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It's that time again - Book Blanket Update time and what better day to post it than on World Book Day! Has your little one gone to school dressed up today? Oakley has gone as Harry Potter and my little Potterhead heart is very happy. Although we've not yet read the books together he has heard the audiobooks and seen the first two films. What is your favourite book? Mine is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger. It completely captured my heart when I first read it at college (almost 15 years ago!) and I've reread it multiple times since. The unique way in which the story is structured, the time-travel aspect, the characters and of course the love story just suck me in every time. The audiobook is actually really good too if that's something you enjoy. I think another re-read is on the cards for me soon! What books do you go back to again and again? Books Read: This month I read a total of 8 books and DNF'd one. I'm really happy with this total especially given that I have been working a lot this month and have had the boys off school with the chicken pox. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom - 4 stars (Kindle, non-fiction) Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry - 4.5 stars (Kindle) The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides - DNF (Kindle) Find Your Soul Path by Emma Griffin - 4 stars (Non-fiction) Eye for an Eye by M J Arlidge - 2.5 stars (Kindle) The Traitors by Carissa Ann Lynch - 3.5 stars (Kindle) Manifest by Roxie Nafousi - 4 stars (Kindle, non-fiction) Priest by Sierra Simone - 3 stars Manifest: Dive Deeper by Roxie Nafousi - 4 stars (Kindle, non-fiction) I read a lot of non-fiction month which is not too unusual for me, I do try to read a range of genres but even so this was quite a lot compared to normal. They all have their own merits and if they're topics that you are interested in then I would recommend them all. This month was definitely Kindle heavy too! I think this is because I spent a large portion of the month trying to get into A Court of Mist and Fury but I just couldn't get past the first 100pages and I did end up setting it aside. I've not included it as a DNF for now as I would like to come back to it at a later date and try again. Maybe I'll buy it on Kindle as for some reason I seem to read a lot quicker when reading on my Kindle. Are you the same? Favourite Read: My favourite read from this month's selection was Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry. There are many trigger warnings for this book (which I won't go into here but please do look them up if you check out the book) and it absolutely would not be for everyone but I got so engrossed in the storyline and what the outcome was going to be that I finished it in 2 days. Pretty good going for a busy mum of 3! It was dark, twisted, disturbing and kind of car-crash-you-can't-look-away-from-vibes. The story is largely told from the viewpoint of Noah's mum and I think it's that which captivated me the most. You see a mum in the most awful of situations and you can empathise with her whilst at the same time being repulsed by what her son has done. I would recommend this book to others but with a caveat that you need to be sure that the themes covered are ones that you can deal with and if not then that's okay! I've seen a lot of Lucinda Berry's books being recommended to those who enjoy dark psychological thrillers and I definitely plan on reading more of her work. Making the Squares Again, I found it a lot of fun to sit down with my yarn and hook and go back through my Goodreads to see what I'd read over the month and how I'd rated them. I had originally given Eye for an Eye 3 stars but the more time I'd had to think about I realised that it really didn't warrant the extra half a star just because the last 100pages were pretty good. The first 400 were not. The mix of colours along with the simple square designs I've chosen seem to be working really well. I'm actually liking how the squares are looking together so far. I definitely need to start joining the squares soon as they're all just loose in the bag and I'm worried I'll lose them. I just need to decide how many squares wide to make the blanket. I'm reading more than I'd anticipated, which is amazing but I'm not sure what to expect for the rest of the year. Already this is proving to be a much better year-long project for me than a temperature blanket because I've never made it past the 1st of February with a temperature blanket! Be sure to check back next month for my March update! Remember, if you're doing a Book Blanket too then use the hashtags #BookBlanket2024 and #BramblesandHartReads so that I can follow along. Shelley x

