Violet Blanket

I loved making my Rainforest Crochet Patchwork Squares Blanket so much that I decided to use the same stitch and technique again with this Violet Blanket. Instead of working squares, I decided to work this blanket in rectangles.

This blanket is easy to make. It is uses half treble crochet (UK terms) (half double crochet in US terms) in groups of 2 stitches. The slip stitch join-as-you-go technique may take a little practice to get the hang of, so I recommend you have a practice with a small sample.

I used 10 different colours for this blanket, but it would also work well as a stash-buster.

Instructions

This blanket is worked in vertical strips. You start with making the first strip and then you add subsequent strips whilst joining to the previous strip as you go along. The first strip is worked in 24 wide rectangles, each made up of 6 rows. The second strip is worked in 8 tall rectangles, each made up of 18 rows. Subsequent strips are the first and second strip repeated with different colour orders. The blanket is worked in Half Treble Crochet (htr in UK terms, or hdc in US terms), and is worked in groups of two half treble stitches (htr clusters).

Notes on joining (do a practice sample first)

Once you have made the first vertical strip, you will be then be adding subsequent strips using a slip stitch join-as-you-go. I recommend that you try out this joining method in advance of starting the whole blanket. A video tutorial of the joining method can be found here.

Materials 

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Crochet Hook:  4mm or size needed to achieve gauge. You can purchase the hooks that I use here.
Yarn:DK weight yarn in nine colours, 100g/295m of each of 9 colours and 200g/590m in a 10th colour (as this colour is used for the border – Violet in the case of my sample).
The sample uses Stylecraft Special DK in:
Wisteria (A) – (100g/295m), 
Sherbet (B) – (100g/295m)  
Magenta (C) – (100g/295m), 
Silver (D) – (100g/295m), 
Violet (E) – (200g/590m) (this is also the colour used for the border), 
Cloud Blue (F) – (100g/295m),
Lavender (G) – (100g/295m),
Proper Purple (H) – (100g/295m),
Clematis (I) – (100g/295m), 
Denim (J) – (100g/295m)
You can purchase this yarn here.
Notions:Scissors
Needle to weave in ends 
Finished size:Approximately 107 cm x 104 cm, the actual size of your blanket will depend on your tension (how tightly you crochet).
 Skill Level: Suitable for beginners 
Gauge:1 wide rectangle as per pattern for the first rectangle (6 rows with a starting chain of 23) = 14 cm x 4.5 cm, 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 termUK abbreviationUS termUS AbbreviationDescription
Half Treble CrochethtrHalf Double CrochethdcYarn 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 StitchssSlip StitchssInsert hook into stitch, yarn over hook, pull through stitch and through loop 
ChainchChainchYarn over hook, pull through loop

Instructions for the 1st vertical strip (wide rectangles)

Foundation Row – Using yarn A (Wisteria) chain 23;

R1 – 2htr in 3rd ch from the hook, *skip 1 ch, 2htr in next ch*, repeat from *to* until last 2 chains, skip ch, 1htr in last chain, ch2, turn;

R2 – for row 2 and subsequent rows you will be working in the spaces between the htr clusters from the row below as follows: 2htr in first space (the first space is between the single htr worked at the end of row 1 and the 2htr), 2htr in each space until the last space (in between the 2htr and turning chain from the row below), insert 1htr in this last space, ch2 turn;

R3 – 2htr in 1st space, 2htr in each space until last space, 1htr in last space, ch2, turn;

R4-R5 – repeat row 3;

R6 – repeat as for row 3 but when you come to the working the last htr, stop before the final yarn over and introduce yarn B (Sherbet) for the final yarn over;

R7-R12 – work as for row 3, using yarn B (Shebet);

Subsequent Rows – continue to work 6 rows in each colour (Fig 1 & Fig 2) until you have completed 24 wide rectangle colour blocks (you should have a total of 144 rows for the first strip). For colour order see Fig 3.

Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3 Chart showing colour order

Instructions for the 2nd Vertical Strip (tall rectangles)

The second strip is worked whilst joining to the 1st strip.

Foundation Row – Using yarn E (Violet), attach to the end of the foundation row from the first rectangle of the first strip (Fig 5) with a ss (placement indicated in Fig 4), chain 7;

R1 – 2htr in 3rd ch from the hook, *skip 1 ch, 2htr in next ch*, repeat from *to* until last 2 chains, skip ch, 1htr in last chain (Fig 6), ss into row 1 of the 1st vertical strip (around the post of the end stitch) (Fig 8) (placement indicated in Fig 7), ch1, ss in row 2 of the 1st vertical strip (around the post of the end stitch) (Fig 10) (placement indicated in Fig 9), turn (Fig 11);

R2 – for row 2 and subsequent rows you will be working in the spaces between the htr clusters from the row below. 2htr in the space between the single htr and the first group of 2htr from the row below (Fig 12), 2htr in each space until the last space (in between the 2htr and turning chain from the row below), insert 1htr in this last space, ch2 turn;

R3 – 2htr in 1st space, 2htr in each space until last space, 1htr in last space, ss into row 3 of the 1st vertical strip (around the post of the end stitch), ch1, ss in row 4 of the 1st vertical strip (around the post of the end stitch), turn;

R4-R17– repeat as for row 3, ss into the corresponding row from vertical strip 1 at the end of each odd numbered row, ch1 and ss into the row above to start an even numbered row;

Fig 4
Fig 5
Fig 6
Fig 7
Fig 8
Fig 9
Fig 10
Fig 11
Fig 12

R18 – repeat as for row 3 but when you come to the working the last htr, stop before the final yarn over and introduce yarn I (Clematis) for the final yarn over (Fig 14);

Fig 13
Fig 14
Fig 15
Fig 16
Fig 17

Video of Joining Method

A video tutorial of the joining method can be found here.

Subsequent Rows – continue to work 18 rows in each colour until you have completed 8 tall rectangle colour blocks (you should have a total of 144 rows for the second strip).

Subsequent Vertical Strips

Continue to add vertical strips alternating between a strip of wide rectangles and a strip of tall rectangles until you have completed 11 strips, finishing with a wide rectangle strip.

Border

The border is simply 6 rounds of htr clusters.

Border R1 – Pull up a loop in any corner of the blanket, ch2 (counts as 1htr), 1htr in same space, work 2htr in each space formed between the clusters (Fig 18). Continue around the blanket working [2htr, ch2, 2htr] in each corner space (Fig 21), when you reach the start, work 2htr, ch2 and then ss in top of beg-ch (Fig 22).

Border R2 – Turn your work (Fig 23), ss into the ch2 space just formed in the corner (Fig 24), Ch2 (counts as 1htr) (Fig 25), 1htr in same space (Fig 26), work 2htr in each space around the blanket, working [2htr, ch2, 2htr] in each corner. When you reach the starting corner, work 2htr, ch2 and then ss in top of beg-ch.

Border R3-R6 – repeat round 2. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Fig 18
Fig 19
Fig 20
Fig 21
Fig 22
Fig 23
Fig 24
Fig 25
Fig 26

Enjoy your blanket.