Final Update - Mixed Stripey Border

I worked hard to crochet my ends in during the project.  I still had a few to contend with at the end, but not too bad.  To me, weaving them in as I go is really essential. It's the worst part of the project - very tedious - and feels overwhelming if left to manage all at once.  But that's just me!

The border: 
2 rounds half double crochet - shrimp, 3 hdc worked in each corner stitch.
3 rounds hdc - aster

3 rounds granny stripe - wisteria, saffron, aspen.
*Work each corner like a regular granny square: 3 dc, 2 chain, 3 dc

Bobble stitch stripe - turquoise background and plum bobbles.

Final - Edie Eckman's Around the Corner Crochet Borders, #133 - fondant and lipstick.  I did a round of single crochet in fondant before beginning the special stitch.  Because of copyright, I can't give the directions, but border #133 is very simple - a series of chains looped and sc in place.  If you don't have this book, it's worth getting.  It has lots of great inspiration.

And that's it!

On Ravelry, there is a Crochet Along (CAL) that will be open at least this year - maybe longer - for people who are making their own version of the mixed stripe blanket.  If you've been thinking about making your own version of Little Woollie's awesome design, I encourage you to join the group.  I am one of the moderators, and know you will get lots of encouragement.  It's a nice group of hookers!  You can work at your own pace - share your progress - and get support and ideas from other people who are working on this project.  It's a lot of fun! 

Big Happy Ta-Dah!

I thought I would never see this day, but here it is! Almost 1 1/2 years after beginning...it's finally done!

My posts with instructions/colors for each row are way behind - and as soon as this blanket comes out of the wash - I'll get that updated.  In the meantime - I think this is awesome eye candy!

Mixed Stripes, Update 6

A little more progress...

My last update stopped with the row of Meadow - DC clusters. So we will pick up here with the yellow.

1 row hdc - Saffron
2 rows hdc - Wysteria
Star Stitch - Shrimp
1 row hdc - Aster
1 row sc - Fondant
2 row sc - Magenta
2 rows hdc - Spring Green
Outline Cluster - Lipstick & Sherbet
2 rows hdc - Cloud Blue
1 hdc - Pomegranate
1 hdc - Spring Green
1 hdc - Wysteria

As of today, this blanket is 7 1/2 feet wide and 4 1/2 feet long. I'd say that makes it about half way done.  I feel like I've accomplished so much...but it will never be finished. My tendency has always been to make really big blankets.  When I was a kid (high school!) I made a giant broomstick blanket - ambitious for a teenager! Working with the broomstick stitch across long rows was not easy. Thirty years later, I still have it somewhere. Anyway, the point is, I like big blankets!  (I feel a new blog post coming on.... "I Like Big Blankets, and I Cannot Lie!")  I've just never had a project take so long.  I started this four months ago and it's only halfway.  My groovyghan is just as big, and was finished in 3 months.  Oh well, I do love this project, so I will just keep going....and order another pack of Stylecraft DK from Deramore's!

The edge was curling in, so I'm holding it flat for you to see the stripes.  That happens to me when the rows start from the same side, instead of flipping the work and going back and forth.  When I do 2 rows of the same color, I always flip the work. Sometimes, I flip even if I'm doing one row and changing colors. Sometimes, I don't flip it. I've made those decisions as I go, depending on the look I want.  I have not indicated whether I flipped or not in these instructions, but most of the time, I do flip it.

In this picture (from an earlier spot in the blanket) I worked single rows of sc, switching colors for each row, and flipping the work.  You can see when the rows were worked on the wrong side, sandwiched between rows worked on the right side, less of that color shows through.  The shrimp and meadow were worked on the wrong side - so they appear as thinner stripes on the right side, even though it is all the same stitch. Does that make sense?  It gives a little different look.  Compare it to the picture above, those last three rows are all hdc, all worked on the right side.

At the end of the day, it is personal choice. I really like the variety of widths in the stripes in my blanket.  I like that some stripes barely show through, and others are wider and bolder.  

I would love to see what other people are doing.  If you are following Little Woolie's CAL, too, post a link to your blanket! 

Mixed Stripes, Update 5

The last update ended with the bobble row. Here's what I've added since:

2 row hdc - fondant

1 row hdc - sherbet

1 row hdc - aster

1 row sc - shrimp

1 row sc - wisteria

1 row sc - meadow

1 row hdc - fondant

Chevron stripe - plum and wisteria

2 rows hdc - aspen

1 row sc - aster (hard to see in this picture, but it's there!)

