Colour pooled loom knit scarf and hat set

So, you may recall that at the end of February I had been doing a loom knit scarf using the figure of eight stitch and was so surprised when, by accident, it turned out to be a colour pooled scarf. I had seen so many wonderful products on the internet with people posting pictures of their colour pooled items. It was something that I had always wanted to do, one day, and had seen posts that were offering links to where to find advice on how to plan your colour pooling and what types of yarn to use. The wool that I had used I had picked up at my local store and wanted to use it as it was so soft but not necessarily in my colour ways.

I have finally got around to making the hat to go with the scarf as I had bought a pack of 4 balls of wool and I had one ball left over.

Using my 36 peg loom I set about starting to make the hat using my own made up pattern. I had done one hat before (it was also my first hat), and the wool was a similar style and thickness but a different brand so I hoped that it would come out very similar. The colour of the first had was just one colour, plum, so I was curious to see how this self striping wool would come out especially after the surprise with the scarf.

I used an e-wrap throughout as at the moment apart from the figure of eight stitch it is the only one I know. That I plan to change in the future. I did so many rows and then folded up for the brim then carried on until I thought I had got the right height, checking for length against my previous hat, for the crown and then finished off.

I am really pleased with how the yarn has worked with the yellow and lilac spiralling up. It goes so well with the pattern on the scarf and was yet again a lovely happy accident. Sometimes they are the best ones.

Mandala Madness - version 4 - Part 17,18

So, the fourth blanket that I have been making has now been completed up to the end of Helen Shrimptons pattern. There is a separate pattern by another amazing designer that will enable me to "square the circle" and this I plan to do to all of the four blankets. Eventually.

I am so thrilled with how this one has turned out and I cant quite believe that it was only half way through January that I started it having been into a wool shop to buy a present for a lovely friend for her birthday and the batik cakes were just sat on the next shelf. I thought they looked so lovely and although I hadn't planned on making another blanket I just knew that these were crying out to do the next Mandala. This wool is so soft and is really nice to work with. An added bonus was that I finished the last round using up the very last part of the grey/purple cake. I only have enough to do about another 50 crab stitches and that it is. Talk about playing yarn chicken! When I do square up the blanket I will concentrate on using the purple and pink cakes that I used for the very beginning of the blanket. I think it will balance the blanket, to finish it with what I started it with. The final round where it uses the grey will also give the circle a definition, almost like an outline.

During the final rounds the half circles that were started in part 16 are finished and then the gaps between them are filled in to make the blanket into a complete circle. There are a lot of treble clusters to do and I love the texture that this adds to this section. There are also plenty of back post and front post stitches which again adds another level of texture.

So as one chapter of this blanket has come to an end another one will begin again. Soon.

The finished round Mandala Madness blanket ............

Mini backpack phone cases

So, as you know I have been busy making four Mandala Madness blankets. Two of the them have been finished to the end of the round part. One is very nearly finished and the other one is not that far behind that. Once they are finished I will have the fun part to square them off. As they are now so big it can take several hours to complete a round on each of them. This can be quite hard going, especially when I really want to complete the round and not have to come back to it and try and find out exactly how (and where) the pattern is up to.

To combat this I have been making up patterns for mini bag charms. I have done a range of emojis, melons, spooky faces, mini socks and even a panda face! I have really enjoyed making these are they are pretty quick to do and as a bonus use up some of the scraps of wool that I have hanging around. I also made some mini backpacks as well. They have a flap and underneath there is a tie so that it can be used as a mini bag to put something in.

It was suggested to me that this design would look great if it was enlarged slightly so that it could be used as a phone case. Having been set the challenge it was back to the drawing board (or rather hook and wool) to see if the design could be made bigger without changing the shape too much. It didn't take too much tweaking and I am really pleased with the result. So much so that I have so far made seven of them!. My favourite has to be the last one that I have done which is the cute little fox with the button to open the flap doubling up as his nose.

I really love making these. The problem I have now is that I have to many ides of what I could make next. I want to transfer the melon design that I did as a small bag charm, the panda, a cute little cat and I even would like to do an owl. The possibilities that I have going around my head are endless! The other problem I have (apart from time available) is I still want to keep working on my blankets, especially as they are so close to being finished. I guess though its not a bad problem to have.

Onto the next ones ...........

Mandala Madness - version 4 - Part 16

So, I have been looking forward to how the next batik swirl is going to look and go in as I knew that I would be finishing the grey and purple one during this part. I am so very pleased with how the colour placement has gone.

The part started off with doing the folding trebles. I love the texture that this particular stitch gives. The pale greys do work well for it. The blanket has been a circular shape for a while now so I was looking forward to seeing it change shape with the introduction of the semi-circle shapes being introduced, especially as I was getting towards the end of the whirl. There are lots of trebles to do which does eat up the yarn but also makes the blanket grow quicker in size if not in time taken to do a round. Some taking more than a couple of hours to complete.

The blues and greens have gone is so well having been introduced during the latter part of the semi-circles. With this quite dramatic change in colour it feels as though it is adding an outline, almost like a border colour that contrasts with the rest of the blanket. It does pick up and emphasise where it was done previous and also add to the continuity of the pattern of whirls.

I can't believe how close I am to finishing of the main circle part of the blanket. Only two parts left to go. It will then be on to the squaring off of the Mandala. I am looking forward to it, even if it is with apprehension!

Onto part 17. The penultimate ..............