This is a really simple pattern, based on a 1 row repeat. The colours are wonderfully uplifting, reminding me of retro colour schemes, but also of orange coloured spices – hence the name Spicy Orange Blanket. The pattern can be adapted to different sizes, simply adjust your starting chain (always start with a multiple of 2) and add as many or as few rows you desire. Obviously you will need more yarn than stated below if you choose to make a bigger sample.
Materials
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| Crochet Hook: | 4mm or size needed to achieve gauge |
| Yarn: | DK weight yarn in nine colours, 100g/295m of each of 9 colours. The sample uses Stylecraft Special DK in: Spice – (100g/295m), Copper – (100g/295m) Blush – (100g/295m), Toy – (100g/295m), Gold – (100g/295m), Walnut – (100g/295m), Gingerbread – (100g/295m)*, Saffron – (100g/295m), Tomato – (100g/295m), You can purchase this yarn here. *If you want to make your border in one colour, as I have in this sample, then you might need a second ball of that colour. I added a simple 3 round border of double crochet using Gingerbread and needed a very small amount of yarn from a second ball of Gingerbread. |
| Notions: | Scissors Needle to weave in ends |
| Finished size: | Approximately 93 cm x 122 cm, the actual size of your blanket will depend on your tension (how tightly you crochet). |
| Skill Level: | Suitable for beginners |
| Gauge: | 16 stitches x 12 rows = 10cm x 10cm (4in x 4in), adjust hook size as necessary Gauge is not critical for this project, but may affect yarn quantities. |
Abbreviations/Crochet terminology:
UK terms are used throughout.
ss slip stitch
htr half treble crochet
ch chain
*to* instructions between asterisks will be repeated as specified
htr cluster – a group of 2 htr stitches
beg-ch – beginning chain
Stitch Guide/Conversion Guide
| UK term | UK abbreviation | US term | US Abbreviation | Description |
| Half Treble Crochet | htr | Half Double Crochet | hdc | Yarn over hook. Insert hook into stitch, yarn over hook, pull through stitch (3 loops on hook), yarn over hook, pull through remaining three loops to leave 1 loop on the hook |
| Slip Stitch | ss | Slip Stitch | ss | Insert hook into stitch, yarn over hook, pull through stitch and through loop |
| Chain | ch | Chain | ch | Yarn over hook, pull through loop |
Notes on the pattern
This is a really simple pattern, based on a 1 row repeat. The pattern uses the htr stitch worked in groups of 2 (htr clusters) and is similar to the v-stitch. It differs from the traditional v-stitch as it worked in half treble crochet stitches rather than treble crochet stitches and there is no chain stitch between the two stitches. This gives a tighter and less holey structure to the work. Each htr cluster is worked in the middle of the corresponding htr cluster of the row below, giving an appearance of a stack of V’s (see photo below).
The blanket is worked in 9 different coloured stripes, each stripe consists of 2 rows. You can follow my colour order or you can choose your own.
Video Tutorial
Instructions
Foundation Row: Using Spice colour yarn. Chain 148 (multiple of 2)
R1: 2htr in 4th ch from the hook, skip 1ch, *2htr in next, skip 1ch*, repeat from *to* until last ch, 1htr in last ch. Turn.
R2: In row 2 you will working 2htr in between the 2htr of the row below. ch2 (counts as 1htr), 2htr in between the two htr of the first htr cluster in the row below, *work 2htr in between the next htr cluster,* repeat from *to* until the last stitch (which is the turning chain), 1htr in the turning ch. Turn.
At the end of the second row my work had a width of 95 cm.
R3: Switch to Copper colour yarn, repeat R2
R4 : Continue with Copper colour yarn. Repeat R2 colour.
R5-R6: work as for R2 using Blush colour yarn
Subsequent rows: continue working 2 rows in each colour in the following order until you have completed 83 stripes of colour (each strip consisting of 2 rows).
| Stripe (2 rows each) | Colour | Stripe | Colour | Stripe | Colour | Stripe | Colour |
| 1. | Spice | 22. | Tomato | 43. | Copper | 64. | Blush |
| 2. | Copper | 23. | Gold | 44. | Walnut | 65. | Tomato |
| 3. | Blush | 24. | Copper | 45. | Tomato | 66. | Copper |
| 4. | Toy | 25. | Walnut | 46. | Toy | 67. | Saffron |
| 5. | Gold | 26. | Toy | 47. | Gingerbread | 68. | Spice |
| 6. | Walnut | 27. | Spice | 48. | Blush | 69. | Walnut |
| 7. | Spice | 28. | Saffron | 49. | Tomato | 70. | Blush |
| 8. | Gingerbread | 29. | Tomato | 50. | Spice | 71. | Copper |
| 9. | Saffron | 30. | Gingerbread | 51. | Saffron | 72. | Gold |
| 10. | Tomato | 31. | Blush | 52. | Copper | 73. | Gingerbread |
| 11. | Walnut | 32. | Copper | 53. | Toy | 74. | Saffron |
| 12. | Blush | 33. | Saffron | 54. | Gold | 75. | Tomato |
| 13. | Tomato | 34. | Walnut | 55. | Walnut | 76. | Toy |
| 14. | Toy | 35. | Blush | 56. | Spice | 77. | Spice |
| 15. | Copper | 36. | Tomato | 57. | Gingerbread | 78. | Gingerbread |
| 16. | Gold | 37. | Gold | 58. | Blush | 79. | Gold |
| 17. | Saffron | 38. | Toy | 59. | Saffron | 80. | Toy |
| 18. | Gingerbread | 39. | Spice | 60. | Tomato | 81. | Walnut |
| 19. | Spice | 40 | Gingerbread | 61. | Gold | 82. | Copper |
| 20. | Walnut | 41. | Gold | 62. | Gingerbread | 83. | Spice |
| 21. | Blush | 42. | Saffron | 63. | Toy |
Border
The border is simply 3 rounds of double crochet.
After making the body of the blanket I had this amount of yarn remaining.
I decided to use only Gingerbread colour yarn for the entire border. But the amount of Gingerbread yarn was not quite enough, so I had to purchase another ball. You may choose to use more than one colour in your border, and you would most likely have enough yarn without purchasing any more.
Border Round 1: Using Gingerbread colour yarn. Join the top right corner of the blanket. Chain 2 |(counts as 1dc). Work 1dc in each stitch across the top of the blanket. Work [1dc, ch1, 1dc] in the corner. Work down the left side of the blanket with evenly spaced dc stitches (I worked 1dc at the end of each row and worked around the post of the stitch at the end of the row). On reaching the bottom left corner of the blanket work [1dc, ch1, 1dc]. Work 1dc in each chain along the bottom of the blanket. Work [1dc, ch1, 1dc] in the corner. Work along the final edge of the blanket, again work dc stitches evenly (again I worked a dc at the end of each row, working around the post of the stitch at the end of the row). Upon reaching the start of the round work 1dc, ch1 in the same corner and ss to beg-ch made at the start of the round.
Border Round 2: Turn the blanket over. Ss back into the ch1 space you have just made. Chain 2 (counts as 1dc). Work a dc in each stitch around the blanket, working [1dc, ch1, 1dc] in each of the corners. Upon reaching the start of the round, work [1dc, ch1] in space where the first stitch was worked, ss into the top of the beg-ch.
Border Round 3: repeat as for border round 2. Fasten off.
This is really one of my favourite projects – I hope you loved it too!