V Stitch Blanket

Well hello Sunday evening. How are we all? Thought I would bring you some yummy yarny crocheting in the form of this lovely foot blanket. It’s one of my favourite little blankets that I made in the winter and as you can see it’s a firm favourite in our family. It finds itself living in different places in the house, but seems to like living here in between a very old carriage blanket and my Year of the Stitches Blanket.

When I designed this blanket, I had a few specific ideas in my head. I wanted it to be warm, but not too heavy. I also knew it needed to have the lovely fluid drape that a blanket can give, as I knew it would be placed over a bed or someone’s feet or lap. Thus why I used quite large hooks for the tasks and choose the magnificent, yet oh so simple V stitch. My first of these blankets was for my dear Grannie. She was in a care home at the time and her feet were getting cold. She had spent her life keeping our feet warm with knitted slipper socks, so it was about time we kept her feet nice and toasty. I visited her with my Dad and started the blanket that evening. It took me 3 evenings, so it’s ever so quick to make up. Unfortunately she passed away the next day, so I never got to give it to her. But it is now known in our house hold as the GG Blanket. So that’s nice. It even gets lent out to family members aka my sister, for camping trips or snuggle needing events!!

Supplies – 

Now you can choose to make this blanket in either Aran weighted wool or 2 double knit wools worked together. I love using up all my different odds and ends and mixing lots of yarns, so I choose to use 2 double knit yarns. My Gran did this a lot. She even used to undo unwanted jumpers and reuse the wool for other projects, so I think she would have approved of this one. Just remember when you are using multistrands of wool, all you need to do is work with them as if they are 1 ball of wool. It’s ever so easy, so nothing to worry about. Here’s a little snuggle pod I was making with 3 balls of wool!

So mine weighs about 600g and I have used the 2 strands of double knit wool method. So probably looking at about 12 balls of dk yarn, as they are usually in 50g balls. If you are using Aran, then you will need roughly about 7-8 balls of wool. Obviously it depends on your tension and how big or small you fancy making it. You will also need a 7mm and an 8mm crochet hook, scissors and a blunt ended tapestry needle.

Level – Easy

Blanket Size – 53inches wide and 23inches tall.

Stitches – 

Slip knot – Firstly fold over the yarn to make a loop. Insert your hook through the loop and grab the working yarn (long piece) and pull through the loop. Hold the tail and the working yarn and pull tight to create a knot.

Chain (ch) – To make a chain stitch, make a slip knot on your hook and then place the yarn over your hook and pull through the loop. Repeat this action to make a row of stitches.

Treble (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.

V Stitch – To make a V stitch, you need to work 2 Treble crochet stitches inbetween the two trebles stitches in the row below.

Ok so here we go … 

1 – To start the blanket you need to chain 120 stitches. Now remember when you are starting a blanket off, always use a hook size 1 whole size bigger for the chain stitches. So we are using a 7mm hook for this blanket, so work your chain stitches with an 8mm hook. Otherwise you will get a delightful curve on your blanket before you have even started. It helps you to have a nice straight edge to your blanket. So first things first make your slip knot.

Then work your 120 chain stitches.

Now that you have chained all of your stitches, change back to your normal crochet hook which is a 7mm hook. (120)

2 – Right so turn your blanket and chain 3. This will give you the height for your V stitch. Now in the 5th chain from the hook work 2tr stitches. (Don’t forget there is a recap at the top if you have forgotten how to work a Treble Stitch.) So you are working into the 5th chain from the hook – because 3 stitches are acting as your first tr stitch and one stitch you are missing.

Now *miss a chain stitch and work 2tr into the next stitch.* Repeat ** across the rest of the row.

Now work 1tr Stitch in the last chain stitch in the row. (120)

3 – Now turn your work and chain 3. This acts as your first tr stitch. Now you are going to work your V stitch inbetween the 2 treble stitches from the row below. This is where the arrow is pointing.

To work your V stitch, work your 2 trebles stitches here.

*Now miss a stitch and as before work 2tr inbetween the 2 treble stitches below.*Repeat ** all the way across the row.

