Friday 3 April 2015

Spring Sampler Blanket, April YAL, 2015

                   
               


                             April Spring Sampler Blanket – YAL 2015

I'm enjoying working on this sampler blanket for the 2015 Yarn along and you  will notice as we work through it that all the patterns have a connection to the garden. I love growing plants and herbs so it's been fun seeking out patterns for this theme.   The post on Instagram has caught interest with it's fun post:




 As a designer in fabric and yarn,  we are not just concerned with  the materials, the tools or the colours.  It's also about the Math. Oh, how it's about the Math!   I love the process of working out how I’ll fit  something  with multiples that don't fit into the blanket size I've chosen!  That’s when the real designing begins!  

I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turning out and I hope you are too.  It will be finished in time for Spring in Australia but Autumn where you are.  I’m guesstimating the yarn but remember to purchase more so you have enough for the borders. My borders will include greens so I’ve purchased 6 balls of lime green and 4 of dark green just in case.

Note:
          * You may have yarn left over but this blanket is perfect for a stash. 
          *  It’s optional for you to add more rows of any of the designs if you so
             wish as this is a horizontal design.
          *  If you do add more rows, remember your borders will be larger but it’s
             up to you how many borders you do and therefore how much yarn you 
             purchase.   
          *   Don't introduce a new colour to the border. The border colours are best also being somewhere in the blanket itself
.
YARN  



I have chosen 16  8ply  merino wash colours. Read them from left to right, back to front 

*Multi purple with grey, purple, mauve, dark green
*Multi turquoise, dark turquoise, blue
*Grey, medium pink, dark pink
*Light pink, blue pink, tangerine
* White, yellow

Purchase  at least 2 balls of each colour, 6 of lime, 4 of dark green (the greens plus one or two other colours will be in the borders) – you will have yarn left over. (yarn from *Spotlight stores)
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Width without borders -  58 inches (145 cm)

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                     STEP 1 -   Spring Sampler Blanket 

Abbreviations
3trcl - treble cluster Find this here  
3 treble cluster  on the lovely Sandra's Cherry Heart blog
V-stitch - tr, 3ch, tr in the same place

Ready…get out your grey yarn and a 4mm hook…

Row 1. Ch 205 stitches, dc in the second chain from the hook, then dc all across. Turn.

Rows 2-4.  ch1, dc across


(See diagram below for daisies pattern...)


Row 5-11. White Daisy rows







1.  (green) Ch3,  miss one stitch, *V stitch in the next st,  ch1, skip 2sts,1tr in each of the next 3sts, ch1, repeat from * to the last 3 stitches,  tr in the next st, miss one st, ch 1, tr in the last stitch. Fasten off.  Do not turn.
Join white to the right side edge of the right side. J

2. (white) ch4, {(3trcl, ch1)3 times}  into the 3ch space,  tr into the middle tr of the row below, ch1, * {(3trcl, ch1)4 times}  into the 3ch space,  tr into the middle tr of the row below,  ch1, repeat from * across, ending the last repeat with only   (3tr cl, ch 1, 3tr cl) into the last ch space, tr into the last stitch.  Fasten off.  Do not turn.  Return to the right side edge of the right side.

3. (green) ch4 (this stands for a tr and ch),  tr in  the 1ch space between the 1st and 2nd tr cluster, 1 tr in the 1ch sp of the 2nd and 3rd trcl,  ch1, * v stitch in the single treble below, ch1, 1 tr in each of the 1ch spaces between the clusters, ch1, Repeat from * to the last repeat, V stitch in the single tr, ch 1, tr in the 1ch  between the clusters, ch1, tr in the last stitch.   Do not turn.  Fasten off. 

Return to the right side edge of the right side.  Do not turn at the end of row 3. 



4. (white) ch4, * tr in the 1st tr on the row below , ch1, (3trcl, 1ch) 4 times in the 3ch space,  repeat from * to the last stitch,  tr in the last stitch.  Fasten off, do not turn.  

5.  (green) repeat row 1 in green. Bring dark green through on the last loop. Turn.

6.  Dark green… See the diagram below for the placement of the htr across this row.  You will end up with 204 stitches.

7.  Ch2, htr across the row.   Fasten off.  



**NOTE: If you don't have 204 sts, fudge some htr to obtain this. :-)   


White daisy pattern diagram (204sts)

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Granny’s pathway clusters  - 5 rows

Down the middle of the garden,  runs a pink path.   At least it does in this garden! :-) 

Row 1:  Chain 3, 1tr into first stitch. *Skip 2 stitches, 3tr into next stitch, repeat  from *  to the last 3sts.  Skip 2 stitches, 2tr into last stitch.
Row 2:  Ch3, *3tr into first sp between 3tr group.   Repeat from * across. Work 1 tr into the 3rd ch of the beg 2ch.  On the last pull through, join in next colour. Turn. Fasten off light pink leaving a tail to weave in later.


Repeat row 1 for medium pink.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for light pink.

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Half treble Stripes border–  do not turn – start each row on the right side








One row of each in this order:

        dark green
        lime
        white
        mauve
        purple
        white

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  Spiral roses - I just love how these 3-d roses pop! 






1. Green:  Ch 3,  tr across all stitches. Turn.

2.  Ch1, dc across all stitches. Bring mauve through on the last loop of dc. Turn.

Row 3: once you've done the first 3dc in the 2nd ch, hold this with your left hand so it's easier to secure the rest of the dc in the chains. 

3. Ch1, dc  in the next 3 sts, 5ch, 3dc in 2nd ch from hook, 3dc in each of the next 3 ch, ss to the working dc ( the dc that the 5 ch came out of), *dc in the next 5 sts, 5ch, 3dc in 2nd ch from hook, 3dc in each of the next 3 ch, 
allow the spiral to twist naturally then slip your hook into the FIRST dc on the chain row, and ss into the working dc (the dc that the 5 ch came out of), This secures your rose to the blanket. ( see picture ii below)

 Repeat from * to the last 2sts.  1tr in each of the 2 sts.  Fasten off.

(i) Almost all the 12 dc have been  completed
(ii) Slip your hook into the first dc on the strip of 12 dc and go back into the working dc on the row below with a slip stitch to secure the rose to the blanket
4.  Do not turn. Return to the right side edge and join green yarn to the beginning ch.  3ch, *tr in each of the 5 dc, repeat from * across.  (204 sts). Turn.

row 4 - make 5 tr between the roses at the back.  This position shows the position for the first dc after the rose. 

5.  Ch1, dc across all stitches.  Fasten off. ( do not turn)

6. Repeat row 3 in purple, starting on the right side edge.    (do not turn)

7. Repeat row 4 with green starting on the right side edge. Turn.

8. Ch1, dc across all stitches. Join in dk green on the last loop.

9. Ch2, htr across all stitches. 


Congratulations!  You have completed Step 1 of the Spring Sampler Blanket



I couldn't resist one more pic of this gorgeous blanket! 

 ALERT! ALERT!  There's a bonus project for the  YAL - yarn a-long.  It will be part of our Christmas project in November so please look out next week for this blog post! 

I'll be off stitching...

Lu x


Ravelry: Lu Douglas
Instagram: @wildaboutyarn
Email: wildaboutyarn@outlook.com
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