It has been a pretty dismal summer holiday for the children here in the UK this year, with only a handful of warm sunny days over the 6 week period they have had off school. We had some nice weather throughout June and into July, but as I am a real sun lover and there is not much I enjoy more than long warm sunny days, it seems that the journey into Autumn is now all too quickly upon us.
I always feel a little sad that the days will get shorter and colder as we approach the winter months, but that said, September is by far my favourite month from a crochet point of view! I am always excited by what the Autumn will have in store in terms of projects, shows and events and love the fact that Septemebr is always a really busy and buzzing month.
I always feel a little sad that the days will get shorter and colder as we approach the winter months, but that said, September is by far my favourite month from a crochet point of view! I am always excited by what the Autumn will have in store in terms of projects, shows and events and love the fact that Septemebr is always a really busy and buzzing month.
We will be exhibiting at Yarndale in Skipton on the 23rd and 24th of September – this show is by far my most favourite as it has such a good vibe and is the one show to offer crocheters in particular a chance to see some really great products and design work. We are really excited about the show this year as we have some brand new designs to show you including a new re-coloured version of one of my favourite patterns and a brand new blanket design called 'Fields of Gold' which features sunflower and poppy motifs.
Rather than jump straight into the idea of Autumn for this blanket installment I have tried to capture the idea of the last few flowers of late summer entangled in the trellis in the garden, before the gold, brown and yellow shades begin to appear.
This month you are going to start 2 more blanket strips (both the same). Starting a new piece gives you a chance to revisit the techniques covered at the beginning of the project, such as making a chain and working your foundation rows.
If you want to purchase a download copy of the patterns for just 95p you can access the Stylecraft Special DK version by following this link and the Yarn Stories version by following this link - please note that step by step images in all patterns are from the Special DK version.
Yarns used:
Stylecraft Special DK 100g balls
1712 Lime
1027 Khaki
1065 Meadow
1067 Grape
1005 Cream
1820 Duck Egg
1722 Storm Blue
Yarn Stories Fine Merino DK 50g balls
2516 Spring Green
2501 Bottle
2510 Leaf
2518 Thistle
2504 Cream
2507 Duck Egg
2535 Bluebell
2501 Bottle
2510 Leaf
2518 Thistle
2504 Cream
2507 Duck Egg
2535 Bluebell
Equipment Special DK:
4mm & 4.5mm hook
Sewing needle
Equipment Fine Merino DK:
3.5mm & 4mm hook
Sewing needle
Dealing with yarn ends: Sewing yarn ends in as you go along makes the finishing process much easier and means that you are less likely to loose stitches or make errors with your tension.
Hook Changes:
Please take note of changes in hook size. Changes will be marked in bold
Blanket Construction:
So far you have been working on 2 blanket strips. The pieces you have completed are not worked on again until the end of the project so you can put them to one side for now. From this point onwards the blanket is made from 2 new strips. All pieces will be joined together later on to make one blanket. You need to repeat each stage so that you have 2 strips of crochet completed to the same point at the end of each pattern stage
Method
Using Duck Egg (Duck Egg) & 4.5mm (4mm) hook make 172ch
Foundation Row: skip 1ch, 1dc into each ch to end (171sts), changing yarn shade to Storm Blue (Bluebell) on the final step of the last st, turn
Row 1: Using Storm Blue (Bluebell) & 4mm (3.5mm) hook, 3ch (counts as 1tr), skip st at base of 3ch, 1tr into each st to end, changing yarn shade to Lime (Spring Green) on the final step of the last st, turn (171sts)
Row 2: Using Lime (Spring Green) & 4.5mm (4mm) hook 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc into each st to end, changing yarn shade to Khaki (Bottle) on the final step of the last st, turn (171sts)
Row 3: Using Khaki (Bottle) 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc into each st to end, changing yarn shade to Meadow (Leaf) on the final step of the last st, turn (171sts)
On the next row you are going to work with the Right side facing you - you will in effect be working behind the row you have just made. You need to join your yarn in near the beginning of Row 3 before you can start and it is important that you start in the right place so use the images as a guide.
Row 5: (RS facing) Working behind the previous row, join Grape (Thistle) into the 3rdst made at the beginning of Row 3 by working 1ch, 1dc into the same st, * 2ch 3dc into next 3ch loop made between 2dc on previous row, 2ch, working behind the previous row, skip ch and 1dc made on previous row and also skip 1dc made on Row 3, work 1dc into central dc of 3ch group that were skipped on previous row; repeat from * 32 times - 3sts remain unused at the end of the row – fasten off.
Return to st on holder. Undo last st and rework to the point where you can change yarn shade to Cream (Cream) on the final step of the st, turn.
Row 6: Using Cream (Cream) & staying on a 4mm (3.5mm) hook 5ch, 1dc into 5ch loop made on Row 4 * 5ch, skip 3dc made on previous row, 1dc into next 5ch loop made on Row 4; repeat from * 32 times, 2ch, 1tr into last st made on Row 4, turn.
Row 7: 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into st at base of 1ch, * 3ch, skip next dc made on Row 5, working around ch made on previous row and into the stitch on Row 5 at the same time 1dc into each next 2sts; repeat from * 32 times, 3ch, 1dc into 3rd ch of 5ch made at beginning of last row, turn.
Row 8: Using 4.5mm (4mm) hook, 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into st at base of 1ch, * 3dc into next ch sp, 1dc into each next 2sts; repeat from * to end, working last 2dc into the same st on final pattern repeat and changing yarn shade to Duck Egg (Duck Egg) on the final step of the last st, turn. (171sts)
Row 9: Using Duck Egg (Duck Egg) & 4.5mm (4mm) hook 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc into each st to end, changing yarn shade to Storm Blue (Bluebell) on the final step of the last st, turn. (171sts)
Row 10: Using Storm Blue (Bluebell) 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc into each st to end, place last st on holder. (171sts)
Each piece should measure approximately 7cm deep and 92/93cm wide.
Work another piece to match
Sew in yarn ends.
Sew in yarn ends.
The image below shows the preview image for October, the design for which I based on the idea of pumpkins sitting in fields waiting to be harvested for Halloween!
The next set of patterns will be released on the 3rd October
The next set of patterns will be released on the 3rd October
With thanks to the team at Crochet Now magazine.
Hope you have fun with your crochet this month!
Janie x
