Tentative plans for 2026...

I've got a few ideas of things I'd like to make during this coming year but as you all know, my lovelies, I can be very easily knocked off-course into an entirely different direction!  So let's say that these are extremely tentative plans, just to be on the safe side 😉

I would definitely like to make more gifts during 2026 and, as I mentioned earlier in the week, I do have a few ideas percolating around in my little butterfly brain.  I've been meaning to make at least some of the gifts for Beverly's annual Christmas Every Day shenanigans virtually every year since I started the tradition ~ alas, I haven't managed to get myself organised to actually do so yet 😄 I would like to remedy that situation this year so will be hunting through my books for suitable things to make.  I'm certainly not aiming to make all 24 of the gifts, but nevertheless it would be nice to sprinkle in a handful of handmade items throughout December.  I do already have a few ideas of things I could make, and I'm sure looking through my craft books will throw up even more 😊

I've got four "big" projects planned for the year, two of which are blankets, and I've spent some time trying to decide how I want to make said blankets.  I have a specific "theme" and colour scheme for one of them (Special Project One) and the other is to be yet another stash-busting exercise!   I thought that I might as well use the same pattern for both, though, as they will end up looking totally different to each other because of the different colours I'll be using.

You have no idea, my lovelies, just how many motifs I pondered over until finally trying out these three 😳  I quite liked all three, especially the cute little hexagon at the bottom, but they all seemed just a tad too small ~ I really don't want to have to spend weeks and weeks making these blankets!  I used double knit yarn to make the samples but I really don't think they would have been large enough even if I'd used Aran-weight to be honest.

 The top hexagon is by Annie Design Crochet, whilst the square and tiny hexagon are both by Bunny Mummy.  They are all perfectly nice motifs but none of them really "called" to me.  Then I remembered that amongst the patterns in Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting (where my favourite crochet chevron blanket pattern comes from), she has one called The Starburst Flower.  It's basically a granny square with a pretty flower centre comprising of puff and cluster stitches, with each round in a different colour.

Again, it's a lovely pattern but I found it just a little too fiddly for something that I really want to grow fairly quickly 😉 

In the end I mashed together aspects of some of the different motifs I had come across to make the one I've decided to go with.  Now, I'm definitely not claiming that this design is original as I've no doubt that someone, somewhere, will have had the same idea ~ it's just that, unfortunately for me, I didn't come across it when I was doing my humungous trawl of motifs!  I want both blankets to look like non-specific-flower flower gardens ~ if you see what I mean 😄  I used some Aran yarn from my stash with a 5.5mm crochet hook to make the sample, and it ended up about 5" square.  I used one colour to represent the centre of the flower, another for the two rounds of petals, and a third to turn it into a square.  The "petals" could be made in two different colours, which might look very pretty if they were two shades of the same colour ~ pale and deeper shades of pink, for example.

Anyhoo if you'd like to make these flower squares, here's the very simple instructions:

Round 1: chain five and join to make a circle.  Chain four, then make 15 double-trebles (US triple crochet) into the ring: 16 stitches in total.  Join in the top of the starting chain four and fasten off.

Round 2: join the "petal" colour between any of the double-trebles and chain three; make one treble (US double crochet) in the same space; chain one.  Make two-treble clusters, separated by chain one, between each of the remaining double-trebles.  Slip stitch across to the first chain one space.  16 two-treble clusters in total.  

Round 3:  chain three in the chain one space, and make a two-treble cluster in the same space; chain two.  Make three-treble clusters in all the remaining chain one spaces, separating these clusters with chain two between each.  Slip stitch into the first cluster and fasten off.  16 three-treble clusters in total.

Round 4: join a new colour in any chain two space.  Chain three and make two trebles (US double crochet) in the same space.  Make three trebles into the next space.  Make three double-trebles (US triple crochet), chain two, three double-trebles in the next space ~ this creates the first corner of the square.  Make three trebles into each of the next three chain one spaces, then make the second corner.  Continue the pattern round to create the square, and fasten off.

As you can see, I am definitely not a crochet designer ~ it took me a fair bit of trial-and-error to come up with a simple motif that I liked, and I don't think I'll be going "off piste" again anytime soon 😄    

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through January already, so I will have to get myself organised (😏) as I've got a lot to do this year!