A Journey through Spirals: Summary

Well that's the end of my journey with spirals.  I figured out how to make the shapes that interested me in a satisfying manner.  The only thing still lacking is to figure out how to make the spirals wider without having to attach more balls of yarn.

I just had a thought about that!  Why not just make taller stitches?  Like instead of dc (2c), use 5c, or for even bigger ones 10c (these numbers are totally arbitrary).  The obvious problem is that there will be gaping holes.  That can be solved by using linked stitches.  The corners would be interesting to figure out, but probably doable.

Anyway, now that that rabbit trail is over, let's summarize what I've explained about spirals.

I've found or written up patterns for the following shapes:
Circles (really 12 sided polygons)
Hexagons
Rectangles
Squares

This is hardly an exhaustive list of shapes.  As I write this, I realized that triangular spirals are also possible.  Any shape, at least regular polygons, can be made with spirals.  Hopefully you can figure out how to make a heptagon spiral if you really want to by looking at the principles for the more normal shapes.

A Journey through Spirals: Part Three

So, now I've shown how to do round spirals and rectangular spirals.  It's time to do square spirals.  Squares are basically a combination of circles and rectangles.  They have a definite point of origin like a circle, but with corners like a rectangle.  The challenge is to take a circle and make it angular, or to take a rectangle and make it start out with a simple ch 2.

This was actually a lot more difficult than I expected it to be, but I did come up with something.  The design principles are the same as for rectangles:

1. Corners need 3 sc or 5 dc to be square
2. It's easier to feel a chain 1 than to feel the middle stitch
3. Dc are twice as tall as they are wide

Essentially, this is a rectangle where the initial side consists of only a corner.  So, what you have to do is make a corner in each color in the same chain space, then crochet down the opposite color's corner and make another corner.

Here's that concept written out:
Chain 4
Round 1: (dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in 4th ch from hook with color A.  Attach color B to same ch, (ch 3, dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in same chain

To make sides: dc in post of opposite color's starting ch 3, work corner (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in top of opposite color's starting ch 3.

Round 2: dc around with (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in the ch 1 of corners

Repeat Round 2 until work reaches desired size.

I made this with Bernat Baby Coordinates in Tangerine Dream and Funny Prints with a J hook.

A Journey through Sprials: Part Two

Last time, I went through my endeavors to make a round spiral blanket.  Well, what limits spirals to round or semi-round things.  This time I decided to make a rectangle.  Again, the issue is beginning.

Here are the design principles I used:
1. Corners need 3 sc or 5 dc to be square
2. It's easier to feel a chain 1 than to feel the middle stitch
3. Dc are twice as tall as they are wide

Here's what I came up with:

With Color A, chain a number of chains such that the length equals the difference you want in the length and width of the finished product.  For instance, if you want to make a twin-sized blanket, typically 75"x90", then the difference is 15".  Your chain should measure 15".  This is only an approximation because work does tend to stretch the starting chain, but it's a starting point.

Round 1: dc in 4th ch from hook and in each ch across with color A.  Attach Color B to back side of chain (at the beginning of the chain, where the little bit of string is hanging off, where you've just crocheted back to with Color A). Ch 3 and dc across.

To make a corner: (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in last ch

To make sides: dc in post of first dc of opposite color.  Make corner in top of first dc of opposite color.  These sides should be 5 dc in length (2 for each corner and 1 for the height of the initial dc)

Round 2: dc around with (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in the ch 1 of corners

Repeat Round 2 until work reaches desired size.

A Journey through Spirals: Part One

A while ago I decided I wanted to try doing spirals.  I of course went to ravelry to find out how to do it.

 The first pattern I found was for a hexagonal blanket.  I grabbed some I Love this Yarn from my stash and got busy.  The initial few rounds are a little awkward, as usual with spirals, but once the work is established it is very quick and particularly mindless.

