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Wagon Wheel Block

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Hello!   This post contains a Free Pattern for my Wagon Wheel Block.   I wanted to create a block that would lend itself to Ombre projects and would also be suitable for stash busting as I have a lot of small remnants of yarn left over from my larger crochet blanket projects.

The pattern is made of simple stitches so should be suitable for beginners.    I made this up in Drops Paris which is 100% cotton in aran weight and works up on a 5mm hook.

Wagon Wheel Block – UK terms

Round 1.    Chain five and join to make a circle.

Round 2.    Chain 2, work 12 DC into the circle and join with a slip stitch to the second chain that started the round.

Round 3.     Chain 4,  (Tr, chain 1) repeat 11 times so that you have thirteen spokes to the wheel – (the chain that started the round plus 12 more spokes).   Slip stitch into the third chain of the 4 chains that started the round.

Round 4.     chain 2, DC into the space between the trebles on the previous round.   (2 DC into the space between trebles) repeat 11 times.   So you have two DC between each of the trebles on the previous row.   Join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 5.     Chain 4, (Tr, chain 1) repeat 24 times so that you have 26 spokes to the wheel – (the chain that started the round plus 25 more spokes).   Slip stitch into the third chain of the 4 chains that started the round.

Round 6.     Chain 2, DC into the space between the trebles on the previous round.   (2 DC into the space between trebles) repeat 24 times.   So you have two DC between each of the trebles on the previous row.   Join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 7.    Chain 2, (2DC into same stitch, Htr, 2 Tr into same stitch, DTr,  chain 5, miss three stitches and DTr into fourth stitch, 2Tr into same stitch, Htr, 2 DC into same stitch, DC, DC)  repeat twice, 2DC into same stitch, Htr, 2 Tr into same stitch, DTr,  chain 5, miss three stitches and DTr into fourth stitch, 2Tr into same stitch, Htr, 2 DC into same stitch, DC.  join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 8.   Chain 2, DC into each stitch from the row below to the corner 5 chains.   Work into each corner 3 DC, 2 chain, 3 DC.  Repeat to end of round and join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 9.     Chain 2, DC into each stitch from the row below.   At each corner work 2DC, chain 2, 2DC into the 2 chain space on the row below.    At end of round join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

NOTE – where you are changing colour on each round to create the ombre effect it works well if you move the start of each colour around rather than start and stop in the same place each time.

Wagon Wheel Block – US terms

Round 1.    Chain five and join to make a circle.

Round 2.    Chain 2, work 12 SC into the circle and join with a slip stitch to the second chain that started the round.

Round 3.     Chain 4,  (DC, chain 1) repeat 11 times so that you have thirteen spokes to the wheel – (the chain that started the round plus 12 more spokes).   Slip stitch into the third chain of the 4 chains that started the round.

Round 4.     chain 2, SC into the space between the trebles on the previous round.   (2 SC into the space between trebles) repeat 11 times.   So you have two SC between each of the trebles on the previous row.   Join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 5.     Chain 4, (DC, chain 1) repeat 24 times so that you have 26 spokes to the wheel – (the chain that started the round plus 25 more spokes).   Slip stitch into the third chain of the 4 chains that started the round.

Round 6.     Chain 2, SC into the space between the trebles on the previous round.   (2 SC into the space between trebles) repeat 24 times.   So you have two SC between each of the trebles on the previous row.   Join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 7.    Chain 2, (2SC into same stitch, HDC, 2 DC into same stitch, TRC,  chain 5, miss three stitches and TRC into fourth stitch, 2DC into same stitch, HDC, 2 SC into same stitch, SC, SC)  repeat twice, 2SC into same stitch, HDC, 2 DC into same stitch, TRC,  chain 5, miss three stitches and TRC into fourth stitch, 2DC into same stitch, HDC, 2 SC into same stitch, SC.  join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 8.   Chain 2, SC into each stitch from the row below to the corner 5 chains.   Work into each corner 3 SC, 2 chain, 3 SC.  Repeat to end of round and join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round.

