I Talk To Yarn!

Like a lot of crazy crochet people during this difficult worldwide pandemic, I have been locked away with my quite substantial yarn stash, whiling away the time crocheting and whipping up designs.

I have been drawing up quite a few new designs as my head just refuses to stop doing so. If I am out on my lawn mower I find by the time I am finished, I have a new idea all formatted out in my head and I am reaching for a pen and paper to jot it down. This happens no matter what I am doing. I just try to remember my ideas for a more appropriate time.

I have truly done my best to use stash yarn for many new designs, but sometimes it just is not enough.

I have one new idea that I have been itching to start. I then start to think about what yarn I need for it and of course colour!

If I had my way every single design would be made in the only colour truly worthwhile of being named Overlord of all Colours! Yes. Of course I am talking about PURPLE! I would truly make everything in purple if I could, but being a designer I do try to be a little bit diverse. Just don't suggest I work in GREEN (yuck) and we will probably get along fine, and don't get me started on RED! Red I only use very, very occasionally. One of my only designs in red is my Frankie Drake Cloche Hat (click here for a link to the pattern).

Frankie Drake Cloche hat. Pattern available on

Etsy (click here)

,

Ravely (click here)

and

Lovecrafts (click here).

Suitable Yarn to Make

Frankie Drake (click here).

For this new design, I had a NEED, LONGING, NECESSITY, UNDENIABLE URGE for Scheepjes Whirl yarn and thankfully my LYS has finally re-opened with a 2 person limit on how many people can be in the store at any one time.

I pondered long and hard as to which colour I should use. Of course I truly wanted to use Whirl in Lavenderlicious, but I have recently done a blanket in this and so I knew I must resist.

I looked at many items made in all the colours, trying to decide what colour would be just perfect. This had me rushing for the anti nausea pills as I came across Peppermint Patty Cakes (Green YUCK!). Once my stomach had finally calmed down, I narrowed the choice down to Mid Morning Mocha'roo and Licorice Yum Yum. Trying to decide between two colours totally does my head in at times. I find myself swapping and changing my mind over, and over, and of course the Lavenderlicious keeps popping into my head as the ultimate choice.

Find Scheepjes Whirl Click Here

The outing to the LYS was a real treat after being stuck in for so long, but my trusty little car had not forgotten the way there. I could hear the joyous hum from the motor as it knew just where to go. I soon found myself stepping over the threshold into yarn heaven. I didn't let any of the other yarns entice me to stop and adore them. Don't you worry, they were really trying. I could hear them whispering, 'Look at me, I am so soft'. 'Come on over here, you know you want to squeeze me! I told them to leave me alone in a harsh tone and they did quieten down considerably.

I stayed focused on my mission and headed straight for the Whirl section. I quickly scanned the shelves looking for the Mid Morning Mocha'roo and finally found one lone cake sitting all by itself as though being shunned by the other cakes. Normally this find would have had me singing BUT.... I needed TWO. My bottom lip dropped to the floor and I had to resist the urge to cry, or throw a tantrum. I managed to hold it all together as the last thing I could want is to be banned from the yarn store. Looking again for the Licorice Yum Yum my eyes landed on the LAVENDERLICOUS! I slapped myself a few times and forced my gaze to move on. 'My eyes, oh my eyes'. My gaze had fallen into the abyss, landing on the PEPPERMINT PATTY CAKE. This had me staggering to hang onto the shelves as nausea took hold.

Regaining my composure and averting my eyes from the hideous green, they finally landed on several cakes of Licorice Yum Yum. I reached for two cakes and headed to the checkout. The Mocha'roo was taunting me as I passed it 'You know you really want me, I'm much better than Licorice, C'mon buy me'. 'You know I can't' I muttered to it. I held my head high and kept walking. The store owner did give me an odd look as I paid for my purchase, but doesn't everyone talk to the yarn? Surely they were standing well back simply due to the covid restrictions and no other reason. Oh, well back to my designs!

You can follow me on the following:

Facebook: Auburncraft Crochet (click here).

Instagram: Auburn1414 (click here).

I also run a Facebook group in partnership with an Irish Designer: Two Redheads Crochet (click here).

Now to the boring stuff!

You are welcome to sell items made from my patterns, but please credit me as the designer and add a link to purchase my pattern in your sale.

Many hours of work go into the designing and producing of my patterns.

You are purchasing/downloading my patterns for personal use only. Please note my patterns and my images are copyright protected, please do not use my images to sell your items. No pattern or photograph may be reproduced or distributed — mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying, without written permission of Auburncraft Design. Please do not copy, rewrite, or redistribute this pattern as your own or otherwise. Just because you can copy does not mean you should. Please do not resell my patterns. This post may contain affiliate links.

Dragonfly Hide n Seek Crochet Shawl

What fun it is to see the Dragonflies playing Hide n Seek amoungst the flowers and diamonds.

The pattern for Dragonfly Hide N Seek can be found on Ravelry (click here), Etsy click here) and Lovecrafts (click here).

Dragonfly Hide n Seek Shawl

If you have not noticed or maybe it is your first time visiting my blog, I kind of love dragonflies! I also love flowers!

Dragonflies have a habit of appearing in my work as I keep thinking up new ways to incorporate them into my designs.

