Mrs S Online: June 2021

Crochet Blanket by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

I have been working on this blanket for about two two years on and off. It languished in the UFO section for quite a while last year in amongst work pressures and lots of stuff happening on the home front.

Got stuck back into it in the last few weeks and have declared it finished.

It is the seashell pattern created by Attic 24 for her Dune blanket. I have used mostly Bendigo Woollen Mills yarns and started off with their RFW special which was a wool, alpaca and bamboo combination but then as it grew I realized I needed more yarn and added random stripes from my stash. I started with chain of 310 so that it would hang down the sides of a queen size bed. As the intended bed had a wooden foot end I did not plan for it to hang down from the end of the bed and I wanted it to stop at the pillows rather than cover the whole bed. I was unsure about adding the border but am glad that I did as it does look much better with the border finishing the edges.

It was a very easy pattern to work with and I enjoyed creating the random stripe pattern as I went along. I snuggled under it as it was made - warm and cosy indeed!

Even had some lovely winter sunshine days where I could sit outside and add more rows.

Winter Sunshine Crochet Days by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Blanket Almost Done by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Now to think about the next blanket. I do love the seashell pattern so maybe another one but this time in cotton yarns.

What do you think? do you have a favourite crochet blanket pattern? Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts.

Tag making has continued with each video prompt being eagerly awaited of a Friday night.

Tag Challenge collection by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Tag 21 was all about Bullion stitch over an edge. Anne challenged us to use bullion knots as a decorative stitch over the edge of a piece of fabric. In my tag I used some vintage velvet fabric that I have memories of my Mum using as a dress fabric as the background and added my bullion knots to a folded piece of striped cotton. Buttons, Pekinese stitch and a touch of lace and my tag was complete. I am glad that I have some milliners needles in my collection as they make bullion knot creation so much easier.

Tag 21 - Bullion Edge by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Tag 22 and the prompt was Layers of Lace. I struggled a bit with this one. I have plenty of lace in my stash but could not seem to get a layout of combined pieces that I was happy with. Maybe most of my lace was too similar having been used as edgings on little dresses and petticoats. I ended up with some more of the vintage bobbin lace and a very small piece of entredeux at the top. I threaded some silk ribbon through my lace and under a well to add sparkle. Finding it still needed something I searched for a crochet pattern and found a butterfly that caught my eye. Thank goodness for the internet - including such things as the WayBack Machine! Butterfly was crocheted on a fine hook with some vintage sewing thread that split badly but I got there.

Tag 22 - Layers of Lace by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

On to tag 23 and what a fun challenge for that one. The prompt was a bunch of flowers and Anne suggested a pot of flowers or a bunch of flowers that showcased the embroidery stitches we had been introduced to so far. A lucky find for me was a felt heart that when the bottom and top were trimmed gave me the perfect pot. It fitted so nicely on the tag.

Sizing Up the Pot by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Working in a hoop it was time to add the flowers. Layering green stems first and then flowers in different threads to create a blooming pot. Silk threads and variegated stranded cotton and a little bit of fine merino wool in both loved colours and a colour not usually chosen found their way onto my tag. The hardest thing chosen to sew with was some silk tops that I tried to use with a lazy daisy stitch. Not that easy as drawing the needle through the fabric tended to break the silk top easily but I persevered and in the end spun the top a little to give it just a touch of strength. Knowing when to stop adding flowers was also difficult. The pot was the last thing to be sewn onto the fabric before cutting to size and adding to the tag. Just made it in terms of size - no flowers were trimmed when cutting 😀

Adding Flowers by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Tag 23 - A Bunch of Flowers by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Tag 24 and time for some serious learning of a new skill. Needle tatting was the challenge and it was such fun to learn. I was very glad to learn from a fellow left hander rather than the normal attempts of trying to follow a right handed set of instructions. I had not long ago tried out shuttle tatting and struggled so was very glad to try it with a needle. Lack of a long needle meant that the first tries were quite small as all I had was a milliners needle 😀

First Tries - Needle Tatting by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

The internet provided many tips and ideas and I loved trying out different threads to see the effect. I tracked down some doll needles and also looked for some proper tatting needles. I found a great YouTube video where needle brands were reviewed (captioned in English so I just made sure that captions was turned on) and now have some tatting needles on the way. I will build up a Wakelet of links to continue learning more about needle tatting. My tag contains some of my first tries so that I can see my progress.

Tag 24 - Tatting by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Tag 25 and the prompt was woven threads. Now this one I loved and took be down memory lane as I have tried weaving quite a few times. I loved doing this with classes of students and ended up with a pattern for a small loom made of card that meant we got a result quite quickly. I also found a tutorial for a mini easel to display their creations.

Student Mini Weavings by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

I liked the way that Anne reminded us to glue two tags together to give us a very stable base to work with. I wanted to add some new thread to my weaving as I had just received some silk chenille so went with a familiar ideas of land plus sea plus sky. I added some threads that were looped around the warp threads but cut some a tad short and they came out again. I also experimented with over two under two with my weft thread in the sea section of my little weaving and added in some more silk tops. Great fun to experiment with different textures.