Confessions of a Barkham Hooker

Monday, 23 March 2020

Day 5 CORONAVIRUS CAL

FRIDAY 27TH MARCH (edited)

HEARTS for MOTHERING SUNDAY

Hearts for all of our Mothers, both past and present; whether separated by time, distance or illness.

I wrote this on a very beautiful Mothering Sunday here in the UK. We will all have found it an odd one. Whilst I was lucky to have my own 3 children around me all day I felt the acute sorrow of not being able to see or talk to my own Mum. She is suffering from advanced dementia and now lives in a care home which shut its doors to all visitors over 10 days ago. So let's think of ALL those Mums all over the world and pray we get to see them healthy and in person again very soon.

27) Ch 4 (=1 tr +1 chain), * miss 1 stitch, 1 tr in next stitch, ch1, repeat from * working the last treble into the top of the chain 3 at the start of row 26.

28) Ch3, work 1 tr in every tr and in every ch-sp along, working the last treble into the top of the chain 3 at the start of row 27.

29) Begin the puff (Ch3, yo into treble at bottom of the chain 3, pull up a loop, yo pull through 2 loops, yo into same stitch, pull up a loop, yo pull through 2 loops, yo pull through all 3 loops),
*ch3, miss 6 stitches (NOT 7 as on the chart...sorry), work a 3-tr-puff V-Stitch into next stitch, repeat from * to end, working a 3tr puff into the top of the ch3 at the start of row 28. [3 tr-puff V-stitch: (yo, into stitch, pull up a loop, you pull through 2 loops) 3 times, yo pull through all 4 loops, now chain 2, then repeat the 3tr-puff
in the same stitch as the first 3tr-puff. DON'T TURN

begin the puff

3tr puff V-stitch

30) Join new yarn to top of the 3tr-puff at the start of row 29, ch4, miss 1st 3 trebles from row 28 then *work a htr into each of the next 2 trebles on row 28, working over the top of the 3 chains from row 29 (see photos), chain 2, 1dc in the ch-2-sp in the middle of the next 3tr-puff V-stitch, chain 2, repeat from * to end, finishing with dc into the top of the last 3 tr-puff. TURN.

31) Ch3, now work 2 trebles in every 2-ch-sp, 1 tr in every treble, and 1 tr in every dc to end finishing with 1 tr in top of ch2 at start of row 30.

Saturday, 21 March 2020

KEEP CALM AND CROCHET under Coronavirus

THE CORONAVIRUS CAL

A STASH-BUSTING, TIME-FILLING, GROUP-HUGGING PROJECT TO HELP US THROUGH THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AND MONTHS...

As I write, it is Friday 20th March. Today all the schools in the UK have closed until further notice. All major events and festivals have been cancelled already. There is a lot of negative stuff flying around the ether.

There is also a LOT of positive stuff. Let's focus on the good things coming out of this.
Here we will crochet for inner calm, for peace of mind and to forget the outside world for a few hours a day.
We will think positive thoughts and count our blessings.

Finally; "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop ." CONFUCIUS

A sneaky taster of what's to come...

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

I will be designing this DAILY CAL as I go and will endeavour to stay one step ahead of you if at all possible so please bear with me...Not all of you will have the time to complete it daily...that is perfectly ok. Some of you will be wanting more. So start another one. Teach someone else in the house to crochet. Do it at your own pace. Breathe.

THERE WILL BE MISTAKES! As any of you who have ever written a pattern know, it takes an awful lot of time to triple check....as I am keen to get this CAL out as fast as possible there are bound to be errors on my part so PLEASE bear with me. Ask for help from both me and the wider crochet community.
There is no specific colourway...I am using up odds and sods from my stash. You can use as many or as few colours as you like. Leave your ends long enough to sew in...try to do this after every row to save yourself that horrid job at the end!
Do not get too hung up about the stitch count. Crochet is SO forgiving. As long as you are within 5 stitches or so IT WILL BE OK! You can always decrease or increase evenly along the next plain row to regain the correct amount. Don't forget that the edge will hide a multitude of sins and mistakes...
I will try to provide the pattern in both words and chart form where possible. Try to use BOTH.
I will use photos where possible but will not post too many for the sake of time.

MATERIALS NEEDED

A size 4mm hook

A size 4.5mm or 5mm hook (for doing the foundation chain and linen-type stitches)

About 16 x 100g balls of DK yarn. I say about because as I haven't completed this yet I cannot say for sure.....

There might be more to come but I will add them when needed.

Sunday, 1 April 2018

Hookers on the edge...again

Here's the link to the edge that I posted a while ago for those who wanted to finish...I wonder how many people have actually done a section each week?! I hope you've enjoyed this CAL...I'd love to see photos of your finished ones.