Eight-by-Six

Summer Spice Baby Granny Square Blanket Amanda Hurrell Eight-by-Six©     An easy to adapt granny square blanket, size given is for a baby blanket approx size 65cm x 65cm This is a free blog pattern but an add-free pdf can be purchsed from my LoveCrafts shop Sizes and Materials List Hook Size: UK 4mm (I use Clover brand) Stitch markers: (4) optional Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK (322 yds/295 metres per 100g ball) Tension: 22 stitches to 30 rows to 10cm on 4mm hook Pattern size of approx. 70 cm x 70 cm for baby/lap blanket or why not do a four colour pattern repeat for a larger blanket approximately 140cm x 140cm One each of the following 100g ball Wash care instructions: machine washable 40deg, cool tumble dry, cool iron, can be dry cleaned (I line dry mine) Colours (14 in total) Stylecraft Special DK and Cygnet DK Turquoise (1068) Aster (1003) Buttermilk (1835) Sherbet (10...

Well September has been and gone and it was a month that started with our first trip to Lake Como and we fell in love with Italy, crochet bobbles, knitting pumpkins and finally finishing my sweetheart granny square blanket. Look at all the crochet bobbles, I now want to add them everything! I'll leave you to look at the September highlights and colourful grid. You can see October's pictures over on my Instagram account and patterns are available on my Etsy , Ravelry and LoveCrafts accounts. adding crochet bobbles to the final round my blanket stack is growing September 2019 wet Sunday morning sorting out my blankets a wet Sunday morning end of September sweetheart granny blanket

Crochet border Picot stitch (how to make a square edge round) To start slip stitch to first chain after your first treble round, Ch3 then make one Picot stitch.  To do this insert your hook into the first chain of 3 in the back loop, then dc 3 into the next 3 stitches from the previous row, ch3 again and make another Picot. I have dc 3 in between each picot stitch as I think it gives it the space and balance it needs for this size blanket. R epeat until you have completed all four sides, ss to finish, sew in ends. Picot Edge Baby merino granny square blanket The full pattern is available today on LoveCrochet.com

Sorry if I've been a bit quiet, lots going on and I took a week off work last week  for the weather and to just be at home knitting, gardening, crochet. Perfect week really. So here is a little gorgeous blanket I managed to finish despite the heat. More photos over on my Instagram account  I made this out of the lovely Debbie Bliss Rialto DK Heathers range a 100% merino woll 105m/114 yards per 50g ball with 4mm crochet hook. I chose colour 92 Denim (now discontinued) for the main blanket then edged it with one row of Sky, one row of cream and the last 2 rows in the Heathers range colour 23090 Honey for the picot edging. Its so springy and a lovely size for a growing baby, more second size than new born I think. This one has been made for an old friend of mine who's first baby is due in September. I'm guessing its a boy. Its machine washable at 30 deg and is classed as a DK weight yarn that has lots of spring and fantastic stitch definition. Its simple but luxur...

I have lots of Debbie Bliss Rialto DK left over from previous projects and a whole box under my bed, shh don't tell hubby! A while back I decided to make a pile of granny squares out of some of the stash, on Friday/Saturday I decided to join together the 25 I had previously made, don't they look great. I love to join mine with join as you go method because I like the vintage look and you get to use up more stash. I learnt a few years ago using the Attic 24 method, lots of photos and easy to follow in the link. I'm going to make another stack soon and join these when I have another 25 squares. I plan to have 100 granny squares in total, all using the basic granny square design using all the colours I have. I'll edge it with a few colours and a picot edge to finish it. I like to keep it simple and let the colours do all the work. G&T Friday night crochet Its a great project to take out for the day if you are travelling and you get to make a blanket...

Is it oblong or rectangular? Not sure but people have told me its rectangular. Whatever you want to call it I'm loving these colours on my April Showers blanket and I'm writing the pattern notes as I go along so hopefully I can release the pattern over the Easter holiday weekend. Here is a little progress from this weekend. My gorgeous project bag is gaining a lot of attention over on the Stylecraft Instagram account, they kindly re-posted my photo. Link for the Amazon page is on my Instagram account here   more colours added Cornish Blue

Mustard Granny Square Blanket Amanda Hurrell Eight-by-Six© a pdf pattern can be purchased on my Etsy Ravelry and Loveknitting links via Instagram

And here it is having its final row on the border. I totally love this blanket and will definitely be making another one, probably next year as I've got one custom blanket order and my hat to knit! Too many projects and not enough time, sadly. But I do manage to get a lot done in a short space of time. Use your time wisely is the key. If you live in the UK there is still time to donate here and here it is waiting for the final picot edge to be added

Don't be fooled by the warm sunshine during the day, Autumn is just around the corner and cosy nights in front of the tv. My colours are reflecting the changing seasons with warm hats on my needles and warm blankets on my hook. Some photos of my progress shorts