Round 9.     Chain 2, SC into each stitch from the row below.   At each corner work 2SC, chain 2, 2SC into the 2 chain space on the row below.    At end of round join with a slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round

And there it is.   I hope you like it as much as I do.   Happy Crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Crochet blog – update #5

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Hello and welcome to my fifth weekly update!

This week has been all about getting my heart and spot squares finished.    I have completed all the blocks for four of the colours.   Sewing in the ends has been a long long job!   I laid out the finished blocks  in the order I want them to sit in the finished piece and I am preparing to start joining them up.   I plan to join them using the mid shade in each colour way but I might change my mind on that after testing a few styles.   Here is the layout I am working on.


The picture shows almost all the squares in a row and there are are another eight rows to complete!  I was given a single ball of every colour of Paris Drops cotton yarn for Christmas and this is the project I came up with for that yarn.   The pattern would be great for using up oddments though and the design would look very different with random colours instead of these single colour stripes.   I am planning to make it again mixing all the colours up as an experiment 🙂

Yarn Review –  Drops Paris – this is a strong cotton yarn that works up using a 5mm hook/needles.    The yarn comes in a wide range of colours – 47 available at the time of writing.  Some of the colours say that they are made from recycled denim and those tend to be more harsh in texture.   In general the yarn is relatively soft for cotton.   Drops Paris is made up of many thin strands and does have a tendency to split.  This means you have to watch carefully as you work but if you do find it splitting it is easy to pull back out and correct.    One really big plus for me is that I have hardly found any breaks/knots in the yarn.   It is very reasonably priced – I am picking up odd additional balls as required for around £1 per 50g ball.

Stash buster project – Even though this blanket project is a stash buster itself, using small bits of yarn, I am still finding that I have oddments left over.   As a break from sewing in the ends on all these blocks I came up with a use for those oddments.    This is a hair accessory I made.

I have put up a separate post  – hair accessory instructions in case you want to have a go at this.    It is soooo quick and I am really pleased with the results.    I am using fairly thick cotton per the review above, but if made using lighter, softer acrylic yarn the strands form lovely spirals which you can mix and match with the straighter ribbons.

In other (non-crochet) news, I have been working on two knitted blanket patterns which I will be sharing next week.   One of them is a chunky, soft and cosy blanket made with some lovely 100% merino wool (shown below) that I picked up at a craft show.   The other is a much lighter baby blanket with stripes and hearts.   I am looking to back the baby blanket with fleece and put some crochet edging round it but at this stage the blocks are waiting to be sewn together.

I think that is all I have this week – back to sewing in ends and sewing up blocks for me!   Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Hair accessory

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Hello!    I wanted to share this free pattern for a hair accessory with you.    Most of my making time at the moment is going into a large blanket made of smaller squares.   I am spending all my time making these squares and finishing off the ends.    The work is a stash buster in its own right as it uses small quantities of yarn to make each square.   However, I am still finding myself with some very small oddments and it hurts me to thrown those away so I have come up with this design to use even the smallest pieces of left over yarn!    Here is the finished result.



Instructions – Hair Accessory.

To make this you need small oddments of yarn, an elastic hair band/tie and the size of crochet hook appropriate to your yarn.   In my case I am using left over Drops Paris yarn which takes a size 5mm hook.

Start by making a magic loop that goes through the middle of the hair band.   I found this a bit of a mind bend to start with!   I am including a picture below so that you can lay your work down and copy mine if that helps!

Work 12 DC (SC US) into the magic loop.    You might need to vary this according to the weight of your yarn.   It doesn’t really matter how many stitches you put into the loop as long as you can pull it tight to circle the hair band – see below.

Without breaking the yarn work a chain to the length you require.   This will form one of the ‘ribbons’ in the final item.   If you are using light/acrylic yarn then the ribbon will spiral so you may need a longer chain.   In the yarn I am using the ribbons do not curl much and I used a chain of between 12 and 16 in the finished piece pictured.

When you have the chain to the length you require work back along the chain either using slip stitches or DC (US terms SC).   The SC will give the effect of a cord, DC (SC US) will give a thicker strip.    Finish off the strip with a slip stitch into the outer edge of the DCs in the magic loop.  This will reinforce the join between the ring and the strips and make the item more robust.

