as-we-go stripey blanket

Here is the finished pattern for the as-we-go stripey blanket that was written up during not your average crochet’s very first crochet along!  I hope you enjoy it!  (Click here for the PDF version that does not include the step-by-step photos; click here for the PDF version that does include the step-by-step photos.)  Please feel free to post any pictures to the Ravelry group page or the new facebook page — I’d love to see!  Here is the finished blanket:

And don’t forget, I’m using US crochet terms! Here’s a handy chart:

materials

For my throw sized blanket I used 11 skeins of Stylecraft Special DK (in shades Parchment, Meadow, Fondant, Sherbet, Aspen, Apricot, Candyfloss, Lavender, Aster, Lipstick, and Pale Rose for the border).  It was a close call though, so if you plan on making something larger than a throw I’d definitely get two balls of each color (but you could still just get 1 for the border color).  You can use any colors or indeed any kind of yarn that you would like!

Hook size H/8 (5.00 mm), or whatever hook suits your specific yarn.

Scissors & yarn needle.

foundation chain

Begin by chaining any multiple of 24 (i.e. 96, 120, 144, etc., and don’t chain too tightly!). Then chain 2 more for our turning chains. With my DK weight yarn and my H/8/5mm, I chained 194 total to make my throw about 50″/127cm wide, but you make yours however long you want to! As long as it’s a multiple of 24 plus 2 you’re fine! Double, no, TRIPLE check you have the right number so you don’t have to start over later!  Edit: I should also say that because the 2 turning chains count as your first hdc, you should have an odd number of stitches for every row in your blanket (you will have a multiple of 24 + 1 stitches).  So for example, since I chained 192 + the 2 turning chains that count as 1 stitch, I will have 193 stitches in all of my rows.

row 1

In the 3rd chain from your hook, make 1 hdc:

Make hdcs all the way across, but don’t pull the final loop through the last stitch! Stop at this point:

To finish the row, pull your next color through to finish the stitch. This is how we will finish every row where we change colors:

Ch 3 and turn.

row 2

The turning chains count as your first stitch of the row (and will for all rows to come unless otherwise specified). dc in each stitch across. You can work over your tails for rows like this so that you don’t have to sew them in later:

I like to crochet over the tail for at least 5 inches before snipping the end of it. At the end of this row, pull your next color through, ch 3, and turn.

row 3

Make 1 dc in the 1st stitch:

Skip 2 sts, work 3 dc in next st:

Continue this until the end, making only 2 dc sts in the last st of the row. Pull next color through, ch3, turn.

row 4

Make 3 dc in space between the 3 dc clusters in the row below:

Repeat this pattern until the end. Make 1 dc in the top of the turning chains of the row below:

Change colors. I’m using the same one as row 3. Ch 3, turn.

row 5

Repeat row 3! Then:

Don’t leave your ends unwoven til the very end, or you’ll never want to do them!  I suggest doing them after about every 6 – 8 rows.

row 6

With new color, dc in each st across

row 7

With new color, hdc in each st across

row 8

This will be the Catharine wheel pattern.  DO THESE 4 ROWS LOOSELY OR YOUR BLANKET WILL HAVE UNEVEN EDGES.  YOU CAN DO THIS BY GOING UP A HOOK SIZE FOR THIS BIT IF YOU PREFER.  With new color, ch1; sc in same st:

Skip 3 sts, 7 dc in next st:

Skip 3 sts, sc in next st.  Skip 3 sts, 7 dc in next st.  Continue this shell pattern to end, leaving the last sc unfinished so as to change colors:

row 9

Remember to keep your stitches loose!  With new color, ch 2:

In the next 3 sts, make a dc but do not pull the last loop through any of them yet:

When you have 4 loops on your hook and it looks like this, yo and draw through.  We’ll call this a “cluster” of 4:

