structured yet flexible yarn that’s available in a range of bright colours. It comes in 6 different thread thicknesses, the thinnest thickness is Nº 20 and the thickest is Nº 6, but it was the 3ply (No. 6) that I got to play with in the 50g balls.

The yarn is ideal for fashion wear because it’s fine but strong, it can be washed with hot water in the washing machine up to 95ºC and you can potentially iron it at a high temperature.

I used a 3mm hook ( roughly equivalent to a US size D3) to create this scarf which measures 160cm long x 15cm wide (63 inches long x 6 inches wide). The perfect length for a carefree look wrapped around your neck with the loose beaded flowery ends hanging down in front.

I wanted to create something that was pretty and feminine and with it’s simple crochet pattern, for the main body of the scarf, it’s a very mindful project which I enjoyed making.

Finally I encorporated beads onto the fringe to add weight to each end of the scarf. The scarf really benefits from having the extra substance to the fringe to allow gravity to help keep it in perfect shape and drape – and who can resist an extra bit of bling (not me)!

I’m not going to lie it does take a while to add the beads, but it’s so worth it in the end, it adds a wonderfully tactile finish; it’s so lovely to run your fingers through the fringing when you’re wearing the scarf!

Scarves, like the Freccia Flor, are the perfect way to introduce colour to an otherwise plain outfit and you could repeat the pattern in a variety of different colours – I think a grey main colour and an ombre effect of pink flowers would look particularly nice for instance.

The Freccia Flor Scarf is a free download available directly from the Anchor Crafts website here where you can just download the pattern or register for an account. It doesn’t cost anything for an account, but by signing up you’ll gain access to loads of other free patterns by other talented designers too.

FREE ANCHOR PATTERN DOWNLOAD

The pattern is written in UK crochet terminology and I’ve linked it up on Ravelry too if you’d like to save it to your favourites on there (at the link below).

SAVE PATTERN ON RAVELRY HERE

This pattern is perfect for beginners, as it only uses simple stitches, or for anyone that just wants a fancy scarf to add to their accessories.

If you hook up the Freccia Flor Scarf I hope you’ll tag @kcaco.uk on Instagram using the hashtags #kcacouk or #frecciaflor and #proud2craft or #anchoryarns (so the folks at Anchor Yarns can see) or share your projects in my Facebook group as I love to see your finished work!

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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4Sep2019

Free Crochet Pattern | Anchor Amigurumi Owl

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

Owls are probably amongst the most liked birds ever, and chances are even if you aren’t an owl lover yourself, you’ll know at least one person that is.

I think that owl’s are very beautiful creatures and I’m delighted to say that I recently teamed up with the lovely people over at Anchor Yarns to create a new free amigurumi owl pattern just for you!

The owl is made from seven different shades of Anchor Creativa Fino 100% cotton yarn which is made from natural fibres and has a soft and silky touch to it.

If you’ve not heard of the yarn before it’s great for amigurumi’s, fashion garments or accessories. It’s made up of four strands of mercerised cotton twisted together which give it a lovely light sheen and comes in 73 solid colours in 50g ball size.

You may remember I used it previously for some tapestry crochet Christmas ornaments (free pattern here) so it was fun to use it in a bigger project.

It’s lovely and smooth on the hands and fingers to crochet with, and I used a 2.75mm ( roughly equivalent to a US size C/2) hook to create this cute little owl who measures in at 15cm / 6 inches high.

The Anchor amigurumi owl is a free download available directly from the Anchor Crafts website here where you can just download the pattern or register for an account. It doesn’t cost anything for an account, but by signing up you’ll gain access to loads of other free patterns by other talented designers too.

The pattern is written in UK crochet terminology and I’ve linked it up on Ravelry too if you’d like to save it to your favourites on there (at the link below).

