Bobble Baby Blanket Sneek Preview!

I just couldn't wait any longer to give you a sneek-peek at my latest project, my Bobble Baby Blanket.
Voila!

I just love it! I just decided I wanted to do something using Blackberry Stitch which I haven't used much before and so just started using some left-over lemon yarn. After a few rows of Blackberry Stitch I thought I needed to introduce some colour and chose the soft pastels of one of my favourite brands by ICE called Baby Design. You can find the Baby Design range here. The one I'm using is the yellow/pink/lilac/blue. I also love their Dancing Baby range. It's just a shame they don't name the different colour combinations to make them easier to identify! As I say, this one is pastel shades but there are also very bright ones - my Carnival Hoodie and Blanket Set, which you can find here and here, is made with one of the bright combinations in the Dancing Baby range, which you can find here.

SO, I changed yarn to introduce some colour and decided also to change stitch, experimenting a bit before finally deciding on simple half trebles. Just a note again here that I use UK crochet terms which are different from those used in many other places including the US. So, here is a chart giving the terms and their abbreviations according to which you use. As you can see, my half trebles are half double crochets elsewhere. I think the Blackberry Stitch is the same everywhere.

  

US	UK
chain(ch)	chain(ch)
single crochet (sc)	double crochet (dc)
double crochet (dc)	treble (tr)
half double crochet (hdc)	half treble (htr)
triple crochet (trc)	double treble (dtr)
slip stitch (sl st)	slip stitch (sl st)

Here are some close-ups of the Blackberry Bobbles. I finally settled on three rows of bobbles (which is actually 4 rows of crochet) followed by 5 rows of half trebles, then 3 more rows of bobbles. It's really quite a simple pattern but I really like the way it is working out.

The blackberry bobble rows are actually worked on the wrong side of blanket but the bobbles puff out on the right side.

Here is a very quick outline of my basic pattern.

Foundation chain.

Multiples of 4, plus 3 extra at the end for turning.

Row 1.

Skip 3ch (count as 1 half treble) half treble into the 4th chain from hook, then half treble into each chain to end. Turn

Row 2.

Ch1, double crochet into each of first 2 stitches * treble5tog into next stitch, 1dc into each of next 3 sts* repeat from * to last 3 sts. Treble5tog into next stitch, 1dc into each of last 2 sts. Turn.

Row 3

Ch 3 (count as 1 half treble). 1 half treble into each stitch to end. Turn

Row 4.

Ch1, 1 dc into each of first 4 sts * work 1 treble5tog into next st, then 1 dc into each of next 3 sts* Repeat from * to last stitch, 1dc. Turn

Row 5

Ch3, 1 half treble into each stitch to end. Turn.

TIP: to get a nice neat straight edge at each end of the row I always work the last stitch into the final chain not into the space.

Rows 2-5 are actually the pattern rows, the treble5tog in one stitch making the blackberry bobble. You then repeat rows 2-5 for as long as you like! As you can see I have just done 3 bobble rows which is rows 2-5 and then rows 2 & 3 again. I then follow with 4 more rows of half trebles but no bobbles before beginning this pattern repeat, rows 2-5, again. I hope that makes sense!

A quick guide on how to treble5tog. Yarn over hook, hook into stitch, YO & pull back through st as if working a treble (3 loops on hook). Yarn over & pull through first 2 loops on hook only (2 loops remaining). *YO, go through SAME stitch again, YO & pull back through, YO & pull through first 2 loops only* repeat * to * for a total of 5 times, ending up with 6 loops on hook. Yarn over & pull through all 6 loops. Secure bobble with 1chain/slip stitch.

After working treble5tog into the same stitch you'll end up with 6 loops on hook as in the pic above. Then yarn over & pull through all 6 loops on hook, like this.....

Then secure the blackberry bobble with 1chain/slip stitch before working 1 dc into next stitch as per pattern.

This is the view of the wrong side. If you turn the work over you'll see the bobble puffed out on the other side. And that's it!! 

