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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PipsRainbow is 6 Years Old!

Hmm, now where has that gone! 6 years! I can’t quite believe how quickly the time flies by. If you’d have said that I would be a crochet designer & that I would have my one blog & write my own patterns 10 years ago – well I definitely wouldn’t have believed you! I remember when I thought up PipsRainbow. It was on a journey on the way home from Lymington. We’d been on a family holiday and my little boy was only a few months old, so it was quite a big thing. I remember the days of all the paraphernalia that you need with a little one. The extra little bits of kit that you may or may not use! But the one thing I did have, was my crochet kit. Even then, I didn’t use to leave the house without my crochet kit. You just never knew when the next moment to crochet would arise. In those days, it would be when I was out and about and little one had fallen asleep in his pram or car seat. Well on this particular occasion, I must have been trying to get him to have a nap. You can just see his little awake eye peeping out at me! Bless him.

I think I was crocheting a little Easter chick or a duck at the time. I now find that sock knitting or crocheting is my go to for taking out and about with me. It’s such a small project and usually involves not much thinking about, so great to work on when there are other things going on around you.

Over the past year, I feel PipsRainbow has evolved. I think it is important to develop and grow as a little company. I always knew that it had to fit around our daily busy lives. And sometimes this year, it is safe to say that, it has been on the back burner. Which makes me a little sad. As I have spoken about before, when you have a bit of a confidence drop in your work – you will always find another job that needs doing and those all uninspiring words ‘It’s ok, I will do that tomorrow!’ Are said. Hmm…I think I have said that, far too many times already this year. Haha, guessing that can be said for many of us, in all walks of life. So onward and upward me thinks. Time to take charge & spend a little bit more time doing the things with love.

One thing that does seem to be evolving is my desire to knit and design projects. Crocheting and knitting seem to be working hand in hand with each other. And I have always said that some things are best crocheted, yet others definitely need to be knitted. Heyho. The juggling act for both of them, is very real. Haha.

So here’s a cheer to the last year of PipsRainbow. I wonder what Year 7 will look like?!

Right then – here is the all important Birthday Pattern. The Waffle Snood. Haha, I know it is a funny name, but the stitch really does look like a waffle. Hmm, maybe I need to rethink that one.



This beautiful yarn was given to me by my dear friend. It’s from Manos Del Urguary and is called Alegria Grande. It’s a worsted weight and is oh so soft. So perfect for a snuggle snood. And yep, I am wearing it now – it’s cold!!

You will need –

100g skein of Aran/worsted yarn, 5mm crochet hook, blunt ended tapestry needle and some scissors.

Stitch Information –

Waffle Stitch – 1ch, insert hook into next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop, insert hook in next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop [yrh, pull through 2 loops] twice. 

Abbreviations –

ch – Chain

chsp – Chain Space

yrh – yarn round hook

Pattern –

Start your work by making a foundation chain of 39 stitches.  

Step 1 – Insert your hook into 3rd chain from the hook, yrh, pull through a loop, insert hook in 4th chain from hook, yrh, pull through a loop, [yrh, pull through 2 loops] twice. Now work a waffle stitch in each of next 2ch. (Waffle Stitch – 1ch, insert hook into next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop, insert hook in next chain/stitch, yrh, pull through a loop [yrh, pull through 2 loops] twice. Repeat to last chain, 1ch, 1dc in last ch, turn. 

Step 2 – Ch2, Waffle stitch in first dc & next ch1sp, then [1ch, waffle stitch in next stitch and then in next 1chsp] Repeat to the last waffle stitch. Ch1, 1dc in last waffle stitch and turn. 

Repeat step 2 until you have the desired length you would like and fasten off. I worked mine till it was 60cm in length.

Now fold it back on itself and use your crochet hook to work 1dc in both sides of the snood by inserting you hook into both stitches in either side. (Alternatively, using your darning needle, sew up both sides to create the snood and then fasten off and sew in your ends.

Now it’s time to block your work. If your aren’t sure how to do this, then look up my You tube video on how to block your work.

So there you have it. A year of PipsRainbow & an all important Birthday Pattern. Enjoy.

Big hugs to you all & thank you once again for all of your support over the year. It means so much to me, more than you know.

Happy hooking.

Pip

🌈Xx

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