SAVE PATTERN ON RAVELRY HERE

If you hook up the little owl amigurumi I hope you’ll tag @kcaco.uk on Instagram using the hashtag #anchorowl and #anchorcrafts (so anchor yarns can see) or share your projects in my Facebook group as I love to see your finished work!

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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14Aug2019

Free Crochet Pattern | Sherbet Star Granny Square

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

The lovely people over at Anchor Yarns were very kind enough recently to send me out some of their new Baby Pure Cotton yarn to play with.

Anchor Baby Pure Cotton is made from 100 % cotton, natural, combed and not mercerised (so matte not shiny) and it’s extremely soft on the hands to work with. It’s available in 24 colours which range from a soft muted powdered look or your more traditional pastel shades.

I’d say it’s totally suitable for modern fashion garments, home decor projects and amigurumi as well as quick and easy projects for baby. And it’s hypoallergenic and saliva resistant (love this) to be entirely safe for a new-born.

So I had a play with the yarn, and as it’s Granny Square Day tomorrow, it seemed only appropriate that I create a new free pattern for you all to enjoy! Allow me to introduce to you the Sherbet Star Granny Square.

Multi-colour granny squares are a great way to use up small amounts of yarn. A collection of these squares put together would look great as a cushion or blanket and you can be as adventurous as you like with your colours! Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

The Sherbert Star Granny Square pattern is free here on the blog but it’s also available in my Ravelry store where there is a nominal fee for a downloadable 2 page PDF pattern free of advertisements if you’d prefer.

The pattern is available in both UK and US crochet terminology on Ravelry though the pattern below is written with both terminology combined for ease.

SAVE PATTERN ON RAVELRY HERE

Sherbet Star Granny Square

MATERIALS

Yarn: 4ply / yarn weight #2 (Sport / Baby)

Anchor Baby Pure Cotton 4ply used in photographs.

· YARN A Raspberry (Shade: 00430)

· YARN B Pastel Pink (Shade: 00431)

· YARN C Pastel Yellow (Shade: 00106)

· YARN D Beige (Shade: 00404)

Pattern will work in other hooks and yarns though finished size will be different.

Hook: 3 mm (US size D/3)

ABBREVIATIONS:

st(s) stitch(es)
st sl slip stitch
ch(s) chain
dc/sc UK double crochet / US single crochet
htr/hdc UK half treble / US half double crochet
tr/dc UK treble / US double crochet
dtr/tr UK double treble / US treble

STITCH GUIDANCE:

Slip Stitch (sl st): Insert hook in st indicated, yarn over and draw through all loops.
UK double crochet / US single crochet (dc/sc): Insert hook in st indicated and pull up a loop (two loops on hook), yarn over, pull through both loops on hook.
UK half treble / US half double crochet (htr/hdc): Yarn over, insert hook in indicated st and pull up a loop (three loops on hook), yarn over, pull through all three loops on hook.
UK treble / US double crochet (tr/dc): Yarn over, insert hook in indicated st and pull up a loop (three loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops, yarn over, pull through remaining two loops on hook.
UK Treble 3 together / US double crochet 3 together (tr/dc3tog): Yarn over, insert hook in indicated stitch, pull up a loop (three loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops, yarn over insert in next st, pull up a loop, (four loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops, (three loops on hook), yarn over insert in next st, yarn over pull up a loop, (five loops on hook), yarn over, pull through two loops, (four loops on hook), yarn over pull through all four loops left on hook.
UK Treble 4 together / US double crochet 4 together (tr/dc4tog): Yarn over, insert hook in indicated stitch, pull up a loop (three loops on hook), yarn over, * pull through two loops, yarn over insert in next st, pull up a loop * repeat from * to * three times, yarn over pull through all five loops on hook.

PATTERN NOTES

The Pattern works best using four colours per square; three inner colours and an outside joining colour. Use the same colour as rnd 4 for rnd 6 to bring the colours of your squares together.