If you’re anything like me then you may find it tricky to keep up the momentum once you start a bigger project - cough Blankets cough - or perhaps you run your own crochet business selling finished products and are struggling to motivate when making multiple of the same item. You don’t want to crush your love and enjoyment for the craft so it’s important to keep it fun and not make it something anxiety inducing. Here are my top 5 tips for boosting your crochet motivation. 1. Make things that you enjoy! I think that this is the most important of all the tips, crochet should be fun, whether it’s your business or not, and there is no point in making something that you simply don’t enjoy. For me, amigurumi is just stressful. I love the look of the finished products from other makers but I’m always disappointed with my own and I don't enjoy the process at all. I made the decision early on that no matter how often people asked (friends, family and customers) I would not be making any amigurumi. On the other hand, I have a real passion for crochet clothing and so this is where I like to focus my time and energy. 2. Set yourself a deadline Give yourself a deadline for when the project needs to be completed. Note this down somewhere and then work towards it. If it’s for an order then of course this is the date by which you need to get it posted out to the customer but if it’s a personal project then it could be a special event when you’d like to wear the garment or a friend’s birthday when you plan to gift the blanket. Try to make it have some meaning rather than just the 'last Tuesday in March' otherwise it'll be a deadline that keeps getting pushed back and that's me talking from experience. 3. Break it down into steps with little rewards. If I’m making a cardigan for example, then I may say that once I’ve finished the main body I can go make myself a nice cup of coffee. When I’ve finished a sleeve, I can take a break and read for half an hour. Once I’ve sewn in all of my ends I can have a couple squares of chocolate (who am I kidding, we’re having the whole bar and we deserve it because weaving in ends is the worst!) You can even take a break from one project by working on another smaller project - think instant gratification like hats, bonnets and appliqués! Taking little breaks with longer projects is important because not only does it keep your motivation up but it prevents you from getting tired and making mistakes. 4. Have an assembly line If you are making multiple of the same item at the same time then I personally think that assembly lines are the way to go. When I was making and selling Poet Cardigans I would select a few orders and then work them together. First I'd make all of the yokes, then complete the main bodies, add on all of the ribbing and finally complete all of the sleeves. I found that this helped me to get through the orders quicker because I didn’t need to keep referring to the pattern (although by now I do have it memorised) I could just do one, repeat it for the rest and then move on to the next step. 5. Share your project on social media People love to see what you’re making so why not bring them along on the journey. Show them you choosing the yarn, selecting the pattern and maybe share the deadline you’ve set. You can then give a few updates as the project progresses. It'll feel amazing when you can show off the finished item in all it’s glory and get other people's reactions to it too. Bonus Tip: Don’t be afraid to say no This is aimed more towards my fellow crochet business owners but it applies to everyone - don’t be afraid to say no to making a product even if it’s something that you have previously made. It’s no secret that my business saw the biggest growth with the popularity of Baby Poet Cardigans (Amazing pattern by Sandra of Little Golden Nook can be found here). Over the course of about 18 months I made close to 260 Poet cardigans and by that point I was pretty burnt out and really struggling to motivate myself. Even with my top tips above! I struggled on for another 6months or so before I finally admitted to myself that I just could not make any more and I took them off the website. I had a lot of DMs and emails from people asking if they could order and I just said no, sorry and directed them to other makers that I knew sold them. I even had friends and family members asking if I could make them for their little ones and as much as I wanted to (I'm a chronic people pleaser) I had to say no. Did I lose out on business? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely! If I had continued trying to force myself to make and sell them then my mental health would have deteriorated further and my love and enjoyment of crochet as a craft may well have disappeared altogether. I did what was best for me and I will never regret that. Now I am able to make Poet Cardigans again without cringing, I love the little bobble stitches rather than resent them and I'm so glad about that! As makers we put so much of ourselves into the items that we create. It's important to remember that it’s okay to say no, to change direction, to make whatever you want to make! I hope that these tips help you with your crochet motivation. If you have any of your own motivation boosting tips then please do share them in the comments!