So when you come to the last V, work the 2tr stitches as usual. Now work 1tr in then top of the chain 3 stitches from the row below. (120)

This completes your row. (120)

4 – Now turn your work and chain 3. This acts as your first tr stitch. Then *work 2tr inbetween the V stitch below (Inbetween the 2 tr stitches)*.

Repeat ** across the row. Now if like me you are using up lots of odds and ends of yarn, at some point in each row, balls of wool will run out. So I have created this blanket with colour changes randomly. Obviously you don’t have to change mid row, you can always change at the ends of the row or not at all. Up to you! But if you do then here’s how. So start your first tr in the next V stitch by yarn over hook, insert into your stitch, yarn over your hook then pull back through. So at this point, you are going to use your new yarn. So place the new yarn over your hook.

Now finish the tr stitch as usual, so pull the new yarn through the first 2 loops.

Then yarn over your hook and pull through the last 2 loops. Now work another 1tr in the same place to finish the V stitch.

Now carry on working V stitches as usual. At the end of the row, work 1tr in the top of the chain 3 stitches. (120)

5 – Now turn your work and chain 3. This acts as your first tr stitch. Then *work 2tr inbetween the V stitch below. (Inbetween the 2 tr stitches.)*

At the end of the row work 1tr in the top of the chain 3 stitches. (120)

6 – Now repeat row 5 until you are happy with the height of your blanket. For my foot blanket, I have worked 42 rows, but feel free to do as many or as little as you like. Once you have finished, fasten off and sew in all of those rascally ends and block your blanket.

Look at all those lovely V stitches. Love the colour change in this one.

Here’s one my dear friend has made, think it is loved by the dog too! Hers is a little bigger, so if you do want a bigger blanket, just repeat the pattern with the same rows, until the desired length.

You can see here the size of the 42 rows. It will fit easily at the end of a single bed or just as a simple lap blanket that lives on the back of the sofa.

So there you have the wonderful V Stitch Foot Blanket. Really hope you like this one. Great for a really quick blanket to make for someone. Might be nice for a Christmas present for someone or even a big bod off to Uni. Would be great to go at the end of a single bed too!! My very clever sister made one too. Love how her colours work together.

Well, happy hooking everyone.

🌈Xx

(Don’t forget that this pattern is brought to you from PipsRainbow, it has not been tech edited, but all attempts have been made to ensure it is correct and easy to follow. It is only to be used for personnel use only and not to be shared or used to create items for profit. Thank you.)

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Duckibert

It’s that time of year again – Easter is on its way! And in PipsRainbow terms, that means a little addition to the Egglebert Family! May I present to you Duckibert. He is a very happy go lucky kind of a duck and is definitely one of the most laid back part of the Egglebert Family. He seems to just be floating through life, having fun, with no real worries to. He tends to hang out with Lambibert and is often seen playing games or hide and seek in the garden. You will always have a smile on your face, when you are near him. He has a tendency to do impressions of others, which as you can imagine, can sometimes get him into trouble. The little pickle.

Right, so let’s get down to business. The pattern. As with all of the Easter Egglebert Patterns, the body is the same, it’s just the extra individual features that are different.

Level – Easy (A great pattern to start with, when you are learning to crochet in the round.)

Supplies – You only need 15g of double knit white yarn, a 3mm crochet hook, a small amount of yellow yarn for the beak, pair of 6mm safety eyes, some scissors and a blunt ended tapestry needle. And don’t forget the toy stuffing. 

Stitches – 

Slip Stitch (ss) – This is where there is no height to the stitch. It’s usually used to join rounds. So insert the hook into the front of the stitch you are joining to. This is usually the first stitch you made in that round/row. So yarn over hook and pull through that first stitch then also through the loop on your hook.

Chain stitch (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.

Magic Ring – Fold over the yarn to make the loop. Insert your hook through the loop and grab the working yarn (long piece) and pull through the loop. Hold the tail and the working yarn and pull so that the knot tightens, but you still have a loop. This has created a magic ring.

Double Crochet (dc) – Insert the hook through the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have two loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.

Double Crochet Decrease (2dctog) – This is where you crochet two stitches together to decrease the amount of stitches in the round. So insert the hook through the front of the first stitch only (the front V) and then insert again through the front of the second stitch (the front V). Now yarn over your hook and pull it back through both stitches, so you will then have 2 loops on your hook. Yarn over your hook again and pull through both loops. And there is your 2dctog. (Basically 2 double crochet stitches crocheted together.)