The Filet Crochet Technique is used for this project and the stitches are basic. A need for concentrating is there due to the width of the shawl. You have over 300 stitches per row.

I used 2 x Scheepjes Whirl in Shrinking Violet (click here for yarn) for this project.

I worked from the inside of the first ball till completion and then from the outside of the second ball to keep the colours flowing. Once the main body of the shawl was completed, I then worked from the inside of the remaining ball to make the border along the bottom edge. This kept the colours all flowing nicely.

This versatile shawl can be worn many ways.

The testing process is so important to my designs and my hard working testers deserve credit for their efforts. You will always find a page on in my patterns dedicated to showing off their efforts. Some people find having extra pages to a pattern annoying, but to me these people deserve to be credited and so I do. You can choose to omit printing this page if you like. Below is some of their incredible work.

Test Shawl by Angee Hudson. Made using Cotton Kings Twirls Deluxe in Edcora Red.

Test Shawl by Michelle Ross. Made using Nako Angora Luks col 1915.

Test Shawl by Amy Elizabeth Peterson. Made using Redheart Its a Wrap in Rainbow.

Test Shawl by Asra Konzak. Made using Cotton Kings Twirl in Rainbow.

Test Shawl by Jamie Johnson. Made using Cotton Kings Twirl in Yellow Citrine. Approx 1748yds used.

Test Shawl by Stephanie Joann Nolasco. Made using Caron Cakes.

Test Shawl by Michelle Westwood. Made using Lalables

Test Shawl by Cindy Cary. Made using Scheepjes Whirl in Peppermint Patty,

I had someone recently trying to pick my brains about the stitch composition of my Dragonflies as they are (according to the person) neater and more defined than other patterns they have seen. Of course I am not going to state outright how I achieve this as it is in the pattern, but I do have my very own way of combining stitches to achieve my particular Dragonfly.

It may seem mean not to just openly share my method, but this particular shawl has taken over 200 hours from idea, to drawing and then to construction and slowly working its way through the pattern testing process. Imagine asking a plumber, doctor, architect, cleaner or anyone else to share their work processes or work for free! Yeah I don't think this is gonna happen!

You can follow me on the following:

Facebook: Auburncraft Crochet (click here).

Instagram: Auburn1414 (click here).

I also run a Facebook group in partnership with an Irish Designer: Two Redheads Crochet (click here).

Now to the boring stuff!

You are welcome to sell items made from this pattern, but please credit me as the designer and add a link to purchase my pattern in your sale.

Many hours of work has gone into the designing and producing of this pattern.

You are purchasing/downloading this pattern for personal use only. Please note my patterns and my images are copyright protected, please do not use my images to sell your items. No pattern or photograph may be reproduced or distributed — mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying, without written permission of Auburncraft Design. Please do not copy, rewrite, or redistribute this pattern as your own or otherwise. Just because you can copy does not mean you should. Please do not resell my patterns. This post may contain affiliate links.

A New Design is Coming!

Having survived Christmas and made my way into 2020, I was extremely happy to get two new blanket designs off to my testers. My testers were all really glad to be released from the locked room I keep them in and allowed to get to work on the roughly 28 pages of the pattern put in front of them. A couple of them complained about not being allowed to go home for Christmas, but I did allow them some turkey scraps, so they should all be good to work! If I can force them to all work really hard, not sleep and generally crochet 24 hours a day, I am hoping to have the designs really to publish towards the end of February.

I made a promise to one of my testers a few months back that I would name a design after her and so I named the two blankets, Bouquet for Bethany Blanket and Vintage Bouquet for Bethany Blanket.

The blankets are a mixture of Filet work and Popcorn stitches and I am really looking forward to publishing them. The patterns are similar, with one using a solid yarn and having a variation on the border to make it an individual design. The other a slow colour change yarn for a completely different look. Vintage Bouquet for Bethany is made using Bendigo Woollen Mill 4ply cotton and Bouquet for Bethany I have done in Scheepjes Whirl.

Yarn and colour choice can take a design and change the look of it completely. It then becomes an extension of the person making it with their choices.

Sneak peek Vintage Bouquet for Bethany Blanket coming soon.

I have been using Scheepjes Whirl yarn a bit over the last few months and had some success with my Flight of the Dragonflies Blanket and my Fishing for Luck Shawl. Both have been accepted well and are proving to be my top sellers.

Fishing for Luck Shawl is available on: Etsy (click here).Ravelry (click here) and Lovecrafts (click here).

Flight of the Dragonfly Blanket is available on: Etsy (click here). Ravelry (click here) and Lovecrafts (click here)

Left: Fishing for Luck Shawl. Right: Dragonflies in Flight Blanket.

I have quite a number of partially completed original designs on the hook at present and should have some great things coming in 2020.

Thanks to everyone who supported my designs and patterns in the past 12 months. I appreciate it!

Now to the boring stuff! You are welcome to sell items made from my patterns, but please credit me as the designer and add a link to purchase my pattern in your sale.

Many hours of work goes into the designing and producing of my patterns.

If you purchase/download my patterns, they are for personal use only. Please note my patterns and my images are copyright protected, please do not use my images to sell your items. No pattern or photograph may be reproduced or distributed — mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying, without written permission of Auburncraft Design. Please do not copy, rewrite, or redistribute this pattern as your own or otherwise. Just because you can copy does not mean you should. Please do not resell my patterns.