Celtic Star Blanket

So, when I originally worked out how to graphically work out the color patterns, I came up with the Featured Color pattern.  I decided to try it out in a full sized afghan with some yarn I wanted to clear out of my stash.  The colors in this blanket look Irish to me, probably because the featured color is Kelly Green, and since the accent row is made up of star stitches, I have dubbed this the Celtic Star Blanket.

So, I knew the yarn, the color pattern, featured color, but had to decide what stitch to use.  I finally decided to keep it fairly simple, and do mostly dc, with accent rows of Star Stitches.  My friend introduced me to this stitch and wrote up a picture tutorial on how to do this star stitch.  I have since labeled this the star lattice stitch pattern.  The star stitch uses more yarn per row than does dc, so you will need more yarn of that color than the other colors.

I really like the thin stripes this color pattern gives.  The star stitch as an accent row gives the blanket at least the look of some texture.  

Here's the color pattern:  (2 rows of gray, 1 row of green, 2 rows of white, 1 row of green) repeated, ending with 2 rows of gray.

Chain 149
Row 1: dc in 4th chain from hook, dc across (gray)
Row 2: ch 3, turn, dc across (gray)
Row 3: ch 3, turn, work star stitch across (green)
Rows 4-5: ch 3, turn dc across (white)
Row 6: ch 3, turn, work star stitch across (green)
Row 7: ch 3, turn dc across (gray)
Repeat Rows 2-7, (ending with row 2) until work reaches desired length.

Border:
Round 1: star stitch around, 5 dc and legs of 2 star stitches in each corner (do a star stitch in each row on the sides)
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 3: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 4: star stitch around, 5 dc and legs of 2 star stitches in each corner
Round 5: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 6: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 7: star stitch around, 5 dc and legs of 2 star stitches in each corner
Round 8: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 9: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 10: star stitch around, 5 dc and legs of 2 star stitches in each corner



I made this using Loops and Threads Impeccable yarn in Kelly Green, White, and Clay (gray) with a J hook.