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