Crochet has Changed my life in many ways, in it’s own little way it saved me.
When I first learnt to crochet I was pretty useless, that’s an understatement, I was worst than useless but I was determined to crack it even if I could never learn to read a pattern or make anything other than a granny square.
With determination, gritted teeth, and a good few curse words, I managed that very first granny square blanket, a gift for my twin sister Hayley.
After I had mastered a good few standard granny blankets, I needed to learn more, I needed to challenge myself and with the help of BellaCoco on YouTube, I mastered new stitches while following alone to her videos.
Next came the dreaded task of learning to read a pattern, which was surprisingly easier than I first thought.
I picked one of my favourite patterns, Sophie’s Universe by Debri Uys from lookatwhatimade.net.

Sophie’s Universe was a crochet along back in 2015, one part of the pattern would get published once a week or fortnight, along with a video, which I badly needed to help out on the new stitches I was learning.
Unfortunately I could not keep my mind on track due to my medication and put my sorry excuse of a Sophie, a side, (I still have it somewhere, I dread to think how badly it’s made.) and I started on smaller projects that could keep my restless brain at bay.
To cut a long story short, two years down the line and I’m still hooking away, still learning and still loving the calm crochet brings.

Just before Christmas one of my instagram friends designed a gorgeous pattern called “ Star of the Forest” and I was totally blown away by the photo snippets she was posted as she designed it. I knew I had to make it from that very first photo.

Maria’s eye for colour is exceptional and her talent is humbling, so when she asked me to test her pattern, I was rather gobsmacked. 😶
Why would such a talented designer/crocheter want little old me to test for her.
Of course  I humbly agreed as I jumped around with excitement.
Colour combos raced around my mind and I finally decided on the perfect pallet, unfortunately I didn’t have all the colours I needed in my forever growing yarn stash, with Christmas and New Year right on the door step and a few days away planned I had to rethink and come up with something that looked half decent.
I really didn’t want to use double knit or go for my normal Scheepjes stonewashed which is by far my favourite yarn.
I finally decided to use, Scheepjes Catona, which is always a pleasure to work with and has a huge range of colours, unfortunately I haven’t got that many colours in my yarn collection, so I had to make do with what I already had.

Christmas flew by, the New year had rolled in and I had Maria’s pattern patiently waiting for me on my iPad. I was more than a little excited to get started.
Stars of the forest would be my first make of 2018 and the best way to start the year.
While my husband walked the moors with our puppy at his feet and his camera in hand,

I snuggled up by the fire, pattern, hook and yarn at the ready.
Star of the Forest was born, as I hooked away, content in my surroundings and colour choices.
The pattern was a dream to work from, clear as crystal, very well written and an absolute pleasure to make.

I’m itching to start a second, I think I’m going to make a large cushion for my bedroom which hopefully my hubby will decorate to match the original colour pallet I had in mind.

After I had finished testing Star of the Forest, I decided that I would like to give it to someone who would really appreciate it, in return I would ask for a small donation to either a Lupus or Raynaud’s charity.

I’ve never done a give away before, I’m not sure if it will work but if I can make a few pounds or even pocket change for a charity that is very dear to my heart, I have to give it ago. I feel a tad guilty for asking for a donation, but as my dad always use to say to me, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

I would like to thank Maria for giving me this opportunity and for trusting me with testing her beautiful pattern, I feel extremely lucky and honoured, I really can not thank her enough.

Star of the Forest pattern can be download for free on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/star-of-the-forest

You can also follow Maria on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/virkevira
You won’t be disappointed by her beautiful sea of colour.

Hooks, yarn and all the crochet goodies you could ever wish for, can be purchased at my two favourite suppliers, Lusciously Loppy, http://www.lusciously.co.uk or
Wool Warehouse. http://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk