“A CROCHETED PIECE IS THE LOVELY MANIFESTATION OF A THOUGHT, EXPRESSED THROUGH HAND,
HEART, HOOK, AND YARN.”
– FRANCINE TOUKOU. 

When Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir designs, it’s plain to see, she gives her soul to creativity. Her love and exceptional talent shines through in every single masterpieces she manifests. And her new pattern “FROST”, is no exception. 

It’s next level and such an inviting pattern.
It’s a dream to recreate and trust me when I say, you’ll lose not only hours but yourself, while you’re stitching happily away, as it has an unexplainable calm to it. 
You can read all about Frost here.

When I first learnt the art of crochet, I never thought in my wildest dreams, I would have the honour of testing Tinnas patterns. Tinna has been my favourite designer ever since I joined in on her, Havana Crochet Along. But here I am, one of the lucky ones and enjoying every second of it.

Am I good enough, probably not, but that doesn’t stop me giving my all, wanting to please and letting her inspiration and creativity flow through me.
And while I still have a lot to learn, especially about the use of colour (I shy away from colour unfortunately, something I need to change), there is no better teacher than Tinna.

When Tinna showed her testing team a photo of Frost, I fell in love and instantly knew I wanted to go big or go home.

I planned to go all out and make a bedspread but first I decided to make a simple test piece, of one repeat and turn it into a cushion.

I decide to work the pattern flat, instead of in the round, as I needed to use this piece as a swatch, to help to work out yarn amounts and size for my second project. It’s was a little unconventional as making Frost in the round would have been simpler. Ignoring all my self doubt, I picked up my hook and with yarn in hand, I started my Frost journey.
And boy wasn’t it wonderful. Every stitch a pleasure.

If I had to give any advice at all, it would be, “Go slow” especially at the beginning. If you go wrong here, it’s seriously going to throw you off.
Please take your time, use stitch markers if needed but most importantly enjoy the process.
If you haven’t done slanted extended dc’s or slanted extended front post dc’s, take your time and practice if needed. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be flying through the repeats.

The pattern is very well written as normal, Tinnas pattern writing skill are exceptional but if you are new to crochet or for any other reason you struggle a little,  I find writing it down and separating the slanted stitches really does help.

From example if the pattern is as follows –

5SC, 2DC, 1 SC, 1 XDC slanted 2 ST to the right, 5 SC, 1 XDC slanted 2 ST to the Left,1 SC, 1 DC, 1 SC, 1 SC, 1 DC, 1 SC,1 XDC slanted 2 ST to the right, 8 SC.

Break it down like this –

5SC, 2DC, 1 SC, 

1 XDC slanted 2 ST to the right, 

5 SC, 

1 XDC slanted 2 ST to the Left,

1 SC, 1 DC, 1 SC, 1 SC, 1 DC, 1 SC,

1 XDC slanted 2 ST to the right, 

8 SC.

I really found this method helpful when I use to make a lot of overlay crochet.

Right let me tell you all about my “Frost” cushion.

I used my, Clover Armour 7mm hook and one of my favourite yarns, Scheepjes Namaste.

I chose colours, 

Colour A – Scheepjes Namaste  Happy Baby (621)
Colour B – Scheepjes Namaste  Staff (626)

I made a starting chain of 32 + 5 plus 1 turning chain. (38 total)
My chain measured – 12.5 inch’s.
My total stitch count for each row was 37.
After the two foundation rows it measured 13 inches.

After completing all 33 rows, I made one extra row in colour A, Happy Baby (621).
I stared with a Border stitch, then Single crocheted in the back loop, across until one stitch remains and finished with a border stitch.
The front of my cushion was complete.

I then started a back for it. This time I used Scheepjes Namaste, Staff (626) as colour A and Scheepjes Namaste, Happy Baby (621) as colour B.
Once again I made a starting chain of 32 + 5 plus 1 turning chain.  (38 total) and followed Tinnas instructions for the foundation rows.
I than made 34 rows of single crochet in the back loops, also starting and finishing with a border stitch, changing my yarn from A to B at the end of each row.

It wasn’t long until I had the back of the cushion completed and ready to join.
I really didn’t want to sit and weave in all those ends, I find that job a little tedious to say the least, so I followed Tinnas instructions for her double border, which you can find here. 

Instead of making a double border on each piece I only made single crochets into the front slip stitches on both the front and back of the cushion pieces.
I made 4 rounds of Single Crochet and then joined them together using a single crochet stitch into all the 4 loops. 
I only completed the first three sides, making an envelope and than added my cushion insert. I opted for a smaller insert as I didn’t want the yarn to stretch to much. (Bad mistake.)
I then continued joining and finished with an invisible join, weaved in my ends and my cushion was finished.
I wasn’t entirely sure my method of joining would work, thankfully it did.

If I’m in totally honest with you, I wasn’t happy with it, it just looked baggy and I was left feeling disappointed in myself and felt that I had failed Tinna. Not that she would ever say I had, her heart is too kind.

I kept looking at the finished cushion and just couldn’t make myself love it. The pattern of course was awesome, it wasn’t anything to do with that at all. I loved the Frost pattern. 😍

I just couldn’t shift the feeling of failure and disappointment, so I decided to rip back the joining round and use a larger insert.
Why I didn’t do it to start with, because as soon as I had rejoined, I was smitten.

I love it. ❤️

Truthfully I could not be more pleased, so much so, I have already started my second Frost and once again, I’m back in my element stitching my worries away. 

I have yet to decide if it will be a bed runner or a full sized King quilt for our bed. Watch this space and over on my Instagram, to see the outcome.

If I had to change anything about my Frost cushion, I’m sorry to say it would have to be my yarn choice.
I absolutely love, Scheepjes Namaste, it’s lovely and looks stunning especially as a blanket but it is very silky and I worry that the knots at the beginning and end of each row will weaken over time and come undone. It’s a huge concern, maybe not so much with the cushion but a large project like a bedspread, worries me. Hence the reason I have yet to decide what my second Frost will end up as.
I know I could have used a different yarn, this time round but I had already purchased a great deal of Scheepjes Namaste to make a bedspread out of and it’s such a delicious yarn, my heart pulls me to it over and over.

So where can you get your hands on a copy of the pattern of the year, FROST.
Frost is available in Tinnas Ravelry store, here, for an absolute bargain price of $8.50, thats about £6.56.

Before I sign off, here’s a few places you can find our very talented designer and friend.

Tinna’s website can be found here.

You can find all Tinna’s delicious pattern on Ravelry, here. 

You can show off you makes on her Facebook Group, Tina’s Crochet Club.

You can also follow her on Instagram, here.

You can find her on YouTube here.

I hope you love Frost as much as I do and it gives you many happy hours, days and weeks of pleasure.
Enjoy your journey.
Until next time, be safe, be you, be true.

Too-da-loo for now.

🦋🦋🦋