Saturday 3 December 2016

Followers.....0...??

I've only just noticed that there was an option to put a 'follow ' box on the blog...I did wonder why no-one was following me despite over 65, 000 views! So, if you'd like to follow me then click the box on the top left! I promise to post something new very soon as I know I've been completely rubbish .  Life as a nearly full-time Madam has been rather busy of late!

Sunday 24 July 2016

Lazy Hooker's CAL Week 20

We're Hookers On The Edge!

I have chosen a PLAIN colour to do the borders so that that it doesn't compete with all the colours of the squares. You can choose pretty much any plain Chunky you want. I chose KING COLE MAGNUM CHUNKY in a pale bluey/lavender called Stonewash.


                                        

 It has a really nice sheen and twist which works perfectly with the Riot Chunky. I needed 400g maximum.

The joining of all the squares is the only decidedly  NON Lazy bit of this blanket but I believe it's worth the effort. I'm a huge lover of edges and borders as I really believe they can make a blanket sing! So there's no time constraint from now on. You can take 1 week or 1 month  to finish it; it's up to you!


FIRST EDGES

Every square (big and small) will need to be edged first in 1 row of double crochet all the way round by doing 2 dcs in every chain space of the last row and by doing 3dcs in every corner. 




Every square will need to be bordered like this first
 Joining up

Then you need to start joining the squares together...Lay all your squares out on the floor like this:






Whilst joining  use stitch keepers or safety pins to keep them together . Put the WRONG SIDES TOGETHER  and do 1DC IN EVERY STITCH ON BOTH SQUARES AND 2 or 3DC IN EVERY CORNER (depends how tight your tension is...decide on one and stick to it).

I started by joining the bottom 6 small squares together horizontally ( PDDDDP)




Go through BOTH LOOPS OF BOTH STITCHES 




 Then I repeated this by joining the 6 small squares (PDDDP) at the top together ,

then all 4 sets of 4 small squares (ST SP
                                                             ST SP)
as below





You might need to add a chain in between each square if you crochet tightly

Start by joining across in one direction then  fasten off and reattach to join in the opposite direction

When you get to the middle bits just crochet across over the top of the stitches below

You might need to add a chain if you're a tighty...
I blocked each set of joined squares again at this stage.

Now join all the sets together following the diagram above .



FINAL BORDER...nearly there now!

1) Using Edge colour  go round entire blanket doing 1htr 1 ch between each pair of dcs and 3htrs2ch3hrs in the corners.






                               







2) Using Main colour do 1 htr 1 ch  in every ch-sp around, doing 3htr 2ch 3htr in the corners.







3) Using  Main colour  do 1dc 1ch in each ch-sp and 2dcs 2 ch 2dcs in each corner

4) Repeat row 3

5) Using Edge Colour finish with 1dc 1 ch in every ch-sp and 2dcs 2ch 2dcs in each corner.









Fasten off and weave in all ends...


Notice how my petals all stick up... I had already finished my blanket when I decided to change the design of the middle square to fasten the petals down...too late for me!






TA DAH!

THE LAZY BARKHAM HOOKER'S CAL2016






I am very very proud of how this has come out...I hope you love yours too. I'd love to see them so do post piccies. Now for a rest...x




Saturday 16 July 2016

Lazy Hooker's CAL Week 19

Repeat Week 5 (1 Large edge square)




THIS IS THE LAST SQUARE YOU NEED TO MAKE ....IT'S TIME TO JOIN THEM UP NEXT WEEK!


Sunday 3 July 2016

Lazy Hooker's CAL Week 17

Repeat Week 1 Small Starburst square (make 2)






*****A FEW OF YOU HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT JOINING THE SQUARES...****

So that you can get organised, you will need about 400g of any plain chunky yarn. I used King Cole Magnum Chunky in Stonewash as it's very good value and has a nice sheen like the King Cole Riot. 

You won't be starting the BIG JOIN til Week 20 so no panic...plenty of time to choose something!

Sunday 15 May 2016

Lazy Hooker's CAL WEEK 10

LARGE CENTRE SQUARE..      (make 1) 

1) Ch4, then do 15 tr in 4th ch from hook (the 1st chain you made) = 16 tr Slsttj




2) ch4 (=1tr +1ch) , 1tr 1ch in every tr around, slsttj. (16 tr +16 ch).




3)Slst into the next ch-sp,  Ch4 =1tr + 1 ch, 1 tr in same place (v-st), then do 1 v-st (1 tr 1 ch 1tr)  in each ch-sp  around (16 v-sts). slsttj












4) Slst in to the next ch-sp, *ch6, 1dc in same space to form a 6-ch loop, 1dc bewteen the next 2 posts, 1 dc in next ch-sp, 1 dc between next posts, 1 dc in next ch-sp, rep from * all the way round to form 8 x 6-ch loops. slst in the 1st dc.