1 row hdc - citron

1 row - 4 dc clusters - turquoise

1 row hdc - clematis

1 row - 4 dc clusters - magenta

1 row hdc - cloud blue

1 row - 4 dc clusters - meadow

A word about color choices - I have a bag filled with small balls of this yarn. I'm trying to use some of that up before I open the lovely NEW yarn, that is waiting - and calling my name.  I made an exception for that chevron row in plum. I needed a bold color and opened the new skein.  So what does this tell you about the order of colors?  I have NO plan! I open the bag and grab a ball that looks big enough to make it through the stitch I want to use next.  That's pretty much it.  And I think that's working out nicely.  

The blanket is starting to get really big - covering about half of my king sized bed. I'm estimating, when all is said and done,  it will have used up more than 30 skeins of yarn. It's heavy - with nice dense stitches - so definitely a winter blanket.  I hope I am able to finish it before summer arrives! 

Happy Things...

Mixed Stripe Photos

Couldn't resist adding a few larger photos to show my progress.  Thanks for indulging me!

Mixed Stripe Progress, Update 4

I've fixed my mistake and reworked all the rows I had to remove. So glad to be moving forward again!  

I ended the last update with the blue Catherine Wheel, here is what's been added.  If you are following Jules on Little Woollie, you'll see I've deviated just a little from her pattern, putting things in a slightly different order. 

2 rows sc - lipstick

2 rows hdc - meadow

2 rows sc - citron

star stitch - aspen

2 rows hdc - pomegranate

2 rows hdc - wisteria

outline clusters - shrimp & aster (quick note - in the shrimp, instead of sc rows, I did hdc.)

3 rows hdc - magenta

4 rows hdc - cloud blue

Catherine Wheel - clematis & magenta

2 rows hdc - spring green

2 rows hdc - fondant

2 rows sc - plum

5 rows granny stripes - wisteria, turquoise, citron, turquoise, wisteria

2 rows sc - lipstick

1 row hdc - sherbet

bobble row - meadow & fondant

For this project, my yarn is Stylecraft Special DK, the pre-selected colorpack of 17.  

Outlined Cluster Pattern - Tutorial

In the Mixed Stitch Stripey Blanket Crochet Along, Little Woollie gives instructions for the Outlined Cluster Pattern: 

One row of sc in red.  

Next, one row of 4tr clusters in turquoise, made the same way as the 4dc clusters, but with trs instead.

Next row, ch1(counts as 1st st), 1sc in next stitch, then 2trtog into centre skipped st of the first row of sc in red, *then 3sc across top of cluster sts, then 2trtog into centre skipped st of first row of sc in red*, and repeat to end of row. 

Do you need a visual? 

I substituted pink for red, and purple for turquoise.... the first two rows are pretty self-explanatory, so lets focus on the third row, and specifically the repeating pattern instruction between the *.  3 sc across the top of the clusters - then 2trtog in the center stitch of the first pink row (the stitches that were skipped between the triple clusters).  This picture shows which stitch you will work your 2trtog.  

YO (yarn over) twice - so that you have 3 loops on the hook and insert your hook into the first row stitch. 

YO and pull up a loop. You now have 4 loops on the hook. 

YO, and draw through 2, leaving 3 on the hook.  

YO, pull through 2 again, leaving 2 on the hook.  

YO twice (4 loops on the hook) insert hook back into the same first row stitch. 

YO and draw up a loop - but instead of 4 you have 5 loops on your hook. 

YO and pull through 2 (leaving 4 on the hook) and again YO, pull through 2. 

You now have 3 loops on the hook and are ready to close the stitch. 

YO and pull through all 3 loops. 

3 Sc across the top of the next triple cluster. 

Mixed Stripes #3

 

In the last post, I had just started the yellow and plum chevron stripe.

Next, there are ten rows in seven colors - I started with 1 hdc of Aster, 1 hdc Turquoise, 1 sc - Cloud Blue, 2 hdc - Spring Green, 2 hdc - Sherbet, 2 hdc - Clematis, 1 hdc Wisteria.  I have no idea why I decided to do the Cloud Blue row as sc. You can hardly see it. 

The next section is the popcorn stitch with Lipstick as the background color and the popcorns in Aspen. I followed the tutorial from Tales from Cuckoo Land, as recommended by Jules. 

This is followed by 5 rows: 1 row hdc each in Sage, Plum, Fondant, and 2 rows hdc in Cloud Blue.

Next pattern - 4 dc clusters, with a row of hdc in between.