 

I had decided that I wanted another round blanket for my bed, so I planned on making it fairly large.  I was a little worried about having enough yarn to finish the project when I started.  I only had 3 skeins of pink and 2 skeins of coffee.  However, this pattern does not eat yarn.  The finished blanket only took 1.5 skeins of each color, much less than I had expected.

One problem however, is that a hexagon is not really round.  It is in fact angular with 6 well-defined sides.  Also, I wanted to make the spirals wider.  So, I wasn't really satisfied with this pattern as a round spiral pattern.  I again went looking on ravelry.  This time I found a pattern for a 12-sided blanket using 4 skeins at a time.  This pattern delivered by smoothing out the edges and doubling the width of the spirals.  I used Bernat Baby Coordinates in White and Funny Print, where each color started 2 of the spirals.

However, this pattern is not mindless.  The beginning 9 rounds are all different, and care must be paid to ensure a good result.  Also, throughout the piece, there are 4 skeins of yarn attached at once.  Managing these skeins so that they don't end up a colossal mess of tangled yarn is a difficult, frustrating task.  The finished baby blanket is beautiful, but, at least to me, not worth the headache.

There had to be a way to make this simpler.  I went back to ravelry and found another pattern. This one also was for a 12 sided blanket, but it is much more consistent throughout and only uses 2 skeins at once.  The spirals are not as wide as the previous pattern, but it's not a headache either.  I studied this pattern, but did not decide to actually make it.  Instead, using the knowledge of spirals I had gained from my previous attempts, I came up with my own pattern.  The problem with spirals is the beginning.  Once you get started it is simple and mindless.  So, I redesigned the middle and grew the pattern the same way this pattern did.

Here are the principles I used:
1. To be flat, an initial circle needs 6 sc or 12 dc
2. To have a gradual transition from the first round to the second, the stitches need to get gradually taller in the first round.
3. There will be 12 sides, so there need to be 12 stitches initially.

Here's the result:
Round 1: Ch 2, sc, hdc x2, dc x3 in 2nd chain from hook with color A. Attach color B and sc, hdc x2, dc x3 in same space.
Round 2: (dc, ch 1) in each stitch
Round 3: (2 dc, ch 1) in each stitch
Round 4: dc in each stitch until last dc of the side, (2 dc, ch 1) in last dc of side
Repeat Round 4 for pattern until work reaches desired size.

 

This pattern makes sense to me, so I think it's easy.  Hopefully this makes sense to other people too.  I used Bernat Baby Coordinates in Tangerine Dream and Funny Prints to make this baby blanket.

Oops! This Time for Real: Stitch Seven!

Well, I made a mistake last time I posted.  I didn't consult the book, just started typing about the next stitch, and instead of stitch seven, I actually posted about stitch eight.  So here in all its glory is the real stitch seven!

The overall effect of this stitch is to make very angular ripples, at least when you use my color pattern.  Lines of narrow holes run vertically throughout the pattern.  I like this stitch because it makes a distinct ripple pattern, but it does square off at the end, making the addition of a  border not a chore.  It's reasonably fast to work, though never totally mindless.  There are some complicated stitches, though easy to understand, care is needed to not drop loops or pull through too many loops.  Also, whenever you have to do a large number of one stitch in a single spot, counting becomes an issue. 

Although I like this stitch, I still prefer Stitch 4 from Triple Play Pattern Stitches for squared off ripples.   However, it is always nice to have another good option.  This made a nice baby blanket, and would make nice blankets as well.  I think it would make a particularly beautiful shawl, either solid colored or striped.

Without further ado:
Color Pattern:
1 row of white, (2 rows of maroon, 2 rows of white) repeated, ending with a single row of white, and a maroon border.

Chain 90, then work the stitch until work is square.
Add the standard border to complete.

Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I used Simply Soft yarn in Burgundy and White with a J hook to make this blanket.

At it again: Stitch Eight!

