Monday 28 May 2012

Wavy Baby Blanket - Free Pattern


Wavy Baby Car Seat Blanket Pattern

A free pattern by Fionajayne, Crafting a Lifetime

free baby blanket pattern

Background Story

While I was pregnant, I picked up a crochet hook for the first time since I was 6 years old and made my own baby a brightly coloured double crochet stripy blanket to keep him warm through the winter months ahead. Not only has it kept him warm, but the bright colours have entertained him on long car journeys and whenever he needed a little distraction.

When a friend recently had a baby, I decided to make her little boy a brightly coloured blanket too, but once it was finished, I wasn’t overly happy with it. I hadn’t so much as designed it, as stumbled through it, while I taught myself new crochet stitches and played with different yarns and colours.

Thanks to some great feedback from fellow crocheters and knitters, I made some changes to the draft version and have finally finished it. I promised to have a go at writing the pattern and here it is. I’ve never written a pattern before and so can only hope that what you get when you follow the instructions below works out as you would like.

This is a free pattern. I would welcome, but not expect, a token charitable donation via my dad’s Just Giving page. In 2010, while competing in the London Triathlon and raising money for charity, he got into trouble during the swim, despite being an exceptional swimmer, and died 2 days later. My brother suggested that I do a run if I wanted to raise some money for charity, but I think my running days are over (if they were ever here!) and that one should stick to one’s knitting, so to speak. So, if you are using this pattern, and feel so inclined, then do please make a small, anonymous (if you prefer) donation at http://www.justgiving.com/ian-sloss

I would welcome any feedback on this pattern, especially corrections, and will gladly provide any assistance I can while you are making it. You can reach me via my blog or the forum. If you would like a word copy of this document, please ask and I will gladly email you a copy.



The Pattern

Use a 3.5mm or 4mm hook, depending on how loosely you crochet and a selection of soft, but hard-wearing DK yarns to make this blanket to keep baby warm in his or her car seat. The approximate size is 53 cm by 65 cm. The pattern is written in UK terminology; US makers should read dc as sc and tr as dc.

Chain 111 in your main colour – I used white King Cole Cottonsoft DK

Top detail stitch sampler

Row 1 (Right side):  Dc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across: 110 stitches, turn
Row 2 (Wrong side): Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr); work 1 tr in each st to end: 110 stitches, turn
Row 3: Ch 1; work 1 dc into each st to end: 110 stitches, turn
Row 4: Ch 4 (equals 3 ch for turning chain and 1 as part of the first treble cluster pattern); *make one 3-trcl across the next 3 stitches, ch 2, repeat from * until last 5 stitches, make one 3-trcl, chain 1, 1 tr (that should give you 36 cluster stitches across): 110 stitches, turn
Row 5: Ch 3; work 1 tr into 1-ch sp, *work 1 tr into top of cluster stitch from previous row, work 2 tr into 2-ch sp, repeat from * until last cluster stitch from previous row, work 1 tr into top of last cluster stitch from previous row, work 1 tr into last chain space: 110 stitches, turn
Row 6 & 7: Ch 3;  *skip next st, 1 tr in next 3 st, yo, with hook in front of work, go back and insert hook from front to back into skipped st before the 3-tr group; loosely draw through a lp and bring it up to the height of the 3-tr group; yo and complete tr (Cable stitch ); rep from * to last stitch, 1 tr in last st.: 110 stitches (27 Cable stitches worked over 4 stitches), turn
Row 8: Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr); work 1 tr in each st to end: 110 stitches, turn
Row 9: Ch 4 (equals 3 ch for turning chain and 1 as part of the first treble cluster pattern), skip 1 st, then *make one 3-trcl into next st, ch 2, skip 2 st, repeat from * to last 3 st, make one 3-trcl into next stitch, ch 1, 1 tr: 110 stitches (36 cluster stitches), turn
Row 10:  Ch 3 (counts as 1 treble), work 1 tr in each of next 14 st, work 2 tr in next st (to increase 1 st), * work 1 tr in next 27 st, work 2 tr in next st (to increase 1 st), repeat from * twice, work 1 tr in next 14 st: 114 stitches, turn

Wave pattern

Row 11 (using your main colour – white in my case): Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr), *work 3 tr in next st, work 1 tr into each of next 3 st, work 3 tr tog twice, work 1 tr into each of next 3 st, work 3 tr into next st, repeat from * to last st, 1 tr: 114 stitches (8 complete waves), turn
Row 12 (using one of your secondary colours): work as Row 11, turn
Rows 13 -53: work as Rows 11 and 12, alternating between your main colour and your secondary colours

Bottom detail

Row 54: Ch 1, 1 dc, *1 dc in next 2 st, 1 htr in next 3 st, 1 tr in next 4 st, 1 htr in next 3st, 1 dc in next 2 st, repeat from * until last st, 1 dc: 114 stitches, turn
Row 55: Ch 3 (equals 3 ch for turning chain), skip 1 st, then *make one 3-trcl into next st, ch 2, skip 2 st, repeat from * to last 3 st, make one 3-trcl into next stitch,  1 ch, 1 tr in last st: 113 stitches (37 cluster stitches), turn

Border

Turn your work as per Row 55 instruction and begin working the border as if it was Row 56 as follows:
  • Ch 1; work 1 dc into 1-ch sp, *work 1 dc into top of cluster stitch from previous row, work 2 dc into 2-ch sp, repeat from * until last cluster stitch from previous row, work 1 dc into top of last cluster stitch from previous row, work 3 dc into last chain space to form the first corner
  • Continue down the length of the blanket by placing 1 dc st at regular intervals (roughly 2 stitches where there is a tr and 1 st where there is a dc – I ended up with 108 st) until you reach the bottom, work 3 dc in the last stitch to form the second corner. (It is slightly fiddly to do, but I worked over the loose thread ends on this round to save me sewing them all in individually. I don’t know if that is the correct way to do it, but it seems to have worked!)
  • Work 1 dc into each of your original chains all the way across until the last st, work 3 dc in the last st to form the third corner
  • Continue up the length of the blanket by placing 1 dc st at regular intervals (roughly 2 stitches where there is a tr and 1 st where there is a dc) until you reach the top, work 3 dc in the last stitch to form the final corner, sl st in the first dc you made for the border, turn
  • Ch 1; work 1 dc into each st all the way round, remembering to place 3 dc into each of the 4 corner stitches to create the corners, sl st in the first dc of that row, turn
  • Ch 2; work 1 extended dc into each st all the way round, remembering to place 3 extended dc into each of the 4 corners, sl st in the first extended dc of that row, turn 
  • Ch 1; work 1 dc into each st all the way round, remembering the corners as before, sl st in the first dc of that row, fasten off


To Finish

Sew in any remaining loose ends
I washed mine and shaped it on a towel as it was drying to get a good final shape


There is also a beginner's blanket pattern here.

4 comments:

  1. how many balls of the main color of yarn did you use and how big were the balls (yards)?

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  2. thanks momo, I used about 2.5 100g balls of King Cole Bamboo Cotton which is about 252 yards per ball

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  3. another question for you fiona: in row 11, how can i still have 114 st if i work 3 tr in 1 st over the whole row while the row before already has 114 st?

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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