4 dc clusters - Pomegranate, hdc - Saffron, 4 dc clusters - Aspen, hdc - Wisteria, 4 dc clusters - Shrimp

2 rows hdc - Turquoise, 1 row hdc - Magenta, 1 row hdc - Clematis

New pattern: star stitch.  This is not included in the stripe blanket on Little Woollie. She has used it for an entire blanket, because it has a vintage feel.  I liked it, and wanted to try it out, so why not include it! I used Wisteria for this. It takes 3 rows to complete a star stitch pattern.  I followed Jules' advice and used the tutorial at the Crochet Spot.  

Next - 1 row hdc in Plum and 1 in Spring Green.

Catherine Wheel - Aster & Sherbet.  Jules has good instructions for this here. No need for me to write it out again! I do think it helps to look at the Catherine Wheel close up, to figure it out.  

Now I'm completely caught up with the crochet-along and I have a decision to make:  wait for Jules to post an update, or keep going and make my own decisions. I tend to be rather impatient, so I doubt I'll wait!

Mixed Stripe Update #2 - Beginning Details

 

Slow going, but making good progress.  

From left to right:

• 5 rows of all half double crochet in various colors
• 3 rows of granny stripe (red, pink, red)
• 2 rows hdc, in 2 shades of blue 
• The zig zag section, or "chevron" is meadow green and shrimp
• 1 row single crochet - plum, 1 row hdc - magenta, 1 row sc - plum, 1 row hdc - light pink
• Next row - dark blue - 4 double crochet clusters
• hdc - spring green
• 4 double crochet clusters - medium pink (fondant, I think)
• 3 rows - 2hdc, 1 sc -  yellow
• Bobble stitch section - light blue and dark pink
• 5 rows of various colors - all in the pink/purple/red family, some sc, some hdc
• Outlined Cluster Pattern, dk blue green and spring green
• Another section with rows of hdc - various colors - 6 rows total
• The Catherine Wheel - dark pink & light pink.* (Next time I do this pattern, I'm switching to one size larger hook. I tried to make it loose, but it pulls in a bit. Frustrating!)
• 8 more rows - various colors - hdc and sc
• 5 rows - granny stripe - medium green, lipstick, magenta
• 4 rows hdc - various colors
• 2 rows sc - blue
• Beginning on another chevron stripe - yellow and..... the center will be plum

Okay - that's what we've got so far.  For details on the stitches, please visit Little Woollie, as I'm mostly following her crochet-along. My only deviations have been in the number of sc or hdc rows between the various patterns. 

Quick comment about using sc or hdc rows - you can do whatever you want. I find the sc rows to be slow and very thin, so I tend to favor the hdc - however - there are times when I want a really thin stripe of a color, so I'll use it.  And sometimes I use it for two rows of the same color because it gives a little different look - denser, maybe? than using the hdc.  Bottom line - it doesn't matter! Do whatever strikes your fancy at the moment. Your choice might be dictated by a small ball of leftover yarn that needs using up, or by a desire to have a bigger block of color. There are no wrong answers. 

Yarn Love

 

Testing Picasa.  I kinda like it.

Edited:  It occurred to me that I should add more commentary to this picture. The yarn is Stylecraft DK, special colour pack of 17, chosen by Lucy of Attic 24.   It is lovely to work with, colorful, and soft. I ordered mine from Deramores, with free shipping to the US. I always use the coupon code from Ravelry (RAV2012 right now) to get a discount. 

So far, I've used this yarn for two projects that are splashed all over this blog.  The Groovyghan is a collection of grannies connected with various stripes.  It's huge and I love it. 

Now, I'm working on the Mixed Stripey Blanket, using the remaining Stylecraft yarn. You can read about it in other places on this blog, or look for me (Meowmmy65) on Ravelry and look at it there.  I'm enjoying the project, but as usual, I'm anxious to see huge developments in progress.  I might be a little impatient. More updates to my stripey blanket will be posted soon.  

Stripe Updates

stripey7, a photo by ElizabethTore on Flickr.

A little more progress, and a photo with better lighting and color. :)

Stripes!

001 (2), a photo by ElizabethTore on Flickr.

I've started working on a new project, using the leftover yarn from my Groovyghan. My yarn is Stylecraft DK, ordered  from Deramore's in the UK. It's the seventeen color special pack, put together for Lucy, of Attic 24. For this project, I'm mostly following the instructions from Little Woollie, for her mixed stitch stripey blanket. There are a few places where I've deviated from her design a little, by changing colors or adding in extra stripes.