Trying so many new stitches constantly gets frustrating after a while because when I find one that I like, I picture all of the ways I could use the stitch in various projects.  To then have to immediately move on to an entirely new stitch without making any of the wonderful things I've imagined is not fun.  So, I took a break from investigating new stitches to actually make things other than baby blankets with the good ones I'd already found.

But, now I'm back to trying them out, and have stitch 8.  This stitch is fairly quick and relatively mindless.  It does have a picot stitch in it, which I'm generally not too fond of.  The result of the picot is that it's not completely mindless, and there are little nubs of yarn sticking up at regular intervals along the fabric.  This gives it a whimsical feel.  Though this is not my favorite stitch, it is different enough for it to be potentially useful.  I'm not sure what else I'd use it for, but it does make a nice baby blanket.

The color pattern I used is 2 rows of orange, then (2 rows of green, 2 rows of orange) repeated, with a green border.

In any case, here's the pattern:
Chain 90, then work stitch until work is square.  Add the standard border to complete.
Border:
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Lion Brand Pound of Love baby yarn in Pastel Green and Cream-sickle with a J hook.

Doily Mania: May Orchids

The stereotypical item to crochet is a doily.  Doilies today serve little purpose: they're just decorative, and very few people have any use for them.  Therefore, I never thought I'd get into making them.  Then my friend Lynnette told me that they were her favorite thing to make, or at least, thread crochet was here favorite.  I've always liked making blankets, with my trusty J hook, but figured I'd see what all the fuss was about.  I made several attempts and just could not get into it.

I worked on a doily in maroon, because that way it'd at least be an Aggie doily, for months more than a year ago.  It was tedious, stressful, and somewhat painful to my hands.  Reading doily patterns takes some getting used to, there are some tricks to it that I didn't understand, which made me have to improvise because I read the pattern wrong.  Also, you can't really do anything while working on one because the pattern changes every round.  This attempt ended when my roughly three month old puppy discovered that the ball of thread would roll, and proceeded to play with it all over the living room, tangling it around, under and through the couch and other furniture, pulling out hours of work in the process.  At that point, I just gave up and haven't touched it since.

The main reason I don't like doily thread is that it's so small I can't really see my stitches, and working with a size 5 hook literally hurts my hands.  So, I decided to try the size 3 thread, which is ironically bigger than the size 10 thread, working with an E hook.  The results were okay: my hands didn't hurt, I could see what I was doing, but it was impossible to make things small.  I wanted to make butterflies to put on clips for little girls hair, but they were just too big.

Then a few weeks ago, while perusing the yarn selection at my local Joann's store, I ran across something interesting: size 5 thread!  Size 10 was too small, size 3 was too big, so maybe size 5 would be perfect.  It was Bernat Handicrafter Crochet Thread.  I bought some purple, Orchid, and green thread, fully expecting it to sit in my stash forever, because I thought I'd never get around to doilies when I had afghans to make.  Anyway, I did get around to it, rather quickly actually, so that I wouldn't forget, and I love this thread!  You can see your stitches, it doesn't hurt your hands to work with it, and it's not too big.  I also bought a size 5 hook with a bamboo handle to use for this, and the bamboo handle makes a huge difference. 

I decided to give my one book of doily patterns, A Year of Doily Patterns: Book 5,  another try, and started on the May doily.  I mentioned earlier that there are some tricks to reading doily patterns.  One of the most important is to not turn unless you're specifically told to do so.  Well, I didn't know that, so I turned after every round, which made the pattern not line up.  To compensate, I had to reinterpret the pattern for every round, which led to some problems.  It wasn't until I had actually completed the entire doily, and was taking pictures of it and generally admiring it, that I realized I couldn't fold it properly.  Nothing lined up.  Then I counted, and somehow I had ended up with 7 pineapples instead of the 8 that should have been there.  In any case, it lays flat and I like it, so I just have a slightly skewed doily now. 