Pattern:

Rnd 1: With YARN A; ch8, sl st to form a ring; 4ch, 23dtr/tr into the ring, sl st top of the beginning 4ch to join. 24sts

Rnd 2: Ch1, 1dc/sc in the same st as the beginning ch1, * ch4, miss st, 1dc/sc in the next st * repeat from * to * until last ch4, sl st to the top of the first st to join. Fasten off YARN A and weave in ends. 12sts / 12 x 4ch-sp.

Rnd 3: With YARN B; Sl st to any ch4 loop, ch3, tr/dc3tog in same ch4-sp (counts as first tr/dc4tog), ch4, * tr/dc4tog in the next ch4-sp, ch4 * repeat from * to * until end, sl st to the top of the first st to join. Fasten off YARN B and weave in ends. 12sts / 12 x 4ch-sp.

Rnd 4: With YARN C; Sl st to the top of any tr/dc4tog of rnd 3; [Ch3, 2tr/dc, ch3. 3tr/dc], * 3htr/hdc in the next three ch4-sps, [3tr/dc, ch3. 3tr/dc] in the top of the next tr/dc4tog of rnd 3 * repeat from * to * twice more, 3htr/hdc in the next three ch4-sps, sl st to the top of the first st to join. Fasten off YARN C and weave in ends. 60sts / 4 x 3ch-sp.

Rnd 5: With YARN D; Sl st to any ch3-sp of rnd 4; [Ch3, 2tr/dc, ch3. 3tr/dc], * 3tr/dc in the next four spaces (between htr/hdc’s of rnd 4), [3tr/dc, ch3. 3tr/dc] in the top of the next tr/dc4tog of rnd 3 * repeat from * to * twice more, 3tr/dc in the next four spaces, sl st to the top of the first st to join. Fasten off YARN D and weave in ends. 60sts / 4 x 3ch-sp.

Rnd 6: With YARN C; Sl st to any missed st of rnd 1, * ch4, sl st to the top of the tr/dc4tog of rnd 3, ch4, miss next empty st of rnd 1, 1dc/sc in the next st * repeat from * to * in each st around until end. Fasten off YARN C and weave in ends.

Fasten off and weave in all ends.

And that’s it!

If you hook up the Sherbet Star Granny Square I hope you’ll tag @kcaco.uk on Instagram using the hashtag #SHERBERTSTARGRANNY or share your projects in my Facebook group as I love to see your finished work!

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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18Dec2018

Free Crochet Pattern |Mini Tapestry Christmas Tree Decorations

Posted in Crochet, Designing, Free Patterns, Pattern Release, Yarn, Yarn Review by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

I love making Christmas decorations so when I got to try some Creativa Fino from Anchor Crafts (review of which you can read here) and as it’s December that’s what I decided to make.

You can scroll down to the written patterns and the charts for the Christmas Wreath and Christmas Tree mini tapestry pillow tree decorations below, but if you are new to tapestry crochet you might want have a look at my mini tapestry crochet tutorial first.

Mini Tapestry Crochet Christmas Tree Decorations:

Materials:

Yarn: 4ply / yarn weight #2

1 x 10g Anchor Creativa

Blue (Shade 00269)
Green (Shade 00418)
Brown (Shade 00257)

Pattern will work in other hooks and yarns though finished size will be different.

Hook: 2.5mm (US size C/2)

You will also need:

1 x Anchor Grey Stranded Cotton (232)
A yarn needle
1 x Small red bow
8 x Small Red / 8 x Small Silver Beads
1 x Small Star or Snowflake button
Small amount of polyester toy filler

Gauge: 5dc = 2cm (0.78inches)

Finished Size: 7 x 7cm (2.75 x 2.75 inches)

Abbreviations:

st(s) = stitch(es)
sl st = slip stitch
ch(s) = chain
dc/sc = UK double crochet / US single crochet
cc = change colour (see guidance for details)

Stitch Guidance:

Slip Stitch (sl st): Insert hook in st indicated, yarn over and draw through all loops.
UK Double Crochet/US Single Crochet (dc/sc): Insert hook in st indicated and draw up a loop (two loops on hook), yarn over, draw through both loops on hook.

