Stylecraft Blog Tour 2016 | Pattern Round Up

Posted in Blogging, Crochet, Free Patterns, Inspiration, Round Up, Yarn by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

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So did you all travel along with this years Stylecraft Blog Tour? What amazing crochet and knit patterns there have been!! All I can say is hexagons seem to be the thing to make right now – can’t believe so many of us chose that shape! 😝

Well in case you missed any of it I thought I would do a round up on the beauty for you with all the links you need to find each pattern.

Day 1: Emma Varnam – Blencathra Blanket (Oct 24)

Find all the details about the Blencathra Blanket pattern here.

Day 2: Janie Crow – Diego’s Flowers Crochet Hexagon Motif (Oct 25)

Find all the details about the Diego’s Flower pattern here.

Day 3: ME!! – Harmonious Hexagon Quilt (Oct 26)

Find all the details about the Harmonious Hexagon Quilt here.

Day 4: Stylecraft – Tablet Cover (Oct 27)

Find all the details about the Tablet cover here.

Day 5: Le Monde de Sucrette – Chunky Stool Cover (Oct 28)

Find all the details about the Chunky Stool Cover here.

Day 6: Cherry Heart – Bobbing Along Ripple Blanket (Oct 29)

Find all the details about the Bobbing Along Ripple Blanket here.

Day 7: Susan Pinner – Spinning Top Blanket (Oct 30)

Find all the details about the Spinning Top Blanket pattern here.

Day 8: The Twisted Yarn – Scarf (Oct 31)

Find all the details about the scarf pattern here.

Day 9: Annaboos House – Granny Wrap (Nov 1)

Find all the details about the Granny Wrap pattern here.

Day 10: Craftnoon Treats – Blandala (Nov 2)

Find all details about the Blandala here.

Day 11: Hand Knitted Things – Special Stripy Blanket (Nov 3)

Find all details about the Special Stripy Blanket here.

Day 12: The Patchwork Heart – Chunky Cowl (Nov 4)

Find all details about the Chunky Cowl here.

Soooo much gorgeousness am I right!!

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

26Oct2016

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

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.

9May2015

April in a Nutshell (2015)

Posted in Crochet, Family, In A Nutshell, Life, Outings by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

So we took Spring cleaning to the MAX this month by deciding to decorate the whole house! It meant that I pretty much couldn’t find anything for the majority of April as things were packed and moved into other rooms and we changed furniture around. I seriously cannot believe how much STUFF we have accumulated over the years! I found 5 pairs of glasses of old prescriptions whilst cleaning! Why I still have them all who knows but I have now donated them to Vision Aid Overseas, I also recycled some old mobile phones to Oxfam. With all the decorating I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to go through and sort out drawers, wardrobes everything really before putting it back – that took infinitely longer than anticipated but at least we are now not only clean but we are also rather organised. How long it will all last is another story! We donated so much paraphernalia to the MacMillan Cancer Support Charity shop down the road it was unreal. But it was all good gear just that we no longer needed and I’d rather not throw anything away if it’s still useful. I’m rather ashamed that this stuff has been sitting around gathering dust in drawers for years – I should have done this ages ago! It’s really a very cathartic exercise having a really good clear out!

I have to say though sorting out my stash was a part I enjoyed! All safe and sound in my spare room we set up some shelves and cleared some space for my yarn babies. This bookshelf is pretty much filled with Sidar and Stylecraft double knit as that’s what I tend to work with the most and I had some of my special yarns (many different brands) on the second to top shelf, it’s really great to be able to see what I’ve got quickly. All the rest of my stash is now in 5 x 7 litre tubs! Is it strange that I love just looking at the shelves?

I knew I had a lot of yarn but I’ve never had it all in one place really until now. My plan is to start using up some of the stash but it always happens that you will need a colour / weight of yarn you don’t have! And its super hard when you get your hands on one of these…my new Stylecraft shade card – squeal! I LOVE IT!!! I wish all brands did this, it would be sooooo helpful!

We also enjoyed an early Easter didn’t we in April and for once the weather, particularly on Bank Holiday Monday, was really lovely. As we were decorating we did our Easter in one day on the Monday, an egg hunt in the morning followed by a trip out in the afternoon to a local wildlife park then tea out at a carvery! Little G loved the adventure playground the best; it really was just lovely to be outside without coats on for a change!

Crochetwise I have been very busily hooking away this month; I released into the world my new beaded make-up bag pattern exclusively available in Happily Hooked Magazine which I blogged about here, my Spring Grace Ponchette which I blogged about here and another free pattern for the Doodle Zoo gang; Finlay Frog which I blogged about here. I have also been hooking up Block 7, Block 8 and Block 9 this month for the CAL. The UK weather remained obliging and I had a great photo shoot with the first 8 blocks – I’m thinking I need to add a bit more green though as it’s perhaps the colour I have used least.

I also did a pattern test for a cute little amigumuri which I’ll blog about soon! Finally I finished up my Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds square for the Deramores Blog competition which I blogged about here – phew!

Nothing like keeping busy!