Ch 3, sc in top/middle stitch of the bottom shell.  Ch 3, in next 7 sts dc but do not finish stitches, as in the beginning. Yo and draw through to finish the st  (making a “clutster” of 7).  Ch 3, sc in top of shell below.  Continue this pattern until the end.  The last “cluster” will be 4 sts only:

row 10

Remember to keep your stitches loose!  With same color, ch3 and dc 3 in first stitch; sc in the sc below:

In the center space of the next “wheel,” dc 7.  Sc in next sc.  Continue this shell pattern until end:

In the last st, there is only half of a shell to be made, so dc 4 and prepare to change back to the same color as our first row of the Catharine wheels:

row 11

Don’t forget, loose stitches!  Ch 1, sc 1 in same st:

Ch3, make the same “cluster” of 7 dcs as in row 9, ch 3, sc in top of shell.  Continue until end:

Leave the last sc incomplete, as per usual, to change to the next color:

row 12

Back to regular tension.  This is a row of dc, but the tricky part is getting the right number of stitches.  Ch 3 to count as first st:

You can see that stitches 2 and 3 are around the chain below, stitch 4 is in the “eye” of the wheel, stitch 5 is in the stitch right before the next ch 3 space, stitches 6, 7, and 8 are over the next ch 3 space.  Continue this method of 8 stitches until the end.  Keep track by remembering that each sc in the row below signals stitch 1 of the pattern of 8.  Dc in last st:

Before moving on to the next row, count your stitches to make sure you have the same amount as when you started the blanket.

row 13

In new color, hdc in each st across:

row 14

ch 3 and turn with new color, dc across.

row 15

This row begins the star stitch pattern.  I’d recommend choosing a lighter color so that the stitches really show up!  Each time we make the star stitch pattern, the first row of it needs to be on the right side of our work.

ch 3 and turn with new color:

Now we’re going to work into the chains we just made.  In the middle of the 3 chains, insert your hook and pull a loop through.  Then in the bottom chain, insert your hook and pull another loop through.  It’ll look like this:

Now insert your hook through the last st of the previous row (or 1st st of this row) and pull up a loop.  Pull up loops through stitches 2 and 3 as well:

You should have 6 loops on your hook.  Yarn over and draw through all 6.  Ch 1 to close the stitch and form the “eye” of the first star:

Insert hook into the “eye” and draw up a loop.  Insert hook around the last “spoke” of the previous star and draw up a loop:

Pull up a loop from stitch 3 of the bottom row, where we pulled up the last loop of the previous star.  Pull up loops from stitches 4 and 5 as well:

Yarn over and draw through all 6 loops, ch1 to close the star and form the “eye.”  Continue in this same way (pulling up loops through the eye, around the last spoke of previous star, in the same st as the last spoke of the previous star, and in the next 2 stitches, and then chaining 1 to close the star) until the end.

At the end, you should have 1 stitch left.  Make a hdc in it and keep the same color going:

Here’s what the back of your work should look like:

This is why the blanket has a front and a back to it.  Next, ch 2 and turn.

row 16

Make 1 hdc in the “eye” of the last star of the bottom row:

In the next eye and all the rest to follow, make 2 hdc stitches:

At the end of the row, make 1 hdc into the top turning chain you made in the row below, but don’t finish it because we’re done with the star stitch and we’ll change colors now:

Here’s what the front of your blanket should look like after the star stitch rows are done:

Ch 3 with new color and turn.

row 17

This row is a regular dc row except we’re going to make our stitches in between the hdcs of the previous row.  This is so there won’t be a ridge/line between the top of the star pattern and our new row (if you crochet across like normal you’ll see what I mean).  I’m crocheting over my yarn tails here so I don’t have to weave them in later.  Here’s what the first few stitches look like:

Keep crocheting into the spaces between the stitches of the previous row until the end.  Since crocheting into the spaces shifted us over slightly, we’ll have to make what seems like an extra stitch at the end:

If you count, however (which you really should do now), you should have the same number of stitches as your very first row of the blanket.

row 18

With new color, dc across.

rows 19 – 21:

With 2 new colors (or 3 if you prefer), make another section of granny stripes.  When we do granny stripes we also want the first row to be on the right side, and we must do an odd number of granny stripes or we won’t have the same number of stitches across (weird, I know, but the even granny stripe rows just don’t have the same number of stitches).

row 22

With new color, dc across.

row 23

With new color, hdc across.

row 24

With new color, dc across.

row 25

With new color, hdc across.

row 26

We’re going to do 3 rows of 1 color, so I’d recommend starting this row with a color of yarn you have a lot of.  With your chosen new color, dc across.  I’m using my lavender color for this:

row 27

Do not change colors.  This is a row of hdc with bobbles interspaced.  You can space your bobbles however you like, but I’m personally putting 9 hdc stitches in between each bobble.  The bobbles will be a different color, so pick one that goes with your current working yarn.  If you want to space your bobbles like mine, here’s what to do.

ch 2, hdc 8 across.  Leave last stitch unfinished:

Finish the stitch with your bobble color.  Crocheting over the working yarn of your background color, make 1 dc in next st, but do not pull the last loop through:

Make 3 more unfinished dc stitches in the same stitch.  You will have 5 loops on your hook:

Switch to your background color and pull it through all 5 loops of your bobble stitch.  Make a hdc in the next stitch:

Working over your bobble yarn, make 8 more hdcs, leaving the last unfinished.  Repeat the bobble.  Keep doing this until the end!  You will not have 9 stitches of background color at the end (I have 7) but that’s OK — it looks fine, right?

row 28

With the same background color, dc across.  That completes the bobble section!  Aren’t they cute?

row 29

With new color, hdc across:

row 30

With new color, dc across

row 31

For this row and the 3 following rows, the turning chains do NOT count as the first stitch as they have previously been doing.

Change to a color you have a lot of.  Ch 1.  In the first stitch, bring up a loop.  Bring up a loop in the second stitch as well:

Yarn over and draw through all 3 loops on hook:

That counts as our first stitch.  It’s essentially my way of making sc decreases without just skipping a stitch entirely, as some books and patterns recommend.  In the next st, make a hdc.  In the next st, make a dc.  In the next st, make 3 tr.  In the next st, make 1 dc.  In the next st, make 1 hdc:

We’ve made a “mountain!”  Now it’s time to decrease again, only this time we’re going to pull up loops from the next 3 stitches, not 2; yarn over and pull through to finish the st:

In next st, make a hdc (the start of another “mountain”)… Continue this way, making the mountains and decreasing, until the end.  It should look like this:

At the end of the row, you should just have 2 stitches left to work into for your last decrease instead of 3.  We’ll do the same as we did in the beginning and pull up loops from the 2 stitches, preparing the decrease:

row 32

With your next color, finish the decrease of row 31.  Ch 1 (again, this does NOT count as your first stitch like it usually does).  This row is the same process as row 31 only we’re just using sc.  Pull up loops from the first 2 sts:

Yarn over and finish the stitch:

Sc in next 2 sts, then sc 3 in the middle treble of the row below:

Sc in next 2 sts, then make another decrease over the next 3 sts, just like we did in the last row:

Continue this until the end.  It should look like this:

At the end, you will only have 2 sts, left, so do like we did in the last row: pull up loops from last 2 sts, yo, pull through to finish st.  Yes, go ahead and finish the stitch.  We’re not changing colors yet!

row 33

With the same color, repeat row 32, but do not finish the last decrease stitch because we will change colors now:

row 34

With the same color as row 31, ch 3.  This does not count as your first stitch!  Make a tr into the second st.  That counts as your first stitch.  dc in the next st, hdc in the next one:

sc 3 in next st, hdc in next st, dc in next st:

Now we’re going to decrease over the next 3 stitches.  Make a treble into each of the 3 stitches but do not pull the last loop through any of them.  When you’ve done that, yarn over and pull through all loops on your hook and it’s a treble decrease:

You’ve got it now; continue until the end.  It will look like this:

