Showing posts with label windowpane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label windowpane. Show all posts

Thursday, 21 April 2016

My Alpaca Windowpane Crochet Cowl

Welcome back!

Today I can show you my finished Alpaca Windowpane Cowl. I finished it on Monday evening and was very pleased that I can wear it now. Although the weather is getting warm here, it can still be chilly when it gets windy and also late in the evening.

My Alpaca Windowpane Cowl


For those of you who have been following me for a while, you might remember my recent post here where I mentioned this project the first time.

But before that I had already made another Windowpane cowl from cotton yarn, find that post here.

So this is my second version of the Windowpane cowl.

I used Drops Alpaca wool and a 3.5cm hook. This yarn is so soft and has a beautiful drape. I know I would love to use it for other projects.

In total I used 4x 50g balls which resulted in a cowl 127cm circumference x 31cm wide. There are 25 rows of 'windows'.

In comparison, the first windowpane cowl I made from pure cotton has got a similar size, but weighs double - around 400g!

I love the beautiful teal colour (not easy to photograph).









 
 



Here you can see both cowls side by side:




 Cotton Windowpane Cowl.                         Alpaca Windowpane Cowl.


This is such a nice project to work on. Of course you can also work this pattern in a vertical scarf.

You can find the pattern as a free download here on Ravelry. It is rows of half trebles alternating with rows of trebles and chains, a very easy pattern. And it looks so amazing!

Please feel free to let me know what you think, would you make your own version?

Thursday, 14 April 2016

New crochet projects - Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap and another Windowpane Cowl and lovely new Yarn!!!

Welcome back!


As promised, I want to show you more about the recent new crochet projects that I started during the last two weeks, as mentioned in my last post.


The Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap


This is one of those amazing patterns that I had long favourited in my ravelry account, but at the time I was not ready to try it out!

Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap on Ravelry
This pattern is available as a free download.

If you check out the various projects from this pattern you will be amazed just how versatile and beautiful it is!

The basic pattern is based on 76 stitches which will have 3 shell and 4 feather sections. Of course you can vary the amount of stitches to a different width (multiples of 19 stitches).

Here is a first glimpse of my own work in progress! Isn't it pretty?

Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap

The story behind this project

Ok, back to the beginning. It began with an email that informed me about a brand new yarn by Louisa Harding, called Pittura. It is inspired by great painters. I fell in love with the shade Kahlo!

So I looked it up where I could get this online (after phoning my local wool shop which did not yet stock it). And I found a new online shop called https://www.tangled-yarn.co.uk/ where I decided to order from.

Whilst browsing their fabulous yarns, I came across a brand called http://www.walkcollection.com/en/ . Cathrin dyes her yarn in small batches by hand in Germany. The colour combinations are gorgeous. Her batches sell out fast!

So, suddenly I decided to order a skein of delicate Merino from the Walk Collection, in the shade called Salina. It has got a dark hazelnut brown, lighter brown, Rust, Lichen. Mushroom, Aqua Blue, bright Turquoise in it.  All these colours remind me of my recent walk in the woods to see the Bison!

When my package arrived, I was thrilled with the new yarn!!!

Louisa Harding Pittura (Kahlo) and Walk Collection (Salina)

Here is Salina, in a skein, then unwound and after winding it into a nice squishy yarn cake!!! It is Heavy Lace - 600m to a 100g. The colours are really difficult to show on a computer!





I decided to make a swatch to see how the pattern would look like and how it was put together. I had wanted to try a chevron, zigzag or ripple pattern for a while. What I like about this pattern is that the number of stitches remains constant in each row!


After that little swatch I was ready to get started!!!






My lacy Shawl together with my new spring flowers
I took the above two photos on the balcony to get better light. I love the lace effect against the light!

This time I am using my Addi hook 4mm, and I am crocheting so very loosely. This shawl will need some serious blocking afterwards. I have just done some maths and realised that I need to get a second skein!

So, you can see from this story, whilst I set out to find out about an advertised yarn, I actually ended up (also) with an entirely different yarn and entire new project!


The Windowpane Cowl


As you might remember, I recently made the first Windowpane cowl. You can read the post here! It also tells you more where to find this free pattern.

I liked this pattern so much that I decided to start another version, this time with a different yarn. I found some Drops Alpaca in a Teal colour in my existing stash. Oh, this wool is so soft with a kind of fuzzy halo. Some of the fibres actually looked green amongst the blue.

Below you can see the swatch I made from cotton yarn and then the new swatch from Pure Alpaca Yarn above it. The cotton swatch looks much crisper!









You can see I am slowly making progress. I love holding it in my hands, it feels incredibly soft!

As for the Louisa Harding Pittura yarn, I have already found a new project idea in that new Simply Haekeln Bookazine that I bought in Germany! I am itching to get started, but I better continue with these two projects, plus the green Spring Airy cotton Top, first blogged here.

Thanks for your support, as always! I look forward to reading your comments!
And thanks for following my blog, and a welcome to my latest followers, feel free to join in!

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

Crochet Updates: A Cobalt Blue Crochet Windowpane Cowl

Hello again!


A Cobalt Blue Windowpane Crochet Cowl


This is my last finished project. I really enjoyed making it! The pattern is the windowpane scarf, you can find it here on ravelry: Windowpane scarf. It is a free pattern.

I first found this on the lovely Dutch blog: http://blij-dat-ik-brei.blogspot.be/2014/05/venster-ruitjes.html and I had saved this to my favourites ever since (which is almost 2 years ago). I knew I just had to make this one day!



I decided to turn it into a cowl and make it for a friend in my class. The pattern is really quite easy and can be adapted to make something in the size you want.

This time I actually made a proof square to see how many stitches there were to 10cm. In my case this was 24 stitches which worked out well for a pattern of multiples of 6 stitches.


Swatching for correct size








I just love this pattern! It looks great in this pure cotton yarn, but it would look equally good in wool! The electric blue looks stunning! The stitches show up clearly.

Here is the finished Windowpane cowl!


Trying it on!
 


 And here is my friend modelling her new cowl. She is very pleased with it!
 




The finished cowl measures 140 cm round x 30 cm deep. It weighs around 400g.

 Here it is photographed against the light.
 




I hope you found some new inspiration and visit again soon! Feel free to leave your comment below.