A Sweet Beach Bag Companion.

Funny Rainbow is another warm weather offering by Katia of sunny Spain. It comes as a substantial roll of yarn in soft colours, mixing tweed and shade change, with generous mileage.

A tweedy, colour repeat, all cotton yarn, Funny Rainbow has 630 meters/150 grams per roll. Doing the math means there are a stunning 210 meters per 50 grams, ample material to make a summer top or accessory. So one roll could equal almost 6 balls of cotton DK going by the meters.

There is a full colour leaflet accompanying the yarn featuring 3 designs, 2 knit and 1 crochet. All patterns are explained in 6 languages. Clear diagrams are also included for all designs, so for example, this making up diagram, clearly shows dimensions as well as how to fold and sew the crochet  shawl to create sleeves, quite ingenious.

Kim worked the crochet design, making it more airy by putting the shells in the chain space. She found it quite enjoyable, telling me she doesn't really crochet. I rather think she did a wonderful job.

I especially like it when there is a diagram of the stitch pattern, which I find is a more universally understood language, especially in crochet. There is often an opportunity for confusion between American and British terminology. The Katia company provides a tutorial for us, to clear up any mystery in this regard.

The shells in my samples are worked into the top of one of the (double) crochet stitches. First I tried some linen yarn.

Then some cotton yarn, and although it looks ok, I think Funny Rainbow makes a more interesting and pleasing fabric. The alternating shells form an zig-zag appearance that gives the softly changing yarn colours the right amount of structure and flow.

I also made this sample in some Bravo DK. Here the motion of the shells is unclear because of the  definite colour changes and furry texture of the acrylic yarn. It certainly is not as lacy.

One of my most favourite strategies in crochet is to make the beginning chain to the desired measurement plus about 15 cm more. Then I work the first row, stopping when I have achieved the desired width. I work away on the project, returning to the beginning chain once everything is going smoothly to unpick the surplus chain stitches. I learned this tip from the book "Modular Crochet" by Judith Copeland back in 1978. I am so happy to find it once again in print through Dover editions.