Making that doily only whetted my appetite for doily making.  I went out and bought more of the thread, and searched ravelry for more patterns.  I've now made several (I'll post more of them later), and will probably continue to make these beautiful but pointless creations.

Blended Arrows Blanket

My plans to make a blanket out of the Blended Arrows stitch were thwarted for a while because Hobby Lobby is reorganizing their yarn department.  The consequence was that I could not get any white yarn for about six weeks.  It was a glorious day when I discovered they had finally restocked and I could finally finish this blanket.

This blanket was by far the most time consuming project I've done yet, but it was worth it.  It is the thickest, warmest, most solid blanket I've made.  Have you ever heard knitters scornfully say that they don't like crochet because there are too many holes?  This is my answer to that complaint.  If you want a warm, solid fabric, and time isn't really an issue, this stitch is for you.

Here's how to make this:
Color Pattern:

5 rows of yellow, (6 rows each of blue, white, green, yellow) repeated, ending with 2 rows of green.  The border is done in blue.

Chain 201, then work the Blended Arrows stitch.
Border:
Round 1: sc around; 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around; 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around; 3 sc in corner
Round 4: dc around; 5 dc in corner
Round 5: sc around; 3 sc in corner

I made this with I Love this Yarn in Hot Yellow, Peacock (blue), Limelight (green), and White with a J hook.

Puffing Along: Stitch Six!

Stitch six is the next installment in this series.  It grows fairly rapidly and produces a pretty, lacy fabric.  If you like puff stitches, this one is worth trying.  Personally, I don't like puff stitches, so I'm not really a fan of this one.  There is so much variation in puff stitches because each person does them differently, having different tensions in the thread.  Mine naturally come out tight, thick, and stumpy.  I have to consciously think about each stitch to make them looser.  My friend Lynnette makes light and puffy puff stitches, so I know it's doable, just not for me.  I doubt I'll reuse this stitch as written.  I conceivably would reuse it if I replaced the puff stitches with clusters.

Here's the pattern:
Chain 91, then work stitch until it's square.  Add the normal border to complete.
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Baby Bee Sweet Delight yarn in Precious Ombre and a J hook.

Back to it: Stitch Five!

Getting back to 50 Stitches for Afghans, here's stitch five.  Normally, I would have tried this in a different color pattern than that found in the book, but not for this one.  The point of this stitch is to have essentially a grid of tiles, some solid, some not.  Having multiple colors would distract from this, so I decided to make it a solid color.  The stitch itself is easy to work and grows at the speed of dc, which is nice.  I like the overall effect of this stitch, but I'm not sure what I'd use it for.  It would make a pretty tablecloth if you were willing to work with small thread. 

In any case, here's what I did

:
Chain 87, then work stitch until square.  Add the standard border to finish.
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Bernat Baby Coordinates Tangerine Dream yarn and a J hook.

Sunshine Blanket

It's springtime again, and that means wedding time.  Another of my buddies just got married, so I crocheted a blanket for the happy couple.  The colors were yellow and coral, which actually don't go that well together as I discovered when I began planning this afghan.  The closest color to coral was a light peach color, which is actually rather hideous unless you're going for cream-sickle, and even then it's not that great.  Instead, I decided to use a variegated yarn that transitioned between different shades of yellow and pink.  Like the name of the color, Perpetual Sunshine, the combination is a happy one.  Hopefully the couple will like the blanket I crafted for them.

When I planned this blanket, I forgot one very important detail: stitch 2 doesn't expand like most stitches.  Consequently, I didn't chain enough at the beginning to make it an acceptable width.  To fix this, I simply made the border extra wide.  Despite this foible, I am happy with the result.

