Silver Table Runner

My latest design for an elegant table runner was lovely to make. I’ve become a bit addicted to DMC Petra, it’s soft with a sheen and gives a good definition to raised and textured stitches. This runner would make a lovely silver wedding gift. I used number 5 in Khaki and cream to make this one.
My inspiration for my latest crochet project came from an afghan throw I saw on Pinterest. It was made in strips of shades of brown and rust starting with a pale shade and ending with a dark brown. Very autumnal and very lovely!

Earlier this year I made a golden wedding runner and it brought in requests for another special crochet gift design. I thought it would be a good idea to design and make a silver wedding runner. I had sent for a selection of DMC petra in number 5 for the Russian style runner. I decided to buy the cream and khaki (looks more like grey to me) on impulse and they look beautiful together.

Looking at the autumn coloured afghan it inspired me to make a runner in long strips. I tried out the arrow stitch and it immediately looked really pretty, bearing in mind not all stitches look good in both thin and thicker cottons and yarn but this one worked very well. I added a few rows of dc’s to emphasise the arrow stitch and break up the two bands of colours.

Finally as the runner was designed as a special gift it needed something special so I added long silky tassels in the khaki cotton. It was very satisfying to make and while arrow stitch is a bit fiddly I loved the finished textured look.

Grab the pattern here.... suitable for intermediate crocheters

Ella Rae cosy double knit yarn review

Ella Rae was created in Australia and I think the colours of this yarn reflect the bright light of Australia. The brand has a reputation for creating simple and classic designs using a range of yarns. Ella Rae is soft, machine washable and excellent value for a 100gm ball. The content of this double knit (light worsted) is 75% acrylic and 25% wool and a 100gm ball is around 195 metres.

Ella Rae comes in many different colours including 9 bright blends that use the same dyes as the plain coloured yarns. All the colours are bright from pink, orange to turquoise and lime green. There is also a white to tone things down. I use a hook size 3.75 with Ella Rae cosy.

Ella Rae would be good to use for soft cozy scarfs and lovely for baby and child garments. I used it for a pretty brooch. Despite all of this I have to say this is not my favourite yarn, it has a tendency to split and I find the finished colours a bit brash. I tried it with other yarns of the same weight and it just didn’t look right. If you want bargain soft yarn with a wool content this could the one to go for.

Buy it from.....yarn.com or knittingwoolandyarn.co.uk