A couple of days back there was again a discussion on Ravelry about the random use of colours.
The popular projects by Lucy from Attic24 are always very colourful and each colour is chosen at random by grabbing in a bag without looking.

    
    
©Attic24 – ©dennismarquez – ©Nanita – ©tiggersjp

I can’t do this. I don’t know why, but this randomness makes me restless and then I hesitate, hesitate, hesitate before picking each colour. This results in even slower crocheting
Nope, random is nothing for me. This doesn’t mean though, that I don’t like the random blankets. On the contrary! I wish I could do it…
This is why I created my own way to be able to do random. It’s a method I call planned random. It’s a bit of a contradictio in terminis, but it describes exactly what I do: I plan my random colourschemes

How I do it? Using Excel and lots of patience.
Take for example my current project, the patchwork blanket. This blanket consists (or will consist) of lot’s of squares in lots of different colours attached without any visible logic.
Before I started this project, I opened Excel and created a list of all the colours I would be using. Each colour was assigned it’s own number.
Then I lined in a rectangle containing as many cells as I would need squares. At that time I had calculated that I would need 391 squares in 17 columns and 23 rows.
And then the real work began: I filled each cell with a number, corresponding to a certain colour. I kept my eye on the colours (or numbers) surrounding each cell, to make sure I didn’t put the same colours next to each other (too much).

Like I said, this requires some time and patience, but I think it’s definitely worth it. Now I can crochet squares unbothered by the randomness. A quick look on my scheme shows me which colour I need next. No stress, not hesitation with the planned random method

Cheers,
Charlotte

I’m really pleased with my latest purchase. Like a small child. Yes, this ordinary looking basket really made me happy.

You can probably guess the purpose of this basket, no?
Keeping together skeins of yarn, of course. The yarns I’m currently working with in particularly.

Before, I always used plastic backs to keep together the yarn of my current project. This worked, but it wasn’t very tidy or practical. All the colours were in disarray, which caused me long digs in search of the next colour.

And then I saw this basket on sale. I was immediately sold and I must say, now that I have been using the basket for a couple of days, I can’t imagine going back to the plastic bags. All skeins are clearly visible and arranged. The next colour is easily picked out!
The basket is not only practical, it’s also pretty to look at. It’s definitely tidier than the plastic bags .

So it doesn’t always have to be expensive or special to be appreciated

And what about my patchwork blanket? It is steadily growing.

It has even become my new train project!
Every day I take two colours with me and crochet a couple of squares. Sometimes I only crochet one of each colours, sometimes I crochet more, so that every now and then my blanket gets a growth spurt.

I’m currently working on a tutorial for the square.
It’s a simple granny square, but I noticed I make mine a little bit different then others, so I thought I’d explain here.

To attach the squares I’m using a join-as-you-go method for the first time, namely the one by Attic24.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Cheers,
Charlotte

Man, it’s way too HOT here. Too hot to do anything.
Personally, I’m not good with this kind of heat (i.e. 30-35 °C). I feel so lethargic and my arms and legs weigh like lead. So there wasn’t much action around here this weekend. BUT I did make a decision about the patchwork blanket.

To be honest, I sort of already decided, after I posted the previous post, to crochet a couple more squares, to get a better view of how this would work out. Yes, the current 5 squares looked a bit disproportioned, but adding more squares might fix that.
So I just continued like I was, using two different crochet hooks. Crocheting only worked in the mornings and evenings, when the heat was bearable. During the day my hands were too clammy to work with any yarn.
Then, this morning, I crocheted the 28th square

Doesn’t look too bad, doesn’t it?
Even though not all squares are the exact same size, even some of the Zeeman squares show some variations, the whole looks fairly straight and even.

As you can see, the rows only count 14 squares, instead of the calculated 17.
I keep on forgetting that crochet isn’t an exact science and that not everything can be calculated (damn!) .

Soooo, you can of course guess that this project has received a “go go go“!

Cheers,
Charlotte