At the end, there are only 2 sts left so we will just decrease with 2 unfinished trebles.  Do not finish, we’re changing colors:

row 35

This is a normal row of hdc, so ch 2.  This does count as your first stitch again, so make your first hdc in the top of the dc in the row below:

At the end, remember that the ch 3 of the row below didn’t count as a stitch, so make your last hdc in the top of the treble (but don’t finish, we’ll change colors):

I’d check to make sure you have the correct stitch count at this point.  Should be the same number you started the blanket with.

row 36

Make a normal dc row.

row 37

Make a normal hdc row.

row 38

With new color, dc across.

rows 39 – 41

With new colors, work these three rows in the granny stripe pattern.

row 42

With new color, dc across.

row 43

With new color, hdc across.

row 44

With new color, dc across.  Here’s a picture of the back of the blanket (don’t know why I didn’t get the front):

rows 45 and 46

Make sure row 45 is a right side row.  Do the star stitch the same way you did it before:

row 47

With new color, hdc across.  Remember to crochet between the stitches below like we did above the star stitch last time.  Count your stitches at the end, just to be safe.

row 48

With new color, dc across.

rows 49 – 52

With 2 colors, do the Catharine wheel stitch pattern.  And don’t forget to keep your stitches very loose!  Someone suggested going up a hook size or two for these rows, so you could try that if it’d make you more comfortable.

row 53

With new color, dc across the same way we did after the last Catharine wheels.  Count your stitches when you’re done.

row 54

With new color, dc across:

Here’s the whole thing so far:

row 55

With new color, hdc across.

rows 56-58

Using another color that you have a lot of, repeat the three rows of the bobble pattern.

row 59

With new color, hdc across.

row 60

With new color, dc across.

row 61

With new color, hdc across.

row 62

With new color, dc across.

Here’s all of these rows in a close-up:

And here is the whole blanket:

row 63

With new color, hdc across.

row 64

With new color, dc across.

rows 65-67

Another set of granny stripe rows!  Click here for the original detailed pattern.  Here it is so far:

row 68

With new color, dc across.

row 69

With new color, hdc across.

row 70

With new color, dc across.  Here’s the past few rows:

rows 71-74

Repeat the mirrored chevron pattern.  Click here for the original instructions.  Here’s all 4 rows:

row 75

With new color, hdc across.

row 76

With new color, dc across.

row 77

With new color, hdc across.

row 78

With new color, dc across.  Here’s what it’ll look like:

rows 79 & 80

With new color, work the two rows that make up the star stitch pattern.

row 81

With new color, work hdcs in the spaces between the hdcs of row 80.  Check your stitch count at the end if you think you might be off one or two stitches.

row 82

With new color, dc across.

rows 83-85

With new colors, work the granny stripe pattern.

row 86

With new color, dc across.

Here’s what these 8 rows should look like:

row 87

With new color, hdc across.

rows 88-90

For these 3 rows, do the bobble stitch rows.  Here’s a pic so far:

row 91

With new color, hdc across.

row 92

With new color, dc across.

row 93

With new color, hdc across.

row 94

With new color, dc across.  Here’s a pic:

You get a bit of a spoiler if you can make out the top row.

row 95

With new color, hdc across.

rows 96-99

With 2 new colors, work the Catharine wheel pattern.  Here’s a picture so far:

row 100

With new color, dc across as instructed in the original Catharine wheel instructions.  You might want to count your stitches here, just to be safe.

row 101

With new color, hdc across.

row 102

With new color, dc across.  Here’s the past few rows:

row 103-104

With new color, work the star stitch pattern.

row 105

With new color, hdc across.

row 106

With new color, dc across.

row 107-109

With new colors, work the granny stripe pattern.

row 110

With new color, dc across (sorry about the color quality of this picture):

And here’s a picture of the whole thing:

row 111

With new color, hdc across.

row 112

With new color, dc across.

rows 113-116

Work the chevron pattern.  Here is a closeup of the past few rows:

row 117

With new color, hdc across.

row 118

With new color, dc across.

row 119

With new color, hdc across.

rows 120-122

With 2 colors, repeat the bobble rows.

row 123

With new color, hdc across.

row 124

With new color, dc across.  Here’s a picture of the past few rows:

row 125

With new color, hdc across.

row 126

With new color, dc across.

rows 127-129

With new colors, work the granny stripe pattern.

row 130

With new color, dc across.

row 131

With new color, hdc across.  Fasten off (if you are done with your blanket) and weave in your ends!

