About time that I shared some crochet with you!  This is the Korallion scarf/shawlette, by Addydae Designs.  I have crocheted a number of Deanne Ramsay’s patterns over the years and always find them delightful to work on with really effective results.

In this pattern the yarn does a lot of the work! It’s a sock yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I possibly bought it from the back room on my last visit, but if you keep an eye on their website yarns like this come in and out of stock. I don’t even remember the name of the colourway – but I do remember that I used just under two full balls.

The curly edges are worked at the same time as the rows – they’re not added in afterwards. This means that you start crocheting at one corner, increase along one edge until one ball is pretty much used up, then start decreasing with the second ball. Well, that’s what I did! I managed to frustrate myself trying to decide if I could somehow find the same colour changing spot in the long repeat of the second ball so that the colour changes would mirror on both halves of the scarf, then I gave up and just changed balls at the end of one row. It’s a good thing that I did, as the long colour changes in each ball weren’t the same lengths or intensity anyway!

This is actually pretty simple to crochet, essentially being only chain stitch and double crochet (that’s US terms). This will be a really useful winter accessory for me.

Clare has been cranking out crocheted items since learning to crochet in January. I’m amazed at how gratifying she seems to find it! At the same time, I am very slowly finishing a few things. I worked on this shawl on and off for months.

The pattern is the Falling Blossoms Shawl, by Ana D. The yarn is a wool/nylon 4 ply sock yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills, in the shade Cottage Garden. It took about a ball and a half.

This pattern has pleasing repetition and adds detail with the little eyelets then the flowers. It’s basically filet crochet, I suppose. I used the leftover yarn to crochet a Stellar Beret.

If you’re interested in seeing Clare’s crochet, she has a Tik Tok account, @dacapitalcrochet.

Crocheted washcloths.  These are something that I crochet every few years when I’m looking for a project that is straightforward and achievable.  Perfect pandemic crochet, in many ways!  I have found my concentration lacking over the past few months, and washcloths can be crocheted in an evening while watching television.  Or during a morning coffee Zoom call with friends!

I used leftover cotton/acrylic from my stash to crochet these three washcloths. You can pretty much use whatever yarn you have available. It needs to be fairly sturdy, so keep that in mind. Cotton is good, linen, hemp, acrylic, things like that. And of course these washcloths can be used to wash whatever you like – they can be used in the kitchen as dishcloths or in the bathroom/shower. My girls really like handmade washcloths – they use knitted ones made by Grandma quite regularly. They’re also a great gift with a handmade soap. Personally I buy the handmade soaps, but you may be more competent than me in that area and be able to make soap yourself too!

Pattern wise, my go to is Ravelry. There are SO many knitted and crocheted washcloth/dishcloth patterns on there, and the vast majority are free. Alternatively, just google! I look for a textured stitch pattern; I prefer that to colourwork etc. These three are the Textured Dishcloth by Kara Gunza, Sun Rays Washcloth by Amal Saleh, and Spread the Dishcloth Joy by Catherine Richardson. I use these patterns as a base, and alter them a little to add a border or edgings or change the size etc depending on the amount of yarn that I have available and my mood. Crocheted washcloths are also a great way to test out new stitch patterns – you can just select from a stitch dictionary. This is a project that allows significant freedom, and still ends up with a useable product.

Another fairly instant gratification project that I’m working on at the moment is a set of crocheted placemats, in Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 8ply. I can do one in an evening – but of course, it’s a set, so there is more than one to do! I had better get back to that soon…

Some of my favourite travel souvenirs have been fabric or yarn.

This scrumptiously soft possum/merino blend was bought in Te Anau, New Zealand when we were on holiday in January 2018. I could not resist the colour. The yarn is Amuri 4 ply, from Naturally. The possum fur component is 25%. Possums are a huge pest in New Zealand (they’re an Australian import, not native to New Zealand and they cause significant environmental damage). Possum fur is incredibly light and warm, and makes a fabulous yarn. It’s taken a little while to decide on a pattern that would do it justice.

The outdoor photos show the yarn colour more accurately than the indoor ones, but the indoor ones show you the stitch definition a little better! The pattern is Leaves Shawl, by Ana D. I enjoyed crocheting this so much that I have bought more of her patterns.

This has been designed so that there is a little ‘hole’ to thread the pointed end of the shawl through, which helps to keep it in place. A clever design trick! Once I got the hang of the pattern repeat it became quite fast to crochet. There was a pleasing combination of lace edging (requiring a little concentration) and solid (mindless tv watching crochet).

As with most crochet (and knitting) this really benefitted from blocking. I tend to just steam block smaller projects like this one, smoothing and pressing the crocheted fabric into place after a huge blast of steam. This technique seems to work quite well for me.

I’m currently crocheting cotton placemats while I wait on some yarn to arrive for a poncho type garment – although at the rate that the weather is warming up, that might be for next winter!

Here’s another project that I finished back in April.  This one had been languishing for almost two years.  It’s the Three Springs Shawl, by Deanne Ramsay of Addydae Designs.

Because this had been started so long ago it took me a while to get back into the groove. There was quite a bit of recounting the stitches and pulling out and redoing. As Dan calls it – getting my value out of the yarn! It’s mostly Wollmeisse merino, in the colour Ruby Thursday. I used the leftover Malabrigo sock for the orange contrast, mostly because I wanted to use what I had (and we were in full stay-at-home by that stage, so I wasn’t going out to buy yarn).

As with most crocheted (or knitted) lace, it improved with vigorous steam blocking. I tend to just hover the iron over the top and steam the heck out of it, stretching and patting it into shape with my hands. Others use properly blocking wires and mats, and/or dampen then let it dry. This method seems to work quite well for me.

It’s hard to get an accurate photo of the colour – this next photo is an outside one in natural light, which I think is a little closer to reality. It’s definitely a ruby red rather than a tomato red. I really like a long scarf/shawlette. I find it easiest to wrap it around my neck completely with long ends hanging down, rather than something that requires a brooch or shawl pin to stay in place. I don’t like fiddling with it.

Deanne has a number of lovely scarf/shawl patterns available to crochet. I really think that the key to a successful shawl is in the colour/yarn choice. Getting the combination of colours just right makes such a difference to the overall effect. It’s one of the reasons that I love Ravelry – you can see so many diffferent versions and work out what colour selections appeal to you most. They’re a fabulous way to use luxury yarns in a format that can be worn for years and years. Many of these shawls take around three skeins, so you’re looking at around A$100 to make one if you choose hand-dyed yarns or special fibres. You want it to be something that will be worn forever! Of course, it’s entirely up to your own budget which yarns you use.  I have some beautiful possum/merino yarn that I bought in New Zealand a couple of years ago all ready for my next scarf/shawl. I’ve decided on this pattern. Tonight might be the night I get started!