Monday 11 July 2016

Frida's Flowers Pattern Set Eight

So here I am again with the final part of the Frida's Flowers CAL!

After all your hard work crocheting your motifs this set of patterns will probably come as a bit of a relief! It has been amazing to see your near completed projects popping up on social media and I would like to say thank you to everyone who has sent images and lovely emails over the last few weeks - it means so much to know you've enjoyed your Frida's Flowers Crochet Along experience.





When I was thinking about the edging for the project I had lots of big ideas - I thought about little 'Day of the Dead' type skull motifs and love hearts. I envisaged more flowers and elaborate lace, but in the end it occurred to me that the ideal frame for the design should be a simple one so that the flowers became the focus and so I decided to try and emulate the idea of embroidered zig zags which are so common in Mexican textiles. I kind of had in mind the image of sewn ricrac fabric tape.




When you work an edging it is neater to work into stitches themselves rather than into the spaces between stitches, this is especially the case when working into treble crochet (US double crochet).
Working into stitch spaces will accentuate the gaps, so try to work into the post of the stitch instead.





It isn't essential that you achieve the same stitch count as me, but you need to make sure that your repeat works out so that you work 3dc (3sc US) into the stitches at the top of the zig zags - if this means you need to skip an extra stitch somewhere this should be fine.



I think the final round in black really finishes the blanket off nicely, but you could always add more rounds or use a different shade.


So there we go - Frida's Flowers all finished! Here is my version below photographed on the living room floor! 




The image of the blanket below has been sent to me by an amazing crocheter called Lucia - isn't it amazing! I adore Lucia's layout. You can visit Lucia's blog page on Facebook by following this link.


It is always quite sad when a CAL comes to an end and always incredible to think back at how quickly the time has flown. Frida's Flowers has been my 6th crochet along project in as many years - I designed 4 projects using Rowan Yarns between 2011 and 2014 and have designed for Stylecraft for the last 2 years, but now I think it is time for me to move on again and so I am beginning to think about my own CAL design for 2017 - as soon as I have anything concrete to tell you about I will let you know!

In there mean time you may want to check out my Sunshine and Showers Mystery CAL that I have designed for Crochet Now magazine and look out for my new blanket kit project Mexican Diamonds, which will be launched at the end of July. 

I am sure that the guys at Stylecraft have plenty up their sleeves to keep you going through the Autumn so be sure to keep an eye on them too!

I love the challenge of designing the Crochet Along projects and hope that you have all enjoyed your Frida's Flowers experience too. 

Sending you all much love and crochet happiness!
Jane x