This week we have been treated to some beautiful days of sunshine and blue skies. I've seen lots of clusters of snowdrops popping up and on one occasion even some daffodils. It feels like Spring is in the air - finally! Whilst many may say this is Fool's Spring, with Spring not truly beginning until the end of March it still feels like the perfect time to celebrate the lighter mornings and longer lasting days. We've even managed a couple after school walks this week which has felt amazing. I love to have little touches of seasonal decor in our house and one of the easiest ways to do this is with a garland. I place one along our mantelpiece and it give me a little spark of joy every time it catches my eye. Today I want to share my super simple pattern for my sweet Spring Flower Garland so that you can inject a little bit of Springtime beauty into your home too. You could place your garland along your mantelpiece, on the wall above your desk or hang below a shelf, the possibilities are endless and completely up to you! I also find that they make good photo props too, I'll often use a garland in a flatlay. The Pattern You will need: 3 weight/light worsted/DK cotton yarn I used Drops Muskat in white, pink panther, vanilla yellow and Paintbox Cotton DK in pine. 4mm crochet hook Scissors Tapestry needle Note: You could use any weight yarn that you like with a corresponding hook, just keep in mind that this will alter the over all size of your flowers. This pattern requires 9 flowers in total to give a garland length of approximately 46.5' (118cm). If you wish to make a shorter or longer garland then you can make more or less flowers in total. I made flowers with both white and pink petals but you can use as many colours as you like and whichever colour flowers you would like. It's super easy to personalise this to fit your space and personal Spring style! Stitch Abbreviations Please note that this pattern is written using US terms. Sl st - slip stitch Ch - chain St - stitch/es SC - single crochet SC2TOG - single crochet two together (decrease stitch) HDC - half double crochet DC - double crochet TR - treble crochet Special Stitch: SDC - standing double crochet Work a SC into the stitch, then place your hook under the left leg of that SC, pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook. (Essentially you work a second SC into the first SC). [ ] indicate stitches to be worked together in the same stitch. Flower Using yellow, make a magic ring. Rnd 1: Ch1, 15 HDC into the magic ring. Sl st to first st to join. (15 sts) Fasten off. Be sure to pull your tail tight to close up the hole in the centre as best you can. Using a slip knot attach pink to your hook and then join to one of the HDCs with a sl st - this counts as a st. Rnd 2: Into the next st place a SDC (see special stitches), DC, TR, and 2 DC, first petal created. *Sl st into the next 2 sts. [SDC, DC, TR, 2 DC]* repeat *to* around until you have created 4 more petals. Sl st into the last st. Sl st to inital sl st to join. (35 sts including sl sts) Fasten off. Make a total of 4 flowers with pink petals then repeat for a further 5 flowers with white petals. Of course you can use whichever colours you would like. You could make all 9 flowers in one colour or each in a different colour. If you're planning on making a longer/shorter garland then you can adapt the number of flowers you make in total accordingly. Everyone's favourite step - Weave in all of your ends! I try to work my yellow ends through the stitches in the magic ring and then the pink ends I work through the petals one way and then back through the other way to try and keep them secure. Joining Your Garland Using green, ch 13 and grab your first flower ready to join. Identify the 3 middle stitches of one of your petals (DC, TR, DC), this is where you are going to join your flower to the chain. SC2TOG across the first 2 sts. Then beginning in the same st work another SC2TOG. Ch 21 Repeat the above step to to join the next flower. Join all of your flowers using the same method, completing 21 chains in between each one. Once you have joined your final flower, ch 13 and fasten off. You could attempt to weave in the ends of the chain but i personally don't. I trim them to be the same length at either end, approximately 3' (7.5cm) Congratulations, your Spring Flower Garland is complete! If you make your own garland I would love to see it! Tag me in your photos @Brambles.and.Hart and use #BHSpringFlowerGarland I really hope you have enjoyed my first free pattern on the blog, there will be lots more to come!