5)  * Do (5 tr 2 ch 5 tr ) in each 6-ch loop , miss 1 dc, 1 dc in each of the next 3 dcs , repeat from  * slsttj. 8 petals worked


5 trebles, 2 chains in the 6-ch loop 

miss 1 dc then do 1 dc in each of the next 3 dcs







 6)* ch3, now working behind the petals, dc in the next v-st ch-sp ( by putting your hook from the back to the front through the ch-sp and complete the dc) , ch3, 1dc in 2nd (middle) dc of the 3 dcs on round below, repeat from * all the way round finishing with a slsttj at bottom of the 1st ch-3.















this shows the ch-spcs from the back



7) Still working behind the petals, do *ch6, slst at bottom of chain, 3 dc in next 3-ch sp, 1dc in next dc, 3 dc in next 3-ch sp, dc in next dc, rep from * finishing with a slsttj to bottom of first ch6. (8 x 6-ch loops worked



8) *5tr2ch5tr in next 6-ch loop , 1dc in next dc ( be careful not to miss the 'hidden' one), miss 3 dc, 1dc in next dc, miss 3dc, 1 dc in next dc, rep from * to end, slsttj (8 more petals worked)






9) Working behind the petals, *ch3, dc in centre of next petal, ch3, dc in next dc lying between the next 2 petals, rep from * to end, slsttj ( 16 3-ch spaces made)









10) *In the next 3-ch sp work (1dc, 2htr. 2tr, 3dbtr, ch2) , in the next 3-ch sp work (3dbtr, 2tr, 2htr,1dc), rep from * to end, slsttj (8 petals worked)


1dc, 2htr,3tr,3 dbtr, ch2 







11) Working behind the petals, *  Ch8, 1 bpdc (back post dc) around the dc from round 8 lying between the next 2 petals, ch6, 1 bpdc around the dc from round 8 lying between the next2 petals, rep from * to end, slsttj. (4 x 8-ch sp, 4 x 6-ch sp).



dc around the dc from rounnd 8, lying between the next 2 petals

12) Slip stitch in to the next 8-ch sp, ch4 (=1dbtr), 3 dbtr, 2 ch, 4 dbtr (corner made), * 1 tr in next dc (between the petals), 5 tr in next 6-ch sp, 1 tr in next dc (between the petals),  4dbtr 2 ch 4 dbtr in next 8-ch sp, rep from * to end finishing with the last tr in the last dc ans slsttj to top of 1st ch4. Squared off.



Back view




13) In this row we are going to catch up all  the petals formed so that they lay flat.
Ch3 (=1tr), 1 tr in each of the next 3 sts, then 1dbtr down in the middle of the next petal from the 1st round of petals and catch it up, then working  in the corner space work *3tr, 2 ch, now work a dbtr all the way down to the 2nd and 3rd rows of petals below and work it through the centre ch-sps to catch them both . Now finish the corner with 3tr.  Now do 1 tr in each of the next 5 sts( don't forget the 'hidden' stitch) then do 1dbtr all the way down to the 1st round of petals and catch this petal up,then continue to work 1 tr in to each of the next 5 sts. 1dbtr down to catch y up both of the next 2 petals from the 2nd and 3rd rows of petals, 1 tr in each of the next 5 sts, 1 dbtr down to catch up the next petal from the 1st petal round then repeat from * all the way round to complete the square finishing with 1 tr in last st, Slsttj to top of 1st ch3.






















14) ch4, 1 tr in same place (= begin v-st), miss 2 sts, v-st in next st (1tr1ch1tr), miss 2 sts, 1 v-st in  next st, * now work 3 tr in the corner space before the dbtr, 2 ch , 3 tr in the corner space after the dbtr, miss 2 sts, v-st in next st, [miss 2 sts v-st in next st] 6 times  rep from * all the way around, slsttj. (7 v-sts on each side)












15) slip stitch into the next v-st sp, begin popcorn :  ch4 , 4 tr in same place , remove hook and replace in top of ch4 then back through the last loop left, yo pull through = begin popcorn made. Ch4, miss next v-st, complete a 5 tr popcorn in next v-st , ch4, do **3tr 2 ch 3 tr in next corner space, ch4, *popcorn in next v-st, ch4, miss next v-st, rep from * 3 more times ( 4 popcorns made along the side), repeat the corner then repeat from * all the way round ending with a slst in the top of the 1st popcorn. (4 popcorns on each side).










16) ch3 =1tr, 1 tr in top of next popcorn,  do 3 tr in next 3-ch sp, 1tr in top  of next popcorn, 3 tr in next 3-ch sp,  *1 tr in each of the next 3 trs, 3tr 2ch 3 tr in next corner space, 1 tr in each of the next 3 trs, (3 tr next 3-ch sp, 1 tr in top of next popcorn ) 5 times then repeat from * to the end finishing with 2 trs in last 3-ch sp then slst to join to top of ch3 .













17) Ch2 =1 htr, 1 htr in every st around, doing 2 htr 2 ch 2 htr in every corner. Slst to join to top of 1st ch2.















18) Ch4 (=1tr +1ch) , * miss 1 st, 1 tr 1 ch in next st, rep from * along the sides,  doing 2 tr 2ch 2tr in each corner















19) Ch3, now work 2 trs in every ch sp and 3tr 2ch 3 tr in each corner as well as doing 2 trs before the corner trs on every side.






20) Ch3, 1 tr in every tr and 2tr 2ch 2tr in corners









   


21)  ch3, miss 1 st, 1 dc in next st, ch2, rep from *  doing 2dc1ch1dc in each corner. slsltj




22) Do not do this round too tight .Ch2, * 1dc in next ch-sp, ch1, rep from * doing 2dc 1ch 2dc in each corner..









23) OPTIONAL SURFACE CROCHET

I thought that the inner circle looked a bit plain next to all those petals so decide to jazz it up a bit using surface crochet. I wound my ball on to a contrasting bit of colour to the centre of the square then began by putting the hook under one of the posts on round 2.







Now simply slip stitch around going under every post.


When you get all the way round slip st up to the next round and repeat under the next round of trebles.







That's it, finished the main centre square...hope you like it!