Ahoy hoy. So, time for something a little bit different. Recently
the lovely folks at Deramores got in touch with me. If you’re not familiar with
Deramores they’re an awesome online knitting and crochet store with one of the
biggest ranges of yarns and patterns in the UK. As well as stocking most of the
big name yarn brands, they also do a good amount of their own brand yarn, and
they kindly sent me some of this to review.
I didn’t know exactly how much yarn they were going to send
me, so when I got this huge package in the post I was pretty chuffed. First out
of the packet was their Vintage Chunky yarn. It's a 50/50 blend of Merino and acrylic. They sent me 3 suitable muted vintage colours, and it looks really nice. You can tell from the touch that it's a blended yarn, and its got a nice twist to it too. I was wondering what I could make with it, and then I remembered there was more to look at.
I delved further into the package and found another
package inside. It contained one of their Studio DK multi colour packs.
Deramores have a really good range of colour packs on their site, going from
this small one to larger ones that will fulfill your needs for specific
patterns. Straight away I was impressed with the colours in the small pack,
they’re all bold and vibrant.
I couldn’t wait to get started having a play with it. TheDeramores own brand yarn is in fact winner of ‘Best Independent Yarn Brand’ at
the British Knitting Awards for the last 3 years running, and as soon as it was
in my hands I could see why. Now those of you who regularly follow my
shenanigans will know that I’m a big fan of acrylic yarn. I love real wool too
but when it comes down to the crunch I’m an acrylic man. There’s still a bit of
snobbery towards synthetic yarns which harks back to the bad old days of cheap
and nasty yarns, but in reality acrylic has come a long way. The Deramores
studio yarn is actually one of the softest (if not the softest) acrylic yarns
I’ve come across. At first touch you can tell it's soft, but first touches can
often be deceiving. The proof came when working the yarn. Over the last week my
cuticles have been torn to shreds, and because of the way I wrap yarn around my
fingers, I expected it to get worse and be bleeding and getting the plasters
out in no time. Fortunately I was wrong; the yarn felt lovely and soft against
my fingers and didn’t aggravate my skin at all, they claim its soft enough for
babies and I can agree with that - an impressive start.
I decided to try making a basic shape out of each of the
different colours, to test it out a bit. I’ve got a lot of experience with
acrylics, and a problem I’ve come across before is thicknesses. You can often
have two different coloured DK yarns of the same brand and by the same
manufacturer, but when you start working you notice one works out ever so
slightly thicker/bigger than the other. This appears to be to do with the
dyeing and colour process, and can happen across many different types of yarn.
Normally it’s so slight that it’s not a huge problem, but if you’re doing
anything patchwork related it can really throw you off size-wise. Again, I
found the Deramores yarn impressive in this factor, there was little
discernable difference, if any.
In terms of quality the yarn was very good. Through each
ball I found it to be very even and consistent. There is nothing that annoys me
more (well, there is in the grander scheme of things) than when you get halfway
through a ball of yarn and find a knot in the middle – you’ll be glad to hear
there was none of that nonsense. Now, the yarn label also describes it as
‘anti-pilling’, I’ll be honest - I had to look up what this meant. Basically it
means that you won’t get those annoying bobbles after washing (this is to do
with the way the fibres are constructed). Oddly, I noticed the effects of this
with the white and raspberry coloured yarns only, when working them you can get
a little bit of fluff coming off, but nothing enough to be of concern and when
the yarn is worked it doesn’t seem to be an issue.
Finally, and possibly the most important factors for
some, price and range of colours. The Studio DK range comes in 33 different
shades and you can get the packs in a variety of amounts and colour
combinations. This small Studio DK pack comes in at £10.99, and if you want to
buy the balls individually it’s £1.99, which I feel is more than a fair price
for such a quality product – I’ve paid about that for some real cheap and nasty
yarns in the past so I’d definitely use these again. Overall I was very
impressed with the yarn, and I’m not just saying that cos this is a review, I
honestly don’t have a bad word to say about it.
Now, so that I could give the yarn a proper review I made a
shape out of each colour, but you know what I’m like, that’s just not enough, we
can’t let those shapes go to waste now can we? That’s right, it’s free pattern
time! I’m going to try and start making more patterns, and I haven’t done any
of that for a while so wanted to get a bit of practice. I also felt like I
hadn’t given you loyal readers anything for a while either. I figured I'd write you a simple pattern, but then I thought you might like a bit of variation, so you have two sides to choose from. It should be easy enough and gives you some
creative choices, so I hope you enjoy!
FREE TWO-WAY
TESSALATING TOTE BAG PATTERN
You will
need:
DeramoresStudio DK Multi Colour Pack (6 x 100g, 250m, 100% acrylic) containing the following shades:
Citrine [YELLOW], Heather [PURPLE], Raspberry [RED], Lapis [BLUE], Frost [WHITE] and Malachite [GREEN].
3.5mm hook
Stitch
markers
Wool needle
THIS PATTERN IS WRITTEN IN UK ENGLISH. FOR
US TERMS JUST REPLACE DC WITH SC!!!
*Note, when fastening off always leave a
tail of about a foot long to help you with the assembly – alternatively you
could use a needle and cotton thread if you so desire*
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Side 1:
Main shape: (make in 3 in red, 3 in white, 3 in green, 3 in yellow, 2 in blue, 2 in purple)
Ch17
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (16dc)
Row 2-6:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Row 7: ch1,
dc in each st across, ch9, turn. (16dc & 9ch)
Row 8: dc in
2nd ch from hook and in next 7 ch, dc in next 8 sts [leaving
remaining 8dc unworked] turn. (16dc)
Row 9-14:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Fasten off.