Well, I've spent much longer than I planned writing this post so must love you and leave you till next time! Don't hesitate to get in touch if you want any help or advice with these instructions - or with anything else in my posts. Just one final request tho', please don't use my photos, although you are welcome to use links to my pages, and if you do use my pattern or instructions please DO acknowledge the source and include a link to my blog page. Thanks, BFN, Tricia xx

More Pups and Projects

I thought you might like a pup update! For those who haven't read my previous pups post, my glorious bromeliad, which was a birthday pressie from a dear friend in June and which still has its original flower more than two months later, also had 'pups'. Apparently that's what you call the new plants which shoot off from the base of the mother plant. Well, I decided a few days ago that it was time for the biggest of these pups to be delivered! So, having watched a few internet tutorial videos I got ready to play puppy midwife! And this is the result!

As you can see, the mother plant survived very well and looks as beautiful as ever - she's positively blooming!

Everything didn't quite go exactly to plan tho'...... Following the internet advice I had intended to take off only the two biggest pups but I think I had let the biggest one get too big and it needed much more force than I had thought to gently break it away from the mother plant - and in that process the compost holding the other littlies in got broken apart and they literally fell out!! Obviously, they were not as strongly attached as this big one which I think was taking the lion's share from the mother. So, I potted the littlies up together for company. I hope they are big enough to go it alone! Maybe they'll actually do better now that they are away from Big Brother!

It's been about a week now and two of them look to be doing fine. The tiniest one might not make it tho'. 

I'm really VERY excited to see how they all get on! There was actually another medium sized brother, not pictured here, which I took to my friend who bought me the mother plant. According to my research we can be hopeful that these plants will produce their own beautiful pink flower in 1-3 years time and then pups of their own after that! Isn't nature wonderful!

Well, besides delivering pups, I've been working on a very special crochet restoration project which unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures of as I went along! I was asked by my brother if I could repair and restore a much-loved blanket that my darling Mum had made some years ago for his Grand-daughter, Dxxxx, who is now 11. The blanket has been so much loved that it was literally coming apart at the seams. Not only that, but I discovered that some of the yarn had broken and the granny squares were unravelling from the insides! Despite having no idea if I could actually do it, I undertook to try. 

The first issue was locating some matching yarn, especially as the blanket had been made years before! I searched through all my Mum's left-over yarns which I had kept, but without success. I really thought then that I had no chance of matching the yarns, especially as they were not common colours but a very unusual bright pink and deep purple! Then I thought of one of my favourite wool shops in the centre of Skipton - a long way from home but a place I enjoy spending the day when I meet up with friends. So, armed with two strands of yarn to match up, off I went - and yippee! My lovely wool lady not only had a PERFECT match for one yarn but, incredibly, for BOTH! FANTASTIC! Not only that but she only charges £1 per 100g ball for many of her yarns which is amazing! 

So, I set about painstakingly restoring my beloved Mum's blanket, re-sewing all the seams and, to my own amazement, re-crocheting the inside rows of Granny Squares, reattaching them to the previous and following rows! I was amazed that you really can't see where the repairs are at all! I really wish I had taken before and after pictures! Too late now tho' because I've already returned it. 

Anyway, although it turned out surprisingly well, it is nevertheless still past it's beautiful best and the yarn is fading in places so, I returned to my Skipton wool lady and bought several more balls of each colour - and started a new exact relica of the original! And here it is.......

This new one is a surprise still to be delivered - I didn't tell anyone I was making it. I still have all the ends to weave in but once that's done I'll take it down to Staffordshire on my next visit. So Dxxxx will be able to keep the original much-treasured blanket my Mum made for her and use this new replica that I have made.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

I'm amazed at how blue it looks in these pictures because it's actually a deep purple! 

There was something very special about being able to restore my Mum's original blanket and then re-creating it again in a completely new one. And there was definitely a 'meant-to-be' about finding exactly the right coloured yarns in Skipton!!

As usual, as soon as one project gets close to completion I seem compelled to start another new one - and so my Bobble Baby Blanket has been born! But more of that next time.....

Bye for now, Tricia xx