Join in other colours to the DC’s in the magic ring and repeat the steps above to add more strands to the accessory.   Keep these close together on one side of the ring so that the other side can sit against the wearers head without making it uncomfortable.

Finish the piece by sewing in the ends but this need not take long as you can run the loose ends down the length of the ribbons very quickly!    And that is it – you can play with colours – match them to other garments or use any random oddments in your stash!    These could look lovely on flower girls if they were worked all in cream/white or could be made to match the colours of flowers or bridesmaids dresses.

Hope you have a go at this and enjoy the results as much as I did.    I think it is a really fun way to use up tiny scraps of yarn and a lovely break from big projects.  Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Heart square

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Hello, in this post I am sharing a free pattern for a heart in a square with you.     A few weeks ago I designed a crochet heart and shared the pattern as a stash busting project.   I wanted to include my stash busting hearts in my Shades of the Rainbow blanket so I have designed a pattern to put the hearts into a square of the same size as my sample squares.

Here is a link to the heart pattern.   This pattern starts with a completed heart.   The heart you made should look like this.   I have also included the heart pattern again at the bottom of this post.

The picture above shows the start point for this pattern and the points where the outside border joins the heart are indicated with an X.

Heart in a Square pattern – UK version (US version below)

First round – slip stitch into the side of the heart in the stitch indicated in the picture above.  CH2, DC into next stitch, CH5, miss three stitches, TR into the next stitch (at the top right of the heart), DC into next stitch, CH5, DC into stitch at the top of the left side of the heart, TR, CH5, miss three stitches, 2DC, CH12, DC into the bottom stitch of the heart, CH12 and slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round to join to your start point.

Second round – CH2, DC, (2DC, CH2, DC) into the corner, 2DC at the top right hand side of the heart, 5 DC across the centre/top of the heart, 2DC into the top left hand side of the heart, (DC,2CH,2DC) into the left hand corner, 2DC, (7DC, 2CH,5DC) into the bottom left corner, DC into the stitch at the bottom of the heart, (5DC,2CH,7DC) into the bottom right corner and slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round to join to your start point.

Third round – CH2, DC all round working 2DC,2CH,2DC into the corner chains.

You should end up with a square that looks like this 🙂

Heart in a Square pattern – US version

First round – slip stitch into the side of the heart in the stitch indicated in the picture above.  CH2, SC into next stitch, CH5, miss three stitches, DC into the next stitch (at the top right of the heart), SC into next stitch, CH5, SC into stitch at the top of the left side of the heart, DC, CH5, miss three stitches, 2SC, CH12, SC into the bottom stitch of the heart, CH12 and slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round to join to your start point.

Second round – CH2, SC, (2SC, CH2, SC) into the corner, 2SC at the top right hand side of the heart, 5 SC across the centre/top of the heart, 2SC into the top left hand side of the heart, (SC,2CH,2SC) into the left hand corner, 2SC, (7SC, 2CH,5SC) into the bottom left corner, SC into the stitch at the bottom of the heart, (5SC,2CH,7SC) into the bottom right corner and slip stitch to the second of the chains that started the round to join to your start point.

Third round – CH2, SC all round working 2SC,2CH,2SC into the corner chains.

In case there are issues with the heart link or just in case you would like this pattern all in one place – here is the heart pattern:

Heart Pattern

UK terms

Make a magic loop, chain 3 and working into the magic loop, 3 dtr, 3tr, chain 1, 1dtr, chain 1, 3tr, 3dtr, chain 2, slip stitch into magic loop and pull the thread to close the centre of the heart.

second round – 2 sl stitch into the gap behind the three chain from the first round.  3dc into the next stitch (top of the left side of the heart), 3 dc into the next stitch and 2 dc into the following stitch.   Work 4 dc to take you to the bottom loop of the heart.  3dc into the bottom stitch of the heart, 4 dc, work 2dc, 3dc, 3dc into the next three stitches, 2 sl stitches and one final slip stitch into the centre of the heart.

third round – 2 slip stitches then 2dc into the next five stitches (around the top of the left side of the heart) 7 dc, 3dc into the bottom stitch of the heart, 7dc, 2dc into the next five stitches, 2 slip stitches and finish off to complete the heart.

