Today the second half of the blue tit chart has been published and all those beautiful birds that you have given life to with your stitches can begin to fly!
How are you getting on? If you’d like to share your WIP, you can post your photo in Scheepjes Dutch and International Facebook Groups. Below you can read where I’m up to with my cushions.
Where do I Find the Charts?
The charts have been shared in both Facebook groups and are also on Scheepjes website. You can find the charts for cross stitch and duplicate stitch here in English, Dutch and German.
I’m on Catch Up
If you feel that you are behind, or need to catch up, then stop. The very first Scheepjes Official CAL was in 2014. The pattern is still there and the blue tit pattern and charts will be there indefinitely too. Just because the CKAL is 4 weeks long, that doesn’t mean you have to finish your cushion within that timescale. Only you know what is realistically possible for your available quality crafting time (but please, let’s finish before 2034!).
Me Too
I’ll put my hand up and say I’ve not started my embroidery yet. Since my original blue tit cushions now live at Scheepjes HQ, I decided to craft along with you during the CKAL and make a crocheted and knitted cushion of my own for home. My pieces are almost dry after blocking so I can crack on with the embroidery when I have more time at the weekend.
Blocking vs Not Blocking
While we’re on blocking, I thought I’d share this photo. Scheepjes recommend wet blocking in most of their patterns, including the blue tit cushion and I think this demonstrates why. On the bottom right is my knitted cushion piece before blocking, and on the left another pinned out to measurements. The stitches open out and are more even. As the fabric dries, they kind of ‘set’, and when the pins are removed the piece lays flatter and stays more or less as it is pinned out. Do you agree that it looks more professional?
How Many?
I intended making two cushions, one knitted, one crocheted, but now I’m thinking ‘ooh maybe more, then I can stitch some of the bonus chart designs’! I do have some Blue Macaron Scrumptious left from my kits – but not enough for four backs.
Fancy Backs
So this week I’ve been experimenting with some alternative ideas for the plain back. I know it’s the back and won’t be on show but it doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with it. Maybe you’d like to incorporate some of your existing stash also?
Got Scrumptious or Colour Crafter in Your Stash?
I have some part balls left over from the fabulous Landscape Shawl MAL last year. I’m sure some of you will too, or perhaps leftovers from the Seasonal Forager MAL or Scheepjes Colour Lab CAL in 2023, which were both designed for Scrumptious. Scheepjes Colour Crafter is compatible with Scrumptious and can also be mixed and matched within the same project.
Crochet Stripes
What do you think about the stripes? I love a stripe, mainly because it makes the rows easy to count! In this crochet sample I alternated Scrumptious Blue Macaron from the kit with scraps from my stash in a similar palette to the bird motif. A two row stripe is good because the blue can be carried up the side and the ends of the other colours can simply be knotted together and hidden within the cushion. You also get two looks to choose from, with a fuzzy stripe on one side and a straight one on the other.
Knitting With Two Differently Coloured Strands
The beauty of knitting double stranded is that you can use two different strands. I love that you can’t predict which colour will be dominant, and the marled effect below. I think this looks almost like a landscape.
I Already Made My Back Piece
Some of you I know, decided to make your back pieces before starting the embroidery. You can still embellish if you’d like to! You could use any leftover Cahlista to stitch the little heart logo that we practised on our gauge swatches. I think it would look cute placed in a corner. You can find the charts on this previous post.
Running Stitch
I love to weave a simple running stitch through crocheted fabric. It’s quick, effective and only uses a small amount of yarn. This is something I did when I designed the Island Sun Mat for Scheepjes YARN Bookazine 13.
Though this was made over a different stitch, our double crochet fabric for the cushion also provides a nice even grid of stitches. You can vary the length by going over one or two stitches, offset the stitches, work diagonally, thread a second colour into the running stitches….So many options from the simplest of stitches!
The tails can simply be knotted together at the back as they will be hidden inside the cushion.
I haven’t tried weaving Cahlista through the knitted fabric. It may be a little thick, so I would say try it on your gauge swatch before committing anything to the cushion.
What’s Coming Up?
So a few options to perhaps get you thinking! Next week is the final week of the CKAL when we’ll look at constructing our cushions. See you then 👋
Bizzymitts 