And we are off!

Well today my first seven samples for the IDC were sent off and are now hopefully winging their way north. It's been quite an interesting journey. After initially thinking it would be easy, ( well I could do the basic stitches ), I've actually found it a challenge. I think it's the thought that someone is going to examine my work in detail and notice all the rookie errors. 

I'm very good at fudging. It's much easier to do that in crochet than in knitting but now someone is going to actually look and notice..... eek!

Sample 1 was horrid. A square made of chains and slip stitches, surely this should have been easy. I felt I should use cotton and had some Catona Schjeepes kicking around. I attempted this three times but struggled keeping the edges straight. I have sent it despite not being particularly happy in the hope that feedback will help me improve. 

Yarn. Catona 100% Cotton

Hook 3mm 

Well sample 2 had to be better surely. A square of double crochet with sides suitable for seaming. Sounds really easy but my edges curled  really badly. The only advice I could find was crochet loosely and use a larger sized hook at the start. I did all of this but it still curled really badly. I kepy going and it did improve but it would still not lay flat. 

I was unsure if I was allowed to block it so chose not to and placed a heavy basket on top and crossed my fingers. It did get better than the picture shows in the end but as you can see I was doing something wrong.

Yarn. Rico Essentials Soft Merino. Aran. 

Hook. 6mm cast on . Main body 5mm.

The yarn worked up beautifully; no splitting and wonderful stitch definition. Unfortunately I'm sure this piece of work will not reach the required 80%.

I was more pleased with sample 3. A square of trebles. I had never turned my work different ways for different stitches though and am not sure if I am going through the turning chain correctly.

I used a yarn called Raggi that I had bought at the yarn market in Istanbul last year. It had no weight on the label but suggested a 4.5 mm hook was used. I guessed it was an aran.

Yarn Raggi  70% wool 30% polyamide

Hook . Cast on 5mm. Main body 4.5mm

I liked the way the colours worked on this sample. I recently discovered it was from Sweden.

Sample 4 was a square of trebles between stitches. This was fine until it came to turning and I'm not sure if my count was correct. I used Raggi for this one too. The course asks you use complementary colours as all the work is displayed as one at the end. I've chosen Cressbrook Blues. I thought I could work around the blues in the river and mill race that surround my garden and the local beauty spot at Water-Cum-Jolly.

Yarn. Raggi 70% wool 30% polyamide

Hook Cast on 6mm. Main body 5mm

The larger hook gave it better drape.

Sample 5. A square of double trebles. 

This finally felt like tings were beginning to go better. However I'm sill unsure of the turning chain.

Yarn. Rico Creative Melange 53% virgin wool. 47% acrylic. DK

Hook. 4.5mm cast on.  4mm main body.

The yarn is quite fluffy but had nice drape. My square was rather large!

Sample 6 was very similar. A square of triple trebles. I used the same yarn and was pleased with the result.

Yarn. Rico Creative Melange 53% virgin wool. 47% acrylic. DK

Hook. 4.5mm cast on. Main body 4mm

I return to the cotton for my final sample. I thought the cotton would give the stitch more definition and strength as it was a quadruple treble. It took quite a long time to make this square. getting the tension right was a challenge and making sure the cotton did not split was tricky too. 

So then finally they all got labelled up and packed into a large envelope. Fingers crossed I don't have to repeat them all. 

Well as I've now sent these I decided to do something different until the work gets returned with feedback. I am having a go at the Pina Colada Shawl from the Scheepjes Yarn bookazine. This is the Tropical edition and is full of gorgeous makes in a variety of Scheepjes yarn. The Pina Colada shawl is made using Scheepjes Secret Garden. The yarn is a cotton, silk and polyester mix. It got a beautiful slub to it and therefore varies slightly in its thickness. It's super soft and very easy to work with. Mmmmmm....yummy!

The yarn fades into a variety of shades and this makes the crochet come alive; each stitch being slightly different from the last. The short rows had me flumuxed for a while but I think I've worked it out now. There are quite a few errors in the pattern so if you use it make sure you check the Scheepjes website for the corrections.