Here's what I did:
Chain 167, then work stitch 2 until work reaches desired length.  Add this border:
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 4: (cluster, ch 3, sk 2) around, (cluster, ch 3, cluster, ch 3, cluster) in corner
Round 5: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 6: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 7: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 8: (dc, ch 1, sk 1) around, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc) in corner
Round 9: (dc, ch 1, sk 1) around, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc) in corner
Round 10: (dc, ch 1, sk 1) around, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc) in corner
Round 11: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 12: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 13: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 14: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 15: (dc, ch 1, sk 1) around, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc) in corner
Round 16: (dc, ch 1, sk 1) around, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc) in corner
Round 17: (dc, ch 1, sk 1) around, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc) in corner
Round 18: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 19: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 20: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 21: (cluster, ch 3, sk 2) around, (cluster, ch 3, cluster, ch 3, cluster) in corner
Round 22: sc around, 3 sc in each corner
Round 23: dc around, 5 dc in each corner
Round 24: sc around, 3 sc in each corner

I made this with I Love this Yarn in Perpetual Sunshine and a J hook.

Skating along: Stitch Four!

This was a stitch I was looking forward to trying out and it did not disappoint.  The picture in the book of a solid colored version is pretty, but I like the three color version I tried.  It's a happy and somewhat whimsical stitch that makes for good baby blankets, blankets, and scarves.  It's somewhat lacy, but not overly so.  The color combination, along with the stitch itself reminds me of lollipops.  I will definitely use this stitch again.


Color Pattern:
(1 row of yellow, 1 row of orange, 1 row of purple) repeated, ending with a row of orange; the border is purple.

Here's the pattern:
Chain 88, then work stitch until square.  Add the standard border and you're done.
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in Lavender, Cream-sickle,and Pastel Yellow with a J hook.

And then: Stitch Three!

In the interest of trying out new color patterns, I tried this one striped in maroon and white.  I'm not overly fond of the result;  it looks a little messy and thrown together, or at least that was my impression as I worked it.  However, I think that's simply the result of the striping pattern.  If it was one color, like it is in the book, it would be gorgeous.  It's not overly complicated or difficult to do, and it grows at a reasonable pace.  I'll probably reuse this but using only one color in the future.  It would be good for scarves, shawls, baby blankets, and afghans.  I'll probably make an afghan out of it at some point. 

In any case, here are the details:

Color pattern:
2 rows of white, (2 rows of maroon, 2 rows of white) repeated, ending with 1 row of maroon.  Border is maroon.

Chain 92, then work the stitch until work is square.  Add the border and you're done.

Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Bernat Satin yarn in Bordeaux and Snow with a J hook.

Naturally next: Stitch Two!

My first impression of this stitch was not favorable.  Based on the swatch shown in the book I thought it was going to be too open, and somewhat boring on top of that.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it; it's actually a stitch I conceivably would use again.  It's quick, easy, and essentially mindless.  The striping pattern is what keeps it from being boring.

Color pattern:
2 rows of white, (2 rows of maroon, 2 rows of white) repeated, ending with 1 row of maroon.  Border is maroon.

Chain 90, then work stitch until square.  Add the border to finish it.
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Bernat Satin yarn in Bordeaux and Snow with a J hook.

Good Read!

If you enjoy reading crochet blogs, and since you're reading this I assume you do, you should check out Mary Beth Temple's book: Hooked for Life: Adventures of a Crochet Zealot.

It's a delightful read full of funny anecdotes and inside jokes for the crochet enthusiasts.  Over Christmas I read portions of it aloud to my family and even they, the uninitiated, found it funny.

Here's the info:
ISBN-10: 0740778129

Here we go again: Stitch One!

This first stitch I really like and will likely reuse.  It's consistent and a good mix of solid and lacy.  It's also fast: it grows at the speed of dc, and is essentially mindless.  The baby blanket I made from it is really nice, and it would be appropriate for scarves, afghans, shawls etc.  Additionally, basically any color striping pattern you'd want to try out would work with this stitch.  The pattern for this stitch is easy to read, and would be a good one to start on if you're not confident in your ability to decipher crochet-script.  This stitch gets my ringing endorsement for both novices and experts alike.