Ok so here we go… 

Body – Make 1 in white yarn. 

Rnd 1 – Make a mr, 1ch, work 6dc into the ring. Then pull the tail tight. (6)

Rnd 2 – [2dc into each stitch] 6 times. (12)

Rnd 3 – [1dc, 2dc into each stitch] 6 times. (18)

Rnd 4 – [2dc, 2dc into each stitch] 6 times. (24)

Rnd 5 – [3dc, 2dc into each stitch] 6 times. (30) 

Rnds 6 – 8 1dc in each stitch. (30)

Rnd 9 – [4dc, 2dc into each stitch] 6 times. (36)

Rnds 10 – 11 1dc in each stitch. (36)

Rnd 12 – [4dc, dc2tog] 6 times. (30)

Rnd 13 – [8dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (27)

Rnd 14 – [7dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (24)

Rnd 15 – [6dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (21) 

Rnd 16 – [5dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (18) 

Rnd 17 – 1dc in each stitch. (18) 

This is a good time to stuff your body and attach the safety eyes. Make sure you align them properly, before you attach the backs. 

Rnd 18 – [4dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (15) 

Rnd 19 – 1dc in each stitch. (15) 

Rnd 20 – [3dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (12) 

Rnd 21 – [2dc, dc2tog] 3 times. (9) 

Rnd 22 – 1dc in each stitch. (9) 

Now ss into next stitch and sew up the hole and fasten off. Don’t forget to sew in your end. 

Wings â€“ Make 2 in white yarn.

Rnd 1 – Make a mr, 1ch, then work 6dc into the ring, then pull the tail tight. (6)

Rnd 2 – [2dc into each stitch] 6 times. (12)

Rnd 3 – 1dc in each stitch. (12)

Rnd 4 – [1dc, 2dtog] 4 times. (8)

Rnd 5 – 6 Work 1dc in each stitch. (8)

Rnd 7 – [2dc, 2dctog] 2 times. (6)

Then ss into next stitch and fasten off, leaving a tail. Use this tail to sew the wings onto the body on either side, making sure they are aligned with each other. 

Beak – Make 1 using your yellow yarn.

Rnd 1 – Make a slip knot and chain 6, then Ss into the first chain to create a ring.

Rnd 2 – Work 1dc into each chain in the ring. (6)

Rnd 3 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (6)

Rnd 4 – [1dc, 2dctog] 2 times. (4)

Ss into next stitch, then sew up the 4 remaining stitches and fasten off, leaving a tail to sew the beak onto the body.(4)

Sew your beak on to the middle of the body, just under your eyes and fasten off.

Hair – Use your white yarn

Attach your yarn with a slip stitch, by inserting your hook through one of the top stitches and pull through. You can make a little slip knot here to pull through which will make it even more secure. Now make a chain stitch. Then *chain 5. 

Then join this chain of stitches with a slip stitch into another stitch. Repeat ** this process till you have as much hair as you would like. When you have enough hair just simply slip stitch into the nearest stitch and the cut your yarn and pull through the tail and fasten off. Sew in yarn ends. 

And there you have a little Duckibert.

Now, as with all my patterns, they are all here for you to enjoy. And in exchange for these patterns, I would be very grateful if you could give, however little, a donation to our chosen charity Child Bereavement UK. This is an incredible Charity, that was been close to our hearts for a few years now. I cannot imagine how important the work they do is to the families that help. So if you can, however small, donate to the charity, in exchange for my pattern, then I would be so grateful. Thank you. Here’s the link to the Just Giving Page

I really hope you like this pattern. Don’t forget to share all your creations and tag me in. If you have any questions or queries, just give us a shout. 

If you would like to make all of the Egglebert Family, then please find the attached patterns for all 4 in the Easter Pattern category. And I’ve added Mr & Mr Egg in their too

Happy Hooking.

🌈Xx

(Don’t forget that this pattern is brought to you from PipsRainbow, it has not been tech edited, but all attempts have been made to ensure it is correct and easy to follow. It is only to be used for personnel use only and not to be shared or used to create items for profit. Thank you.)

Continue Reading