Giant Granny Square Blanket....

 I finally finished my giant granny square blanket a little while ago, but I have been waiting for a good dry day to take some photos.  So pleased to have this blanket complete :)

 It is 182.9 cm (6 feet) square 

and weighs approx 2.85kg! (heavy but cuddly)

 made by holding two strands together.
Repeated colour pattern for the main body of blanket is -
Red & Cream x 2
Cream & Cream x 2
Brown & Cream x 2
Cream & Cream x 2

My granny square has 2ch in each corner and 1ch in between each granny cluster.

For the Border - (holding two strands together as per the blanket) First Round - I worked htr (UK/aust) in each tr (UK/aust) and chain space, with 1htr, 2ch, 1htr in corners. work another two rounds 1htr in each htr of previous round and 1htr,2ch,1htr in each corner.

It has worked up beautifully soft and chunky :)
I have used this yarn before for other projects,  and I know it wears beautifully and washes well.
That is why I was keen to create this blanket using Coton-a,

even though I know it would require a ‘LOT’ of balls!
I love how the cream & colour hooked together look like red & white packing string.

Made using Sullivans Coton-a and 6mm hook.

Hope you are having a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 7ish...

 It is taking a lot longer to get around my wool eater now, and I'm right out of step with the schedule for the CAL but most people seem to be working at their own pace and I think that is the best way to go anyway.  With each round I grow more and more pleased with how the blanket is turning out....It  is such a warm blanket and I know it will be a favourite when winter arrives, hopefully it will be finished with soon.  I'm still not sure how many more rounds I will do, but I have decided that I will not purchase any more yarn for it so that will help me decide.

So I added another two rounds since I last blogged about this project - light marl grey & Teal and each round of pattern (two actual rounds of crochet) now uses more than 1 full 100gm ball, so this pattern really does deserve its name ;)

The blanket now measures 129cm square and weighs approx 1290gms and is very warm!

If you are interested in joining in on this Crochet Along

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

~ Gillian ♥

 

 

wool eater blanket CAL week 6ish...

 I seem to be getting more behind with my wool eater blanket...but hey, at least It is growing!

Another 3 rounds of pattern complete and it is now a lovely lap sized rug.

Each round is now taking a lot longer to work around as you would expect, but I'm still really enjoying working this rug and the pattern is very relaxing.
(you can click on the image if you'd like to see it a little larger)

The three colours I added this week are

Duck egg blue, Maroon & Gunmetal Grey

It now measures 112cm square and weighs 1077gms.

If you are interested in joining in on this Crochet Along

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

 Another interesting project I am working on at the moment is this Antique frame, it is around 90 - 100yrs old and comes from my mothers side of the family. Mum very generously gave it to me recently.  It is hand carved and we think it is made from Australian White Cedar (I'm not 100% certain on that but I will keep inquiring and hopefully know soon what timber it is made from).  I do know that it is Australian timber, and local to my home town.  I know this information because it was all written onto the back of the frame before it became water damaged and when the print was pulled out and discarded the information was as well....but my mother does recall that it was locally grown timber.

 I just love this pattern, and think it would make a marvelous doodling border for anyone who loves to zentangle or zendoodle or just doodle ;)

 The frame originally was held together with handmade nails, unfortunately there were some cracks in the corners and I had to have the corners re mitered and as I am planning on putting a mirror in the frame I need the frame to be strong, so the framer has made it nice and strong for me, ready for the next step in the project.  I don't normally like altering antiques like this but it was a case of leave it as it was and storing it in my garage forever or loose a little off each corner and make the piece able to be used once more and hopefully admired.  So I went with the second option for this particular piece.

The frame originally had a print in it, not a valuable one and it had also become water damaged over the years, but some pencil writing was revealed when the back was removed, I am clueless as to what it may mean, maybe it is the frame carvers name, or in some relation to the original print....I may never find out, but it seems to be as old as the frame....

My next step is to rub it back lightly with some steel wool and apply some sealer, then off to the glass cutters for a piece of mirror and then back to the framers for finishing off....then I hope to show you my beautiful old frame :)

Have a lovely week everyone

~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 5

well it is MY week 5 anyway ;)

I'm a little behind the schedule...

but that is the beauty of this CAL

you are able to work at your own pace....

and start and finish whenever you feel like it.

So another 3 rounds of pattern complete and 

my wool eater is starting to get some size to it now.
(you can click on the image if you'd like to see it a little larger)

The three colours I added this week are

Gunmetal Grey, Medium Marl Grey, Curry.

It now measures 101cm square and weighs 793gms.

it is not to late to join in

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

Have a creative week everyone!

~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 4

For week 3 of the Wool Eater Blanket CAL
(February 1st - 8th)
we were to add another 3 rounds of pattern...

I added medium marl grey, maroon (I actually think it is more of a dark plum but the name on the receipt for this colour was maroon) & Laguna (once again this was the name on the receipt but it is a medium teal/turquoise blue).
It now measures approx 87cm square and weighs approx 566gms.

it is not to late to join in
details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

I hope you are having a nice week
~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 3

For week 3 of the Wool Eater Blanket CAL
(January 25 - February 1)
we were to add another 3 rounds of pattern...

I added duck egg blue, olive green & light marl grey.
It now measures approx 69cm square and weighs approx 376gms.

it is not to late to join in
details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

I hope you are having a creative week
~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 2

For week 2 of the Wool Eater Blanket CAL
(January 18 - 25th)
we were to add another 4 rounds of pattern...

I added Gunmetal Grey, Teal, Curry and another row of Gunmetal Grey.
It now measures approx 55cm square and weighs approx 250gms.

I'm a little late posting my photo
as I have been away for most of the week..
the hardest part of this Crochet Along is deciding which colour to use next ;)
it is not to late to join in
details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

I hope you are having a lovely week
~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL....

 I have decided to join in the wool eater blanket CAL (crochet along)

organised by Sarah London through her blog.

You can find all about it here

and its not too late to start if it is something that interests you, Sarah has provided the pattern for free and also has provided an oblong version as well as the square which I am working.

It is such a brilliant pattern...

you do need to concentrate for the first few rounds

but after that it all falls into place and works up quite quickly.

I will do my best to follow the schedule

but I'm sure I'll probably wonder a little off from time to time ;)

This week 11th - 18th we were to work the first 6 rounds of pattern.

Unblocked my square so far measures approx 37cm square.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments regarding my post below x

I hope you can all find sometime today to be a little creative

~ Gillian ♥

Lachlan's Blanket....

This week I finished this blanket for Lachlan, It has been a long time coming for him as I started it in January.....along the way I got sidetracked with other projects, so it took a little longer to complete than I originally wanted, but I'm pleased to say I have finally finished it :)

I used some of Lachlan's favourite colours and the block pattern 'Square Target'

comes from Jan Eatons book 200 Crochet Blocks
My aim with this blanket was to use the five chosen colours and not repeat any combinations (each square has its own unique combination) Total squares 48.

The squares were then joined using dc (UK terms) and then a border worked around the outside made up of a single round of tr, then 7 rounds of 2tr granny stitch, 1 round of tr and then 1 round of dc, with 2 chains in each corner.

The total unblocked size is 125cm x 170cm and

I used 3371.3mtrs of 8ply pure new wool with a 4.5mm hook :)
......................................................................................................

I hope you all have a lovely weekend ~ Gillian :)