Raindrops

It's been a lovely Winters day here in my patch, bright, sharp, and blinkin' cold. Sunshine and shadows, but oh it has been chilly! It's felt like the very middle of my bones have been cold today.

It's been an odd kind of a day, sort of stressful and sweet, calm and anxious all at once. I've had Little Lady home from school, snuggled on the sofa the whole day doing silent battle with a nasty virus. Poor love. She is very rarely unwell and it has wiped her out, leaving the both of us feeling totally drained. I really don't like it one little bit when the germs take hold.

Little B has been great this afternoon, happily entertaining himself and supplying us all with lots of feel-good cuddles.

There was a request to get The Beads out, it's been a while since we did these and I was more than happy to oblige.

We made a heart together, heavy with turquoise blue as Little B knows this to be my bestest most favourite colour and kept picking them out for me.

I have these gorgeously girly-pink tulips in the house, a gift from my wonderful, kind mother-in-law. They are such a pretty colour, I can't stop gazing at them. Just so perfectly pink.

Usually when one of the Little Peeps is ill, I fill my stay-home time with baking. Germs = Baking, but not so today. Today the crisp winter light was perfect for photography so I seized the unexpected quiet daylight hours and made a tutorial. You just can't beat a bit of concentrated creative activity to combat unease.

I was lucky to have my official Health and Safety officer on hand (dressed as Spiderman) to make sure my scissors were kept safe. He is obsessed with putting the little protective leather cover back on them, telling me I need to take care cos they are veeeery sharp.

So I made the photography part of my tutorial for my new stitch, after a shocking amount of upset with Wrong Numbers. Jeez, my poor brain. I got there in the end (multiples of 4, plus an extra 3!).

I made the photo tutorial using the Stylecraft Special Chunky yarn and a 6mm hook, as that's what I'm using to make my cushion. But once I had finished it, I had an urge to try out the pattern using Stylecraft Special DK and a 4mm hook so that I could compare the two.

Stylecraft Special comes in 3 weights :: a Double Knit (DK), an aran and a chunky. In the above picture you can see the difference between the DK and the Chunky. There is quite a bit of difference both in the way it feels to work these two weights (much more physical with the chunky), and the way the finished crochet turns out.

This is my sample worked up in DK, I love it SO MUCH!!! It turns out that this is a super-satisfying pattern to work and I think in the DK weight it would make a terrific blanket. It's quite a dense stitch, so would make a very substantial, warm blanket and I would love to try it out.

You can see the difference in scale here, but essentially the lovely texture and neat rows of colour are equally effective in both weights.

You may be wondering what the title of this post has to do with anything (Raindrops? Eh?) Well it's what I've decided to call this stitch. It was named by one of my lovely readers  who said the stitch pattern reminded her of raindrops running down a window pane. It seemed very apt to say how drenched we have been here of late, with day after day of the wet stuff.

So with raindrops in mind, I also made a small sample using just shades of blue. I love the simplicity of it, and again I thought what a lovely, soothing blanket this would be to make.

My cushion is coming along nicely, I'm just in the process of crocheting the button flap bit, then trying to decide on the neatest way to pull it all together. I'm calling it the Rainbow Raindrops cushion.

Also, I just wanted to say that I am not in any way claiming that I have "invented" a new stitch here. It's actually very hard to invent anything new in crochet as it's an ancient craft and you can bet that pretty much everything has already been done at one time or another. This stitch technique already exists, and is called a Spike Stitch. It's where you work some of the stitches down into the rows below, pulling a long stitch up to the level of the current row (I used this technique when making my Christmas baubles).  What I have done with Raindrops is to use a variation of the spike stitch to create my own particular pattern/texture. It's my interpretation if you like.

I'm looking forward to sharing the pattern with you, to see what you make of it and what ideas start to fly....I am wondering whether I have time to make a Raindrops blanket?! I would love to, it's been a while since I started on an exciting new blanket journey. Right, I'm going to start work on the tutorial now (after I've had a quick cuppa tea), I'll let you know when it's ready.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edit :: I wrote this post yesterday (Friday) but towards the end of writing I began to feel veeery unwell. Turns out that the "cold through to my bones" feeling was the onset of this virus, and I've spent the past day battling chills and a fever. Feeling marginally better this afternoon, but still pretty pants. So I am a day late getting this post out, and I haven't quite got the energy to tutorial write today either...but hoping tomorrow I'll be feeling much better and can do it then. Much love xxxxx

♥...more little snippets from the Attic...♥

Tulip ♥ Love

A Coat Story

Dorset :: Spring 2013

Comments

[Brenda]

Love the raindrops stitch Lucy, it looks lovely. Sorry you are unwell hope you feel better soon. Love the Hama beads, aren't they just great. I have seem alot of patterns done using cross stitch designs, try it out they are great, cath kitdson etc you will LOVE it. Take care xxBrenda

[Pat]

As usual I love your new ideas!! I can see a new project in mind using your Raindrops stitch :)
Hope you and your family feel better soon I just got over that virus no fun!
Take care and have a blessed week.