Here's the pattern:

Chain 93, then work the stitch until fabric is square.  Add the standard baby blanket border to finish.
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in Lavender with a J hook.

New Year, New Book!

Last year, I crocheted my way through Triple Play Pattern Stitches by making a baby blanket out of each of the thirty stitches.  That's thirty baby blankets in a little less than four months.  I was thoroughly sick of making them when I finished.  I think I'm finally over it, and I have another audacious plan. 

I went home for Christmas and went shopping with my mom and sister.  Part of that shopping was naturally for yarn.  While browsing through the patterns my mom found a book for me that I'm actually using.  When I first looked through it, I saw several stitches that looked exactly like some that are in Triple Play Pattern Stitches.  They were so similar, that I even commented to my mom that there would probably be a law suit about it for copyright infringement.  Weeks passed, I started using the book, and I finally noticed that it's by Darla Sims, the same person who wrote the Triple Play book.  Apparently I'm a fan of her work. 

So the audacious plan I mentioned earlier is that I'm going to do it again.  I'm going to work my way through the book, testing out all of the stitches by making a baby blanket.  But this time, it's not thirty stitches; it's fifty stitches!  The new book is 50 Stitches for Afghans, and I'm going to try them all. Unlike her previous book, these stitches only show one colorway instead of three.  That feature was what initially drew me to the Triple Play book, and I still really like it.  It helps in understanding the stitch and planning your color scheme.  So, I am going to make an effort to try the stitches with a colorway different than the one in the book, so that there will be two colorways for each stitch.  That won't be for all of them, but I'm going to try.

Here's the info: Published by Annie's Attic.  ISBN: 978-1-59635-302-2.  Author: Darla Sims

Blended Arrows Stitch

A while back, I was Christmas shopping and ran across a crochet book.  I flipped through it, and was generally unimpressed, but I did see one afghan pattern that was interesting.  I decided not to buy the book because out of dozens of patterns only one was something I'd want and it was over twenty dollars.  Earlier this week, I recalled the pattern and decided to try it out as I remembered it.  The first attempt was a disaster.  There was no way that I would make an entire blanket in the simplistic way the pattern called for, but I liked the overall look, so I got out some paper and figured out a way to make it work.  I have since tried to find the original pattern, but I don't remember enough about the source to find it.  I don't even know the name of the book or of the pattern.

In any case, the idea of long stitches to blend colors together has merit.  There are myriad ways to arrange them to make interesting patterns.  This particular one is more complicated than other options, but it's a starting spot.

Some modifications you could try are to skip rows 7-12, which would change the shape of the arrows (to something non-arrow-like) and have them all go in one direction, or to expand it to having lsc7, with an extra row of sc and ch 1 sp, which would make the arrows change direction on their own.

This stitch is one I would normally avoid: it's slower than sc, complicated, and uses up so much yarn.  I'm surprised that I like this stitch so much because it doesn't do anything that I normally like stitches to do, and I would not recommend this stitch pattern for beginners or for something you want to work up quickly and easily.  However, I'm loving how this is turning out.  The overall effect reminds me a little of how quilts feel because it's so solid and the complicated rows fold down the simple rows, making it thicker there, basically at a seam.  So far, I've spent about 20 hours, 4 skeins of I Love this Yarn, and have only gotten about 18" of fabric.  I guess I was just up for a challenge.