August, summer, mmm not so sure. After the heatwave we had that last for a month here in the UK, today's weather resembles Autumn! Definetely a blanket cosy on the sofa day if I wasn't working. Oh well just have to snuggle underneath one when I get home, I think it will be my Orla Kiely one, its my top favourite at the moment. Granny blanket stack Saying that I do have one blanket on the go, like it when the weather turns chilly and I can watch TV and snuggle under it keeping me warm whilst i add more rows. my new Orla Kiely inspired granny square blanket I think I will make another one of my rainbow blankets next, tempted to start one tonight. Optical illusion my favourite rainbow granny square blanket

How will you be spending your extra time? Me, well I'll be crocheting a new blanket in the garden tonight my Orla Kiely blanket pattern and sipping some of my special artisan gin I made at the end of 2017 my artisan gin Perfect!

I've been searching forever for ceramic knobs for my vintage pine tall boy when I found these at  Mango Tree They are function, funky and colourful, don't you just love them (I know I do) Go grab yourself some basic tools, screwdriver (for removing the old handles) and maybe plyers and/or an electric drill. We needed to drill the holes a tiny bit wider to accommodate the new gorgeous ceramic knobs but you might not need to. All 12 ceramic knobs were on the cupboard doors in about the same time it takes to make a cup of tea! a lovely place to store my hand made blankets Now to save some time and a lot of elbow grease (after all you want to enjoy the transformation) I used this furniture polish that contains bees wax and looks like I've spent hours waxing the cupboard, when I didn't. I'm not endorsing the polish, just giving my honest opinion of a good value product. Its called Wood Silk and you can find it in Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys for £1.50, bargain! ...

Over the weekend our son decided he no longer wanted his pine furniture in his bedroom, we bought it in 2003 when we moved to our current house. I remember it being delivered along with the removal men turning up, after we thought we'd lost them and the entire contents of our previous home! I needed another pine cabinet to put my t-shirts and jumpers in so was happy to have it moved into our bedroom. You don't get a lot of storage space with new builds these days (ours is 17 years old this year) A bonus came in the shape of his tripod table lamp complete with grey lamp shade. I've had my eye on this since he bought it in TK Max a few years ago. You've got to love a bit of up-cycling. Maybe some new handles would look better, I feel a trip to TX Max! new home for my granny blankets So my granny blankets now have a new home, and I wake up to this view every morning. Not a bad view and maybe room for one more!

After making a silly mistake I had to frog about 12 rows, but I'm back on track now and loving the new colours combination I've picked up. Its so lovely and very autumnal, I think I'll make this for my brother and sister in law to keep them warm this winter. But must make another for myself! Its all Stylecraft Special DK using a standard granny square, two rows of each colour but I might change this as it grows. Friday night catch up with my blanket Sunday morning quick crochet fix

Would you look at these colours, wow aren't they just so bright and cheerful! I'm trying to go a little vintage 1970s style (my era and childhood) I'm sure we had one of these, maybe not quite as bright but I just love the Orla Kiely colours and this is going to be another huge snuggly blanket sure to brighten everyones day! And its so cold I can really get on with this over the weekend and add lots more colourful stripes. Have a fab weekend and keep warm and snuggly and maybe do some crochet too.

Wow its already August, where did July go? What a busy month with lots of good things, sunshine, gardening, crochet and knitting. I have managed to do a little gardening and I have 5 courgette plants bursting with new flowers and fruits with two green courgettes ready to pick tonight when I get home. I have to remember to pick them otherwise a marrow will be in its place tomorrow! Some cues are coming along nicely, with the amount of water I'm giving them the rest of the summer I won't have to buy from the supermarket (I have ten plants I think!) Ok maybe too many but as I'd killed off most of my veggies before I'd even planted them I was kind of lost for variety and ended up with just cues and courgettes! I have time to sow some dwarf beans (again) so I plan to do that one evening this week, directly sowing I think to save time and I need to buy a cloche to keep the dog off them. Oh and the rhubarb plant is pumping out again, so more jam or maybe a nice pudding this ...

For those of you outside the UK having warm weather in the UK is something of a rarity, rain on the other hand we do very well. So this week we are having a mini heatwave and its great if you don't have to work, commute or doing anything that makes you move and get too hot! too hot for blankets, lets just look at them I was trying to finish my granny square blanket (shown in the Rocky Road picture), the border is well under way but hey who want's to sit under a hot blanket in this heat? So I guess its going to have to wait another week or so. In the meantime I can still make blankets as squares are so much more portable and I don't need to join them right now. I spent a lot of my weekend in the garden as the weather was so lovely, and we have plans to make some more changes to the area in front of the pond. I like the idea of a chill out area, and those rattan sofas are calling me. I can see myself with a cold drink or cup of tea crocheting to the sound of moving wat...