I was kindly gifted some of the new Yarnsmiths Pebble Haze by Wool Warehouse a few weeks back and I have been putting it through its paces to see what I really think and whether or not I would recommend it to other crocheters. The Details: Name: Pebble Haze DK/Prints Yarn Weight: DK/Light worsted/3 weight Composition: 67% cotton, 33% acrylic blend. Ball Weight: 50g (Solids), 150g (Prints) Special notes: Chainette construction - the yarn strand consists of a knitted tube which covers fibres within rather than the fibres being plied together. My initial thoughts: The first thing that struck me when I saw this yarn was just how beautiful and unique the colours are. For the solid colours, there are a range of neutrals that work their way up to some bright summery and jewel tones. To call them ‘solid colours’ almost seems like a disservice because each shade has an almost marled, heathered effect which provides real depth and texture to the colour. The Prints colourways are stunning, there’s no other word for them, just stunning. I am not usually a fan of variegated/multicoloured yarn because I find that the colour changes are often too harsh and random but this is most certainly not the case with Pebble Haze! Again, there is that marled heathered effect and I think that helps with the subtle blending of colours. Also, the shades included in the colourway compliment each other really well, it's clear that the overall palette of each 'Print' has been well thought out. Pebble Haze has a squish factor of 10/10 for me, it’s so light and airy, which I’m assuming comes from the chainette construction, and super soft. It’s a really tactile yarn and one that you instantly want to have against your skin. Pebble Haze has been marketed as perfect for spring/summer garments and I can totally see why. Let’s Crochet! I knew that I was going to want to make a wearable with this yarn but I expected to start with the neutral - shade that I have however I was so drawn to the Peppercombe Prints colourway that it was with that that I began to swatch. I tried both a 4mm and a 4.5mm hook and I won’t lie I was kind of gutted that it was the 4mm that won out as I don’t usually opt to use such a small hook but I trusted it would be worth it. Crocheting with Pebble Haze is a lovely experience, it glides on my hook buttery soft and it maintains a surprisingly good stitch definition. I think that this is likely due to the high cotton make up of the yarn but may also come from the chainette construction. After a few swatches I decided that I was going to begin a dress version of my Little Aspen Cardigan as I knew the shell stitches would look beautiful through the colour changes, I was not wrong. The finished dress is absolutely stunning and I wish it was adult sized for me or that I had a little girl who could wear it! The colour changes are so gentle and delicate, there’s an ethereal vibe to it and honestly I’m obsessed. I didn’t experience any splitting whilst crocheting with Pebble Haze and when pulling from the middle of the cake the yarn fed nicely to me as I worked. However, there was one thing that I did find frustrating - frogging. As I was working on a new design there were quite a few times where I needed to pull back (frog) my work and more often than not it resulted in knots and tangles within the yarn. If you look closely at Pebble Haze you will see it has a slight Halo to it where the fuzzy fibres within the tube poke through. This makes for a beautiful overall finish and a wonderfully soft texture but can be a bit of a nightmare when those fibres get tangled together. I found the knots created to be quite tricky to do and a couple times I did just get the scissors, cut the yarn and then rejoin because I have minimal patience for untangling yarn. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my crochet experience with Pebble Haze and will definitely be using it again and again. I can take a few tangles for such a gorgeous finish! As I am using it for a garment I will be doing a test swatch that I put through the wash as per the insructions on the label as it does claim to be machine washable and even dryable on low so we shall see. Rating: 8.5/10 + Wonderful array of colourways + Buttery soft texture + Subtle and delicate colour changes (Prints) + 150g cake provides good yardage (Prints) - Small balls in the solid shades - Tangles when frogging Thank you to Wool Warehouse for sending this yarn to me to try out. All views and opinions shared above are my own, I would love to hear what you think of Pebble Haze and the projects you have used or plan to use it for!

It's Book Blanket update time! Well I'm a bit late but that's how it goes. Somehow I managed to read 7 books in January! One book I had started just before the new year but finished in January. so it's counting towards the blanket. Books Read: One of Us Is Next (Bayview 2) by Karen M McManus - 4 stars And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman - 4 stars (Kindle) One of Us Is Back (Bayview 3) by Karen M McManus - 3.5 stars Godkiller by Hannah Kaner - 5 stars The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz - 3 stars (Non-fiction) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - 3 stars Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - 4.5 stars (Kindle) How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie DNF (Kindle) Have you read any of these before? What did you think to them? Favourite Read: My favourite read from this selection was definitely Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. It was my only 5 star read of the month! I loved the world building, the fantasy, the multiple POV, the characters, the action, it was just an all round great read and I couldn't put it down. I've recommended it to absolutely everyone. The second book in this trilogy is out this month and I am beyond excited! I'll be at Waterstones on release day to snag my copy! Book Blanket Design: As I said in my first blog post, I wasn't sure that I'd like the different square designs together once I started making them. Really I should have just gone with my gut and saved myself a lot of time, frogging and wasted yarn! The different colours combined with the different designs was just too much for me. I really disliked the uneven