Color Pattern:
Use one color for first 5 rows, then change colors every 6 rows.  Change colors at row 6, 12, 18, etc

Stitch Definitions:
lsc2= long single crochet into ch 1 sp 2 rows below
lsc3= long single crochet into ch 1 sp 3 rows below
lsc4= long single crochet into ch 1 sp 4 rows below
lsc5= long single crochet into ch 1 sp 5 rows below
lsc6= long single crochet into ch 1 sp 6 rows below

Note: st = stitch, which can be sc, ch 1 sp, or one of the long sc

Chain a multiple of 6 + 3
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 ch] across, sc in last 6 ch
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc in first 5 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 2 st
Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc in first 3 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 4 st
Row 4: ch 1, turn, sc in first 3 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 4 st
Row 5: ch 1, turn, sc in first 5 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 2 st

Row 6: ch 1, turn, sc in first sc, [sc, lsc2, lsc3, lsc4, lsc5, lsc6] across, sc in last st

Row 7:   ch 1, turn, sc in first 6 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 ch] across, sc in last 1 st
Row 8:   ch 1, turn, sc in first 2 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 5 st
Row 9:   ch 1, turn, sc in first 4 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 3 st
Row 10: ch 1, turn, sc in first 4 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 3 st
Row 11: ch 1, turn, sc in first 2 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 st] across, sc in last 5 st

Row 12: ch 1, turn, sc in first sc, [lsc6, lsc5, lsc4, lsc3, lsc2, sc] across, sc in last st

Row 13:  ch 1, turn, sc in first 1 st, [ch 1, sk 1, sc in next 5 ch] across, sc in last 6 st

Repeat Rows 2-13 for pattern, ending with either row 7 or 13

Modified Shell Stitch Summary

We've reached the end of the shell stitch series and I for one am glad.  Since most of these stitches are very similar, it wasn't all that interesting to do, and I'm guessing, not all that interesting to read.  However, I did find some great stitches through this process that I otherwise wouldn't have tried.  The best find in this series was 10001.  Basically, all of the palindromic stitches are worth looking at, and some of the others are neat too.  Here's how it all panned out:

00000 : open, lacy, stretchy
00001 & 10000 : grid of single/double thick squares, worth a look
00010 & 01000 : complex mesh, quintessential crochet
00011 & 11000 : neat: thick vertical columns separated by open triangles
00100 : grid of triangles you can diagram and fill in like fillet crochet
00101 & 10100 : vertical columns of triangles, filled and open, good for scarves
00110 & 01100 : thin vertical columns, simple and boring
00111 & 11100 : like Stitch 2 from Darla Sim's book
01001 & 10010 : lacy network, surprisingly pretty, good for scarves
01010 : light, simple, and easy, good for scarves and baby blankets
01011 & 11010 : small holes, not really interesting
01101 & 10110 : pretty, but nothing special
01110 : twin vertical columns, simple, lacy, and elegant
01111 & 11110 : solid and boring
10001 : awesome, grid of double thick squares, try it!
10011 & 11001 : interesting, diagonal line of holes through fabric
10101 : nice, you can actually see the stitches, will reuse
10111 & 11101 : solid and boring
11011 : solid, and easy, uses less yarn and is almost indistinguishable from the original
11111 : original shell stitch

An explanation of how to read these stitches is in the introduction to this series, here.

Shell Stitch 11011

We've finally made it!  This is the last stitch in the variations on shell stitches series: stitch 11011.  I think this stitch is even easier to do than the original simple shell stitch because it is so obvious where to put your single crochet.  When I first started making shell stitches, a couple of years ago, I had some trouble deciding which one was the middle dc, but this clears all of that up.  You simply sc in the only space available.  This stitch looks virtually identical to the original, but it does use less yarn, so if running out of yarn is potentially going to be an issue, consider using this stitch instead. 

Here's the stitch pattern:
Stitch 11011:
Chain a multiple of 6 + 5
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, (sk 2, [2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc] in next ch, sk 2, sc) across, 3 dc in last ch
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc, ([2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc] in sc, sc in ch 1 sp) across, 3 dc in last sc

Repeat Row 2 for pattern


Here's the baby blanket pattern:
Chain  95, then work stitch 11011 until work is square.  Add this border and you're done:
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: (sc, ch 3, sk 1) around, (sc, ch 3, sc in same stitch) at corner

I made this with Lion Brand Pound of Love in Honey Bee with a J hook.