US terms

Make a magic loop, chain 3 and working into the magic loop, 3TRC, 3DC, chain 1, 1TRC, chain 1, 3DC, 3TRC, chain 2, slip stitch into magic loop and pull the thread to close the centre of the heart.

second round – 2 sl stitch into the gap behind the three chain from the first round.  3SC into the next stitch (top of the left side of the heart), 3 SC into the next stitch and 2SC into the following stitch.   Work 4SC to take you to the bottom loop of the heart.  3SC into the bottom stitch of the heart, 4SC, work 2SC, 3SC, 3SC into the next three stitches, 2 sl stitches and one final slip stitch into the centre of the heart.

third round – 2 slip stitches then 2SC into the next five stitches (around the top of the left side of the heart) 7 SC, 3SC into the bottom stitch of the heart, 7SC, 2SC into the next five stitches, 2 slip stitches and finish off to complete the heart.

 

That’s all for now.    I will be sharing my completed blanket in a few weeks – just a few more squares to go – and a lot of ends to tie in!!

Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

2 June 2018

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Hello 🙂  Welcome to the third weekly update on my journey to being a full time craft blogger and designer.    Ooooh that sounds exciting when written down….  but to put it into perspective, this journey could take me the remainder of my working life and I might not actually be a full time craft blogger until I retire from paid employment in my 70’s!

This week I have been working on defining my goals and developing a tracker so I can measure progress.   Some of my goals feel like an awfully big stretch from where I am now but all the advice out there says to aim high!   The goals needed to be broken down into smaller targets for the next six months.   Here they are from my bullet journal…..   I will be adding to these targets as I work out what is most important and what works.

One of the top tips for beginner bloggers is to set up and manage your own mailing list.   I learnt quite a lot this week whilst researching  and setting up my mailing list.  If you are reading this you might have been invited to join mine!    I hope you will join 🙂  I will write a separate post on this in a couple of weeks when I can comment on how well it is working for me.

Focussing on the technical side of my blog this week I have also been researching hints and tips for bloggers on Pinterest.   There seem to be so many blogs out there about blogging and many of them are promoting courses that claim to enable bloggers to turn their hobby into full time income.   The courses are expensive!!   I am not against investing in my blog.   I have spent a little already on getting set up with my own website using 1&1  there is a link to 1&1 below (note this is an affiliate link which could give me a little income at no increased cost to you).   1&1 have several low cost entry plans where you can set up and really own your blog from the start giving more flexibility and protection for your work.   Many of the plans come with free domain names and it is good fun checking out which names are available – checking costs nothing 🙂

1&1 Ionos

At the moment, I believe that there is so much more I can learn from reading and researching without spending money on courses.   I have a long list of things to work on and I will share with you anything that makes a big difference.    The top tips I will be working on this week are as follows:

  • Improve board descriptions on Pinterest – include key words
  • Apply to join group boards – although this is getting a mixed press currently
  • Declutter my blog

On the creative side this week I have merged two projects!!   My sample blanket that was stalled because I couldn’t come up with a design I really liked, and the heart patterns from last week.   I have made a pattern for the heart within a square and it is the same size as the sample square pattern I produced earlier this year.   Here is a link to the free pattern for the sample square.   I will be writing up the pattern for the heart square this week so I can share it in next week’s update.

I have worked up a few heart squares in the Drops Paris – 100% cotton yarn and here they are laid out in the start of the design I plan to complete.   This is a great stash busting project.   The other really good thing about this project is that it is perfect for working up on the train!   I have worked out that I am going to need more yarn though…. not a help to my stash busting efforts.    I have a room full of yarn and seem to keep needing to buy more!! 🙂

I picked up a tip from Kat over at KrazyKabbage on the best conditions to photograph large projects outside and I have managed to take this photo of my big Sunshine Flower blanket.   This is the best photo I have taken so far – very happy with it.

In the evenings this week I worked a few more sections of my Spring Flower blanket.   I am really pleased with the way this is coming on and I am documenting the pattern at every stage so I will have another item to list on Etsy when I am done.  I don’t have a photo this week but will share again next week.

I will probably list the blanket on Etsy too but when I cost the blankets in terms of the time they take to make, plus materials, the price I need to charge makes them unaffordable.   I am listing them with little hope of a sale but at least they show the patterns.

Finally a weekly status report.  I am hugely excited by the leap in my advertising income which has almost doubled…… to 31p  🙂

  • Pinterest followers – 556
  • AdSense income to date – 31p
  • Subscribers – 1 (me – it was a test)
  • Etsy listings – 10
  • Etsy sales – 0
  • Page views last seven days – 34

I am starting to track page views – apparently this is key to success.    Stickytapeandstring.co.uk is currently running at around 140 page views per month.   Some bloggers quote 1000 per day as being the level you need to be taken seriously…. As I say – this is not going to be a short journey!    More next week….

happy crocheting and happy blogging,

Annie 🙂

27 May 2018

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Hello 🙂

Welcome to my second update.   I hope you have had a happy, productive week?   I have been busy finishing the little bags I started last week but Sunday did not start well.    I left my crochet in a bag in our living room over night, and this is what I found the following morning….

and this is the likely culprit!    We have three dogs, a mum and two pups.   The pups are just over a year old and still love to chew things!   The puppy in this pic is called Poppy and she is the worst for chewing things.   So far she has demolished various bags and shoes, including some expensive boots and the only pair of pricey sunglasses I have ever bought!    Our fault for leaving things in her reach I suppose.

Luckily for me my Mum loves to untangle yarn so I gave the tangled mess to her and now have a nice tidy ball again.     I finished the bags and basic bag pattern and put a blog post out about that.   bag pattern post.

I also made a few discs and hearts in the process – the discs were the bottom of the bags but I like the look of them on their own.   I might work them into a project of some kind but haven’t quite figured out what yet.    The hearts started out as motifs for the bags, from a basic pattern I found online.  I wasn’t very happy with the pattern so I adapted that to make a few medium and larger ones.  The larger ones are a bit more stable, I am very pleased with the pattern I created.

I am going to experiment with a heavier weight of yarn next.    I think these would make lovely table decorations for a wedding, baby shower or birthday.   I will write up the heart pattern so I can share it with you in a future post.

I made some in brighter colours too in Drops Paris yarn that I am worked sample squares in for a blanket.    I might try to work these hearts into the blanket design!

The other project I have been working on since I spoke to you last, is some bunting for a family birthday.    I put up a separate post on this as I managed to complete the work.   The bunting looks lovely and will be able to be reused unlike the tacky plastic stuff I normally buy.    I have been considering a design for crochet balloons but I am not sure I have that sorted yet 🙂   My post on the bunting includes the basic flag pattern and explains how I joined them into a garland.    You can read that post here  Bunting Pattern post

Last week I promised an update on my blog goals.    I put quite a bit of thought into this but I haven’t managed to create the bullet journal pages yet.  I am trying to keep it simple as I do find that keeping a bullet journal takes a lot of time.    The time I spend is lovely relaxing mindful time but I am not sure I have enough time available to devote so much of it to keeping a track of progress.   I will try to get these trackers done for next week’s update.   I do worry that I would make more progress if I didn’t spend so long tracking it 🙂

Status today – I have 544 Pinterest followers so I put on 22 this week.   Nothing exciting has happened with AdSense so I am still on 16p 🙂   I am getting a few page views, around 80 per week on average but no clicks.     I need to do some research on how to improve that if I want to achieve my goal of being able to spend more time on my crafting and blogging.   Maybe the adverts are not relevant enough.

I haven’t read up on mailing lists yet but mean to do that this weekend so watch this space on that one.   I haven’t listed anything new on Etsy either – I plan to write up the more complicated bag instructions along with some edged bunting and options for decoration then I will list both patterns.    I could list the bunting for sale but I want to use it at home – I will have to make some more!!

Finally, I was soooo thrilled to get a response to my first weekly update so this week I am planning to do a bit more research on my fellow crochet bloggers and leave a few comments on their posts, to see if I can make new connections and support people who are working on similar projects.   That’s all for now – more next week!

Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