Ta-da!

notes for those who wish to continue with their blankets

1. Be conscious of your right and wrong sides as you continue.

2. The way I chose the order of the stitch patterns was pretty random except for the bobble rows.  I tried to evenly space the bobble rows from each other, hoping that evenly spaced big bands of color would tie the whole thing together nicely.

3. If you would like to follow a specific pattern, I’d recommend going back, working row 8, and continuing from there.  That would be the first Catharine wheel row.  That should keep the bobble rows evenly spaced and will also keep your right and wrong sides correct.

If you do make a different border, I would recommend that your first row around your blanket be a sc row because that will help give your edges some stability.  Here’s a picture of my completed border:

It’s a pretty simple (but sturdy) sc border with a cute picot edging.  Here’s how I did it:

border row 1

Connect your chosen border color to the bottom left corner of your blanket.  Make 1 sc in each chain loop:

When you reach your corner, make sure you add at least 1 sc so that the corner will turn properly:

When crocheting up/down the sides of your blanket, spacing the stitches can be difficult.  I recommend firstly that you crochet around the entire stitch at the end of each row; it’s much easier than trying to slip your hook into the middle of each and every stitch.  When you come across a row ending/beginning in a sc, make 1 border sc around it.  When it’s a hdc, make 2 border sc around that stitch.  When it’s a dc, also make 2.  When it’s a treble, make 3 stitches around the treble stitch.  Some people prefer to do just 1 stitch around the hdc stitches, but you can experiment and see what works best for you (some people find that just using 1 stitch can make the border too tight or that 2 can make it too loose, depending on the gauge etc.).  In the case of the star stitch, I placed 3 sc on top of it:

When you reach the beginning of your border, slip stitch to close the round, ch1, and begin row 2.

border row 2

Work sc stitches into every stitch of your first border row, remembering to put in extra at the corners.  Close the round and begin row 3 the same way.

border row 3

Work 6 sc stitches.  Here’s where we make the first picot.  Start by chaining 3:

Slip your hook into the first of the 3 chains:

Yarn over and pull through the 2 loops:

Without skipping any stitches, make 6 more sc stitches in the row below.  Make another picot.  Continue making picots every 6 stitches until you come to the end.  Tie off and weave in your ends, and you’re done:

blocking

If the edges of your blanket are too uneven for your taste, feel free to wash and block your blanket according to your particular yarn label.  I myself did not do this with my blanket.

At this point my blanket is so large that I couldn’t get a good photo square on, but you can see all of the rows there.

And folded up:

a request

I would like to arrange a permanent page on this blog as a photo gallery with pictures of everyone’s finished blankets.  When you are completely finished, I’d be so grateful if you could take a lovely picture and e-mail it to me at the photo’s full size.  Also, in the email please let me know if you would like for your name to appear with your picture, and what name I should use.  Here is the email address you can use:  davish14 AT winthrop DOT edu

credit

Let’s remember our inspiration!  The lovely blanket that inspired me was made by Julie at Little Woolie, and I must say that I’m a bit embarrassed that my blanket came out so close to hers; despite some efforts I made at the beginning to make them different, they do look so alike, particularly at first glance.  I’m much relieved to say that she is OK with it all, because I did have some pangs of guilt there at the end.  However I’m very happy with my blanket and I really do mean this as a credit to Julie’s lovely work — she is an inspiration in many ways!  If you wish to pin her picture on Pinterest, please go here and do it from her page so that she can get the credit that she deserves.  I’ll appreciate it, and she will too!