Pattern Notes:

Changing Colour:

When changing to a different colour, pull the new colour through the last two loops of the previous st to complete that st. Continue in the new colour, following the pattern. Change colours in this manner, whenever indicated on the pattern.

Tapestry Crochet:

When changing to and from a colour carry the unused coloured yarn along with you and crochet over the unused colour as they are carried along, when turning carry your yarn up the side of your work to use on the next row.

Surface Crochet:

Start by attaching a slip knot to the back of the crochet area then from the front of the work, insert your hook into the stitch nearby and start working chain stitches on the surface of your crocheted area, continue to work in this way according to the design.

Christmas Wreath (Make 2):

Row 1: With Blue; ch14; 1dc in the second ch from hook and in st along until end, turn. 13sts

Row 2: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 5sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 4sts, turn

Row 3: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 2sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 7sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 3sts, turn

Row 4: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next st, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 2sts, turn

Row 5: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the next 5sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining st, turn

Rowd 6-8: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 2sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the next 7sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 2sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining st, turn

Row 9: Repeat row 5

Row 10: Repeat row 4

Row 11: Repeat row 3

Row 12: Repeat row 2 – cut green yarn at the end of this row

Row 13: Ch1; 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the second ch from hook and in st along until end, turn. 13sts

Fasten off and weave in ends.
With Green surface crochet around the outside of the wreath shape.
On one side of the wreath shape sew a small red bow and eight red beads around the wreath – see photo above for more details.

Christmas Tree (Make 2):

Row 1: With Blue; ch14; 1dc in the second ch from hook and in st along until end, turn. 13sts

Rows 2-3: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 4sts, cc to Brown, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 5sts, turn

Row 4: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Brown, 1dc in the next 5sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 4sts, turn

Row 5: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 5sts, cc to Brown, 1dc in the next st, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 6sts, turn

Row 6: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next st, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 9sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 2sts, turn

Rows 7 – 8: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 2sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 7sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 3sts, turn

Rows 9 – 10: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 5sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 4sts, turn

Row 11: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 4sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next 3sts, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 5sts, turn

Row 11: Ch1, 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the next 5sts, cc to Green, 1dc in the next st, cc to Blue, 1dc in the remaining 6sts, turn – cut green yarn at the end of this row

Row 13: Ch1; 1dc in the same st as the beginning ch1, 1dc in the second ch from hook and in st along until end, turn. 13sts. Fasten off and weave in ends.

With Green / Brown surface crochet around the outside of the tree shape.
On one side of the tree shape sew small star or snowflake button at the top and eight silver beads for baubles on the tree – see photo for more details.

Finishing:

Place both wreaths / Christmas tree pieces together, attach blue yarn through both pieces and neatly work 1dc/sc along each edge with 5dc/sc in each corner. Stuff as you go. Fasten off and weave in ends
With Anchor Grey Stranded Cotton Ch30, fasten off but leave long yarn tail.
Attach to the top centre of each pillow decoration as the hanging loop.

Charts:

I hope you will join me in hooking up some little pillow decorations, they are really fun to make! I hope you’ll tag me on social media or link any projects to Ravelry so I can see – I love to see what you make.

Many thanks to Anchor Crafts for supplying the yarn so I could make this pattern for you.

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

18Dec2018

Tapestry Crochet: Step-by-step mini tutorial

Posted in Crochet, Designing, Free Patterns, Pattern Release, Tutorial, Yarn, Yarn Review by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

So yesterday if you were here on the blog you will have seen my review of Anchor Creativa Fino yarn that Anchor crafts kindly sent me to try. I also shared with you a little sneeky peep of the free patterns I’m sharing with you today.

I thought I’d do a bit of a double post today, in this post I’m going to first talk about how I do tapestry crochet working in rows to make it easier, for folks that haven’t tried it before, to go onto the patterns for both decorations next.