split of the designs too as I read more paperbacks than kindle books. This was with just 8 squares so I'm certain that I wouldn't like the end result with 30+ squares. Therefore, I have changed my initial design idea. I am sticking with the two tone, 5-round granny squares but altering the order slightly. The squares for physical books will be a traditional alternating colour each round and those for Kindle reads will begin with linen but have the final two rounds in the rating colour. I'm hoping this will make them look fairly balanced when it comes to joining them. Once I'd finally settled on a design it was fun to go through my Goodreads and see what I'd read, how I'd rated each book then make each square. I cannot wait to see this project build month on month. What do you think to the first few squares? I love them (now anyway 😅) and I'm really looking forward to seeing more colours come into play over the next few months, although this seems like a good mix already! Should I join as I go or collect all of my squares together and then join them in bigger batches? I can't decide, let me know what you'd do! Be sure to check back at the end of the month for my February update, I've already read 2 books and DNF'd one so it's looking like a mixed bag! Remember, if you're doing a Book Blanket too then use the hashtags #BookBlanket2024 and #BramblesandHartReads so that I can follow along. Shelley x

You may have seen Temperature Blankets all over your socials since the start of the year; blankets where you crochet a row or square to correspond with the daily temperature throughout the year. I have attempted temperature blankets for the last couple of years and in all honesty I've always lost interest by the end of January. I guess I'm just not all that motivated by the weather, especially when I live in Scotland and it's just cold! Towards the end of last year, I started to really get back into reading and logging my books on Goodreads (let's be friends!) Then I saw people on Instagram and TikTok making Book Blankets - now this is an idea I can get behind! My Book Blanket For my Book Blanket, I am going to be creating a granny square for each book that I read during the year. At the end of each month I will make up my squares and then share them, plus a monthly wrap up of the books that I've read, here for you to see. The Yarn: I was very kindly been gifted some beautiful Yarnsmiths Create DK from Wool Warehouse that I will be using for my blanket. It's a super soft 100% acrylic yarn that is available in 120 different shades! This makes it ideal for a blanket like this because you can make up the perfect colour palette to suit your style. I have gone for a mix of pinks and greens, which is a little out of my comfort zone but beautiful nonetheless, with a neutral shade for joining. The Design: I thought about this and looked at others' book blankets and temperature blankets for inspiration. Whilst I do love those that are done row by row I don't feel that it would work for me as I'm not sure I'd read enough books to create a decent size blanket over the year. I have chosen to go with a granny square per book as I feel like these will provide a bit more bulk for the blanket overall even if I don't manage to read masses of books. My Goodreads Challenge goal is a conservative 33 books which I'm fairly certain I can achieve. Each colour will represent a star rating for every book that I read from 0/DNF (Did Not Finish) up to 5 Stars. I am pretty generous with ratings for books that I enjoy so I've split my ratings up slightly adding in half stars for 3-5. I tend to read two books at a time, one physical book and one on my Kindle (this is perfect for when I'm getting my youngest to sleep or doing a night feed) and I often listen to audiobooks too as I can have these on whilst I'm working. I really want to represent this in my blanket too so I will be making a different style square to denote the format of each book; traditional granny square = physical book, cluster granny square = Kindle book and heart square = audiobook. Now I am a bit of a perfectionist and don't tend to do too well with projects with random colour ordering so I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the mix of squares and colours as the project grows so this overall design may well change - only time will tell! If you're making a book blanket too or think you'd like to start one then use the hashtags #BookBlanket2024 #BramblesandHartReads so that I can follow along with your progress!

This blog has been something that I've wanted to do for such a long time and now that I have finally gotten around to redesigning my website it seems the perfect time to start. If you're new to Brambles and Hart, then welcome! My name is Shelley and I am a crochet pattern designer and maker based in the Scottish Highlands. I love to create a whole range of different things but garments do have my heart especially beginner friendly clothing for little ones as I am Mama to 3 boys myself. My aim here is to share some tips and tricks for those new to crochet, to review yarn, share the items that I use regularly, provide some insight to the behind the scenes of running a crochet business, share projects that I"m working on and also to share some of my patterns for free! I think free patterns are a fantastic resource for all makers but particularly for those new to the craft as it allows you to try your hand at a range of different projects to find what you like best and get an insight into how an individual designer writes their patterns as not all patterns are written the same. Yes, there is a basic format most designers will use and the abbreviations etc will be the same but the way one designer words things may just not work for you and that's okay. Free patterns are a great way to familiarise yourself with different writing styles as well as different project types. Pattern buying is basically a hobby all on its own! It can become expensive so you want to save your hard earned pennies to spend on patterns for designs that you know you'll love and that you'll also be able to follow easily. The first free pattern will be up on the blog very soon so keep those eyes peeled! I'm so excited to start sharing with you all. Happy crocheting! Shelley x