[Sincerelyhooked]

It's that time of year for such yucky bugs circulating. My daughter has such a cast iron constitution but still got hit with an ear infection. Fortunately crochet helped saved the day & I made a hot water bottle cosy so she could rest her head on it without burning her ear, it's on my blog http://sincerelyhooked.blogspot.co.uk/ if you want to take a look.

Take care of yourself & get well soon.

[bjmonitas]

Hi love this pattern in DK as well. It seems the best fit. Kindest bjmonitas

[Cherie Chudyk]

Hope you and little lady feel better very soon, love reading your blog and your tutorials are brilliant. Recently finished my version of the May Roses Wreath, all pink roses with a small splash of whites. Closely followed by a colourful jar cover, many thanks for sharing. x

[Winwick Mum]

Fingers crossed the germs don't flatten you for too long. Sometimes you just have to give everything else up and sit them out whilst your body does all the fighting work. Love the new blanket idea - could even be tempted to start one myself! xx

[Sara Jenkins]

Hope you feel better soon and can enjoy the rest of your weekend. x

[Michelle]

Hope you feel well soon. The weather is cooling down here in Sydney as we head into autumn, and I was thinking about a new blanket. I made your ripple blanket last winter. I like your idea of a blanket in this new pattern and with the Stylecraft DK colours.

[Leah Bessette]

What does "pretty pants" mean? Wishing you and your family are feeling 100% very soon. Love the changes you have made to this stitch.

[Lizy Tish]

Oh UGH! Those viruses! Feel better soon. I just love, Love, LOVE the blue raindrops swatch. It would make a terrific blanket.

[Sophie]

Sending you lots of French hugs across to you and your family !! Get well soon, the tuto can wait !

[Sarah west mids uk]

Dear lucy keep warm, lots of hot drinks and resting on settee until you begin to feel better.xx

[Jane]

Poor you Lucy, hope you and little one are feeling better soon. Your new pattern is fab.
Jane x

[Jen]

Poor you, and poor Little Lady too. I hope you both feel better soon and the boys escape this nasty virus. There's a similar bug doing the rounds down South and it is ghastly. Your raindrops stitch is beautiful and very aptly named by that person! It really looks like a soggy window!

Take care-wrap up well with some day nurse to fight off those shivers.

[Lynn]

((((Hugs)))) to you all and healing thoughts coming your way x

[Cockney Blonde]

Aw, hope you feel better really soon. Love how Little B managed to make his beaded heart compliment your crochet. What a clever little man. Hope Little Lady is better too, x

[Hillary]

I hope you and your family feel better soon! x

[Ariadne]

Get well! The end of winter always is the worst for viruses!AriadnefromGreece!

[Andrina T]

Oh, I do hope you and Little Lady feel better soon! Thank goodness you have Little B there to take care of you and your scissors. I can't decide if I like the rainbow raindrips better, or the shades of blue. I do love blue ever so much. The tulips are marvelous! But do rest and feel better. We here in Blogland can wait. xx

[Wendy]

Hi Lucy, I do hope you are feeling better soon...it is no fun being sick...I am looking forward to your tutorial for this...I am waiting on an order of style craft yarn to be delivered here in the US, and now I know what I will use it for...will be eagerly awaiting the tut for this lovely stitch...

[Inge]

Get well soon Lucy!

[Chy]

Feel better soon. Never easy to be ill but so hard when you have a family to care for.

[Helen]

Snuggle down and get well soon

[Lynda M Otvos]

Get Well Hugs are flying out over the ocean to you and your daughter this weekend. Love the new stitch in those delectable colors. Feel better soonest, Lucy.

[Sue]

I hope that you and Little Lady feel beter soon. Don't rush to finish your tutorial - we are not going anywhere :-)

I love the raindrops pattern and hope that I can master it. I need some new cushion covers so I will try your your raindrops pattern.