Tapestry crochet is one of those that might seem a little intimidating because it can involve a lot of different yarn colour changes, but I’m going to show you below how easy it is – and how to weave most of your ends as you go!

The main thing you need to know is that you will be working normal UK double crochet (US single crochet) stitches. The only difference is that you will carry additional yarn along with you and working over it as you crochet the row.

Step 1:

Work your rows and stitches as the pattern indicates as normal…

Step 2:

Then on the next row where you have to change colour, lay your second colour along your row and work over the top of it until it’s time for you to actually change colour…

Step 3:

When changing to a different colour, pull the new colour through the last two loops of the previous stitch to complete that stitch…

Step 4:

Continue in the new colour, following the pattern. Change colours in this manner, whenever indicated on the pattern…

Step 5:

When you get to the end of the row carry your yarn up the side of your work…

Step 6:

Then carry the unused coloured yarn along and crochet over the unused colour to work the next row…

And that’s pretty much it! Keep working the steps above until you have finished the tapestry part of your work as indicated in the pattern.

There are often two types of instructions available for tapestry crochet patterns; a written pattern and a pictorial chart. For a pictorial chart you usually work one UK double crochet (US single crochet) per square indicated.

In the pattern coming shortly I’ve included both the written pattern and a pictorial chart for both the Christmas tree and the Christmas wreath crochet decoration so you can decided which you prefer.

Many thanks to Anchor Crafts for supplying the yarn so I could make this pattern for you.

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

17Dec2018

Anchor | Creativa Fino Yarn Review

Posted in Crochet, Designing, Free Patterns, Pattern Release, Yarn, Yarn Review by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

I had a lovely email recently from Anchor Yarns to see if I would like to review some of their yarn. I’d heard of Anchor crafts through their embroidery threads but I must confess that I hadn’t realised that they also had a range of cottons suitable for crochet.

I enjoy doing the research into yarn companies because they often come from such a rich heritage! And Anchor crafts are no different; the brand can trace back it’s history all the way to 1866 originating in Scotland. As years passed the manufacture of Anchor threads moved from Scotland then to Germany and today, the Anchor brand in Europe is manufactured by Mezcrafts in Hungary.

As well as supply yarn they also seem to have a great ethos as a company; they mention on their website that they are continuously building and improving their ecological footprint by looking to reduce CO2 emissions, have minimal textile waste and through low water consumption. All good stuff!

Anchor offer a wide variety of yarns of different thicknesses and compositions suitable for many craft techniques but for crochet they sent me some of their Anchor Creativa to play with.

So let’s check out the yarn’s vital statistics we:

Weight: 4ply / Fingering Weight (2)
Blend: 100% Cotton
Yarn Ball Weight: 50g
Yarn Ball Length: 125m
Wash instructions: Machine Wash 40°C
Price: £1.90 (at the time of this post)

It’s available in a whopping 72 solid shades in 4ply (and in 8ply) but I was sent a nice selection of six different colours to play with.

It’s really nice yarn to use, it’s very smooth, not rough to work with and as a cotton is great for home decor items and wearables as it’s machine washable – ideal for easy care! The recommended hook size is 2.5mm (US size C/2) which I found to be spot on for me, and I had fun trying out a couple of ideas, but I’ll share a little sneaky peek of the first idea I came up with now…

As it’s Christmas and I love making Christmas decorations I had the idea to make some little Christmas pillow decorations for the tree. They are a great beginners project to tapestry crochet (of which I’ll share a bit of a photo tutorial), they are quick to make (easily finished in an evening) and so make a fabulous little project for either you or as a seasonal gift for a friend.

Check back tomorrow for the pattern and tapestry charts for both the Christmas tree and the wreath Christmas crochet decorations.

Many thanks to Anchor Crafts for supplying the yarn so I could make this pattern for you.

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx