Happy New Year 2019!

Namaste, my lovely friends,

May the New Year bring you Good Health, Joyous moments with your Loved Ones, Peace and Contentment and of course Lots of Crafty Goodness!!

Recently I downloaded a planner that had a section for "Twenty before 2020".

I think it is a great idea. I am definitely going to make my list.

Why don't you give it a try? It will be fun to come back to the list in January 2020 and check how many of the goals you have achieved.

See you in the New Year!

Happy Holidays!!

Crochet Hexagon Blanket Free Pattern

Namaste friends, how are you?

Busy with your gift making/buying? Or are you lucky enough to reach the gift wrapping stage!

Let me help you with these ready-in-a-jiffy Free crochet patterns for a scarf and cowl.

November really flew by and for me, the main reasons were Diwali celebrations and long road trips. Since I don't drive, I am always in the passenger seat. And just staring out of the window while twiddling your thumbs seems like a crime to me! 

So I needed a crochet project that I could easily carry with me and it had to be easy enough to crochet in a moving car while occasionally admiring the passing scenery. 

The Hexagon crochet blanket seemed an ideal project to carry along. The hexagon pattern is very easy, in fact you could actually crochet it while looking out of the window. 

I decided to go for a new colour scheme, something different from my usual choice of bright colours. I think I would call this a woodland colour scheme with its brown, green and yellow colours. Do you like this colour combination?

I have used an Indian yarn called Ruby Grande.

Crochet Hexagon Pattern

Materials:

Yarn: DK wt yarn*

Hook: 4.5 mm

Yarn needle

Quantity of yarn and blanket size will be updated upon completion.

Gauge: Each hexagon is approx 7.5" side to side and 8.5" corner to corner

Note: Ch 3 at beg of each round counts as a dc.

          The pattern is written in US terms.

Stitch abbreviations (In US terms)

beg: beginning 

ch: chain

sl st; slip stitch

dc: double crochet

rep: repeat

sp: space

Rnd: round

nxt: next

Ch 4, join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 3, dc into ring, ch 2, (2dc into ring, ch2) 5 times, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (12 dc, 6 ch-2 sps)

Rnd 2: Ch 3, dc in nxt st, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp, * dc in nxt 2 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp,* repeat from * around, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (24 dc, 6 ch-2 sps)

Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in nxt 2 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp, * dc in nxt 4 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp,* repeat from * around, dc in nxt st, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (36 dc, 6 ch-2 sps)

Rnd 4: Ch 3, dc in nxt 3 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp, * dc in nxt 6 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp,* repeat from * around, dc in nxt 2 sts, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (48 dc, 6 ch-2 sps)

Rnd 5: Ch 3, dc in nxt 4 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp, * dc in nxt 8 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp,* repeat from * around, dc in nxt 3 sts, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (60 dc, 6 ch-2 sps)

Rnd 6: Ch 3, dc in nxt 5 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp, * dc in nxt 10 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp,* repeat from * around, dc in nxt 4 sts, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (72 dc, 6 ch-2 sps)

Rnd 7: Ch 3, dc in nxt 6 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp, * dc in nxt 12 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) into ch-2 sp,* repeat from * around, dc in nxt 5 sts, join with sl st into top of beg ch 3. (84 dc, 6 ch-2 sps). Fasten off.

As you can see it is a very simple pattern. The hexagons grow with each addition of (dc, ch2, dc) into the corner ch-2 spaces. I decided to go for seven rounds as I wanted big hexagons. You can make your hexagons any size you like. 

In fact, with a chunky yarn, you could go on increasing and end up with a lovely hexagon blanket/rug.

Some patterns call for ch 3 at the corners, but for this blanket, I found that ch 2 was sufficient. Feel free to adapt the pattern to suit your purpose.

Here are the hexagons all joined together. I was going to stop here but the colours and the size of the hexagons seemed "too loud" for a baby blanket so I am going to add a few more motifs and make it a throw.

Joining the hexagons

For my first hexagon blanket - which you can see HERE I used the join-as-you-go method also known as JAYGO. But as this blanket was supposed to be a portable project I made all the hexagons first and then joined them.

The hexies are joined on the wrong side by slip stitching into the back loops only. I will go into detail in my next post.

I wanted the colour placement to be random. But "random" is something that just does not come easily to me. Maybe it is the Virgo in me, Lol!

So I came up with this chart to help me.

I love this method of joining as the hexagons seem to magically float next to each other and the actual joining needs only 2-3 days, (speed depending on what's on the telly). LOL! 

I had blocked the blanket but as I plan to add more motifs it is still a WIP.

I wanted to keep the sides straight so I have added half hexagons to the sides. The top and bottom edges will remain rippled.

Any suggestions for a border for this blanket are most welcome. :)

Please let me have your ideas in the comments.

Check out the half hexagon pattern and joining process in detail, in this next post.

Until then, Happy crafting! :)

* This post contains affiliate links which if you use for any purchase, may yield me a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you.

Flowers in my window cowl crochet pattern

Namaste friends. Sharing my latest pattern - the Flowers in my window cowl crochet pattern.

Did you have pen friends when you were a teen? My brother and I had lots of pen pals all over the globe. Wonder where I am going with this? :)

Our European pen pals would send us beautiful photos in which the houses would have these beautiful boxes in the windows filled with gorgeous colourful flowers. Those lovely flowers were the inspiration behind the name of this cowl. 

Sadly, no one uses snail mail anymore and we are no longer in touch with our pen pals. Somehow an email does not have the same warmth as a beautifully written long letter filled with anecdotes and juicy gossip.

The inspiration for this cowl pattern was a small crochet chart diagram on Pinterest. It looked like small four-petaled flowers strewn across a lattice background.

At first glance, it may look like many motifs have been joined together, but the cowl is worked in one piece. And it is worked in the round no there is no seaming involved.

I modified the pattern slightly to make it seamless. And like most of my patterns, this cowl too starts with a round of foundation single crochet, so no long chains to count.

Yarn:  DK weight approx 150 gms *

Hook: 4.50 mm *

Size: 40 inches around and 10 inches wide. The pattern also has instructions to change the length and width of the cowl. 

The pattern PDF is available in my Etsy and Craftsy shops.

The cowl would make a gorgeous gift, just right for the coming festive season. Don't you think so?

Let me have your thoughts on this cowl pattern in the comments below. You can also get in touch with me on Facebook and Instagram. 

See you soon with some more crochet goodness...

* This post contains affiliate links which if you use for any purchase, may yield me a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you. 

Baby steps and lots to share

Namaste friends, Mumbai is bedecked with flower garlands, strings of colourful lights and everywhere you can hear music that makes you want to get on your feet and dance. All this is in celebration of Navratri - the festival that celebrates Shakti - woman power, and the triumph of good over evil. I have mentioned a bit more about Navratri in this post.

Nav also means New and my BFF Ashlesha egged me on that there is no better time to begin my new foray back into blogging, to write my first post for 2018. So a big thanks to her for her encouragement.

Ahem... by the way, did you see I mentioned Mumbai above! Yes, my friends, we have finally moved back to Mumbai our hometown and we are thrilled to bits. :)

Seven years is a long time to spend away from your family, siblings and friends. But I will always have fond memories of Ahmedabad - the clean and beautiful roads, the tons of fast food options and of course the lovely friends I have there.

Year 2018 brought a lot of wonderful things for us;

- Hubby was offered a new job in Mumbai - hence the move back,

- we shifted to a new house near his workplace, where I got one room especially for my yarn!!

- our son completed his Masters and

- we went to the US for his convocation!! 

Unfortunately, in all this excitement, my blog was neglected, but always on my mind. Now how does one get back into things after such a long gap? With baby steps of course! :)

Now the good thing is that through all this, I was crocheting like crazy. Had to, as that is the only thing that kept me from going bonkers. Even crocheted on the plane from Mumbai to Atlanta and then back from New York to Mumbai! I have a set of wooden crochet hooks specially bought for this purpose. Can't afford to lose my special favourite hooks in airport security, you see. ;)

Here are pics of some of the items I have made. Each item will get a separate post later with all the details.

If you have reached this point, thank you so much for visiting my blog and sticking around. Do watch for the next post as there will be free patterns.

I have added tons of crochet books to my collection which I will share in a later post.

Also, I am now conducting crochet classes and I am super excited about it. More details will be shared on the blog later.

Let me know which of the above projects has piqued your interest.

Or just drop a few lines in the comments. it will mean a lot to me.

See you later, crafters :)