*if you need help understanding Rows 7 & 8 see image at bottom of side 2 instructions*
Small square shape: (make 3 in yellow, 3 in purple)
Ch9
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (8dc)
Row 2-7:
ch1, dc in each st along, turn. (8dc)
Fasten off
Small rectangle shape: (2 in blue, 2 in purple)
Ch17
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (16dc)
Row 2-7: ch1,
dc in each st along, turn. (16dc)
Fasten off
Backwards L shape (make 3 in green)
Ch17
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (16dc)
Row 2-7:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Row 8: ch1,
dc in next 8 sts (leaving remains 8 sts unworked), turn. (8dc)
Row 9 -14: ch1,
dc in each st across, turn. (8dc)
Upside-down L shape (make 3 in blue)
Ch9
Row 1: dc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (8dc)
Row 2-6: ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (8dc)
Row 7: ch1, dc in each st across, ch9, turn. (8dc & 9ch)
Row 8: dc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 7 ch, dc in next 8
sts, turn. (16dc)
Row 9 -14: ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Fasten off
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main shape: (make 3 in red, 3 in green, 3 in yellow, 3 in purple)
Ch 17
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (16dc)
Row 2-6:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Row 7: ch1,
dc in each st across, ch9, turn. (16dc & 9ch)
Row 8: dc in
2nd ch from hook and in next 7 ch, dc in next 8 sts [leaving
remaining 8dc unworked] turn. (16dc)
Row 9-13:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Row 14: ch1,
dc in each st across, ch9, turn. (16dc & 9ch)
Row 15: dc
in 2nd ch from hook and in next 7 ch, dc in next 8 sts [leaving
remaining 8dc unworked] turn. (16dc)
Row 16-21:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc).
Fasten off.
C-Shape: (Make 1 in red, 1 in green)
Ch 17
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (16dc)
Row 2-7:
ch1, dc in each st across, turn. (16dc)
Row 8: ch1,
dc in next 8 sts [leaving remains 8 sts unworked], turn. (8dc)
Row 9-13:
ch1, dc in each st along, turn. (8dc)
Row 14: ch1,
dc in each st across, ch9, turn. (8dc & 9ch)
Row 15: dc
in 2nd ch from hook and in next 7 ch, dc in next 8 sts, turn. (16dc)
Row 16-21:
ch1, dc in each st along, turn. (16dc)
Fasten off
Small square shape: (make 1 in red, 1 in green, 2 in yellow, 2 in purple)
Ch9,
Row 1: dc in
2nd ch from hook and each ch along, turn. (8dc)
Row 2-7:
ch1, dc in each st along, turn. (8dc)
Fasten off
![]() |
Illustration of Side 2 Main Piece, Rows 7-8 apply to Side 1 Main piece too |
Assembly
Edging
With RS of
Side 1 facing, join raspberry yarn in to far right hand stitch of top edge with
ss, ch1 and dc across. Fasten off (64dc)
Repeat on
side 2, DO NOT FASTEN OFF.
*now is a good time to place some stitch
markers to help you get the edging accurate, put at least one in each corner
connecting the two sides together*
With both
sides against each other (and both with RS facing outwards), ch1, dc down the
side edge (connecting both sides), being as even with your stitches as possible
(you should have roughly 84sts), ch2 when you reach the bottom corner, then dc along
bottom edge of both sides (roughly 64sts), ch2 in the next corner, then dc
back up the opposite side (roughly 84sts). Fasten off and weave in all ends.
Straps
Straps (make 2)
Using Red, ch101
Row 1 (RS): dc in 2nd ch from hook and each st across. Fasten off. (100dc)
Join Yellow with ss into 1st st of row 1,
Row2 (RS): ch 1, dc across. Fasten off (100dc)
Sew one end of strap to stitches 21 & 22 of top edge of one side of bag, and sew other end of strap to stitches 43 & 44 on same edge. Repeat with second strap on other side of bag. Weave in all ends
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There you go, all finished. Have fun, Peace out!
[The Transparency Bit - Deramores kindly supplied me with the yarn to review and make this pattern with for free, but I have not been paid to review these products. All opinions are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Deramores.]
[The Legal Bit - I am happy for you to print this pattern for yourself, and I do not mind if you want to use it at crochet classes or groups. I retain copyright. I only ask that you do not sell works made from this pattern, and do not publish or replicate on any other websites or publications without prior permission - linking to the pattern/my blog is fine. Basically, I don't copy, neither should you!]
Thanks for the review. And love the bag pattern. Might give one a go!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. And love the bag pattern. Might give one a go!
ReplyDeleteexcellent! I too am a fan of acrylic and use it to make blankets and throws: my usual go-to acrylic is Stylecraft as the colours are so good:
ReplyDeletecurrently using Scheepjes colour crafter for a CAL but it's awful! lots of knots and it splits like billy-oh: I'll defo give the Deramores a try :-)
I came upon your blog purely by chance, and maybe serendipitous is the correct word for this situation. This morning I was thinking that I would like to do a crochet project using pieces shaped like the quilting pattern on my blanket. The quilting pattern happens to look like side 1 of the bag you designed! Perfect! Can't wait to give it a go :)
ReplyDeleteVery pleased to read what you say about acrylic yarn. The snobbery against it can be very tedious. I too am a fan - mainly because of the available colour choices and the fact that that any moths that happen to be knocking around will not be feasting on it. Also good to see Deromores Studio dk get some credit - I've been singing its praises for a while now. Nice blog - oh, and great bag.
ReplyDelete