Month: October 2016

BQueen Collection – Custom Dye Box

You may remember my post back in mid-June when I photographed my first experience dyeing yarn with a BQueen Dye Box. If you haven’t seen that post, please hop over! It talks about the process and you’ll see the gorgeous yellow Safflower-dyed yarn. ❤️❤️ (The pattern for this square is “Crystal” from the Vibrant Vintage CAL!)  When I dyed my first hank, I instantly wanted 6 more colors on 6 more hanks to make – of course – a blanket! Wouldn’t that be too lush?? After a chit chat with super-cool BQueen founder, Makenzie, she informed me that she had some gears turning already for a custom type Dye Box.  I waited patiently and finally she told me it was ready! 6 hanks of Superwash Merino bulky and 6 gorgeous natural dye vials.  I put my yarn soaking and started mixing up the dyes in the cups Makenzie provides with each Box.  Here are the remaining 5 dyes and their name tags.. I couldn’t stop the vials from rolling around to get a shot of …

Big Leaf Border

Hey-ooooohh! It’s me again – bringing you a new freebie. This one’s a border that looks like a line of connected leaves.. hence the name! For the demo sample, I used Scheepjes Softfun* in color 2535, a lush leafy green shade.  Use the Big Leaf Border pattern for any size blanket. Head over to the Ravelry page for a PDF version (coming soon!) or keep scrolling and we’ll get started! Basic information: Border is 7 rounds With DK weight yarn and size H hook, I get a width of approximately 2 inches  Use the same hook you used in the blanket body for Rounds 1-6, then switch to a hook size smaller for Round 7 Special stitches: Beg DC = (SC, Chain 1) DC4tog = (in next St work DC up to final step, leaving behind one loop on hook) 4 times, YO, draw yarn through all 5 loops on hook 3DC Cluster = in indicated st/sp, work DC up to final step, leaving behind one loop on hook 3 times in same spot, YO, …

For the love of Linen Stitch

There are many tutorials online for Linen/Moss/Woven Stitch, but check out this one by by Dedri Uys!  My love for Linen St goes back to about 2012 when I started making simple back-and-forth blankets with it. I called them “Bold Stripe Blanket” and even wrote a simple free pattern in Spring 2013. That year, when I started using PLT Join (this was before I named it so), I made “Bold Gingham Blanket”, which is a piece made of join-as-you-go strips, using color to form an opulent pattern. I really love this one and wish I had time to make another! After that, I got caught up in a hexagon custom order whirlwind. Other crafters referred to me as “the hexie queen”, I made blanket after blanket of custom order hexagon pieces: Sunburst Flower, Cottage Quilt, Painted Hexagons, and Geometric Lace – probably about 65 in all.. So linen stitch definitely wasn’t on my hook, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t on my mind. One day I’d have time to make a booklet of linen stitch patterns.  I …

Lissmiss Blanket WIP (Wonderfully Interesting Project)

I have a new project in the works called the Lissmiss Blanket.. What is Lissmiss??? Well it’s the way “LSMS” is pronounced, which stands for Linen Stitch Mitered Square – of course! 😛 I’m making a no-sew linen st mitered square blanket because this is a pattern that has been floating around my head (and scraps of paper) for long enough! This needs to be made!  Here’s a pic of my prototype – pulled from my Instagram from November 2013!! Dude! Three years this baby has been marinating…  And the current WIP… The glorious Lissmiss! Hellooooooo Fall! Peep this Scheepjes Colour Crafter – YUM!  Why the mitered square?  Did you know I used to knit? Well my crafterly adventures all started back in the day (my college years) with WendyKnits.net, when blogs were definitely more primitive. I got busy knitting all. the. things. And one of the Things was the Psychedelic Squares Afghan. Only I used the  No Sew Mitered Square Afghan tutorial over at Mason-Dixon Knitting because, well I’ve always known I stink at sewing…  So I gathered …