2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches Week 42 – Paired Popcorn Stitch

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Paired Popcorn Stitch 

Well it’s birthday party season in our house still and this week was my daughter’s party. It was an extremely rainbowy, unicorny, fairy, crafty kind of a party at home and I think, was well received by all. We played all the traditional party games and made some rather gorgeous unicorns. We wanted to give her a party like we used to have as kids. It seems to have all changed now with big occasions and events that a child goes to. We’ve had a couple of farm parties and a woodland pirate treasure party which went down well, but I think the two we have had at home for friends are my favourites.

We had a treasure hunt of Smile Stones which my daughter made.

I think their favourite activity was the unicorn making! Their little faces when they found out they could make them and take them home was just priceless!! Wish I had it on video!!! They even added a little magic and wish inside before they sealed them up!!

This was daughter’s and you can imagine where it was snuggled up last night!!

I do think my rainbow addiction is getting worse though!! Look at these I found on the Internet!!! There’s some kind of a rainbow explosion occurred in our conservatory!!

Oh and I couldn’t resist making these!!!

Not only have we had my daughter’s party this wknd, but we’ve celebrated my brother-in-laws too!!  Now he is a keen landscape photographer. He has taken some incredible photos all over the country. So I definitely had to dedicate this weeks yarn colour to him. A warm and wonderful autumnal brown, one that can be found in many of his landscape photos. These were the slipper socks I made for him. I added a 4ply West Yorkshire Spinner yarn into the mix which gave them a much thicker feel and hopefully warmer too!

With all the party loveliness, we did manage to squeeze in a family country walk in the back of the woods near us.

Think it’s these morning family walks that make you feel alive and happy. We did feel left out though, in the sense that everyone we met had a dog!! One day… 🐾

Now this photo was taken for my father. Every year as children when autumn came we would play the leaf catching game. It’s ever so simple. You stand under a tree and attempt to catch a leaf floating down from the sky!! You would think it was easy, but it’s not!! Saying that my husband caught his first time!!! I reckon it was beginners luck!!!

Well here was our attempt! Hopefully next year my son can catch one!!

Oh and to finish off a family walk, you can’t beat a Melbourne in Lichfield coffee!!! Best drank in the sun!!

So I think we had better get onto the blanket and our lovely stitch this week. So this week it’s called the Paired Popcorn Stitch. Now we have already had the Raised Popcorn Stitch on the blanket. This is when a Popcorn Stitch sits on it’s own, well here we have two slightly smaller popcorns that sit together!! Great for an edging to a little one’s cardigan or even the cuff of a glove or scarf. Hope you like it.

Stitches –

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

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.

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.

Popcorn Stitch (Ps) – Work 5tr stitches all in the next stitch. Then remove your hook from the loop at the top of the last tr stitch and reinsert it back into the top of the first tr stitch. Then collect up the loop from the last tr stitch and pull through to complete the popcorn stitch.

Supplies –

Right so this week my colour is a lovely warm and cosy orangy/brown colour, representing all the magnificent leaves surrounding us at the minute. Definitely one of the best times of the year. I also wanted to dedicate it to my lovely brother-in-law and his wonderful photographs!!

So I have used this lovely coloured soft yarn from the Wendy merino range. Mega soft and snuggable. So again you need to choose a double knit yarn of any kind. You roughly need about 30g/40g. Don’t forget your scissors and blunt ended tapestry needle. And of course your 4mm crochet hook.

Ok so here we go … 

1 – Ok so first things first, start on the wrong side of your blanket. Attach your new yarn and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the stitch and then 1dc in the next 2 stitches.

Now *chain 1, miss 1 stitch, work 2dc in the next stitch, then chain 1, miss 1 stitch and finally work 1dc in the next 3 stitches.*

Repeat this ** across the row. In the last few stitches of the row, chain 1, miss 1 stitch and work 2 dc in the next stitch. Then chain 1, miss 1 stitch then work 1dc in the last 2 stitches. (133)

2 – Ok so turn your blanket and chain 3. Now miss first stitch and work 1tr in the next dc stitch.

Right so now miss 1 chain, then work 1 Popcorn Stitch (Pc) in the next dc stitch. So to work a Popcorn Stitch you need to work 5tr stitches into the same stitch. Now you are going to take your hook out of the stitches, leaving a loop. You can see this on the photo below. Now reinsert it back into the top of the first Treble Stitch. This is where my hook is and grab the loop you made at the top of the last Treble stitch.

Pull the loop through the stitch to finish the Popcorn Stitch.

Now it’s time to chain 1 and work 1Pc in the next dc stitch.

*Now miss 1 chain and work *1tr in each of the next 3dc stitches. Work 1Pc in the next dc stitch, chain 1 then work 1Pc in the next stitch.* Repeat this ** across the row.

To end the row work 1tr in the last 3 stitches. (33 Popcorn Pairs)

3 – Turn your blanket and chain 1. Now work 1dc in the same stitch and then 1dv in the next 2 stitches. Now chain 1, miss 1Pc stitch and now work 2dc stitches in the next ch1sp. This is where the arrow is pointing. It’s looks like s large gap inbetween the 2 Popcorn stitches.

Now chain 1 and miss 1Pc stitch. Now work *1dc in each of the next 3 stitches, chain 1, miss 1Pc, work 2dc in the next ch1sp, chain 1 and miss 1Pc.* so repeat this across the row.

At the end of the row work 1dc in the last stitch and then top of the chain 3 from the previous row. (233)

So there you have the lovely Paired Popcorn Stitch.

Hope you have enjoyed this one. Any problems just give me a shout.

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈Xx

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2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches Week 40 – Crunch Stitch

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Crunch Stitch 

Hello all. How are we? Well we are officially one year old!! Wow! Genuinely quite surprised how quick that has gone! I feel like PipsRainbow has come so far in just a year. I was only saying to my husband today how much quicker I find writing up my patterns. I try to use a similar format for each of my patterns, so hopefully you guys can work your way around them quicker and I make sure I include all the information you need. I can’t wait to bring you all my new projects in Year Two. My head seems to be bursting with ideas, that I can’t seem to get them made up, yet written down, quick enough! Ekkk, exciting!!

Here’s little Uni the Unicorn that I published on PipsRainbow’s birthday. I really hope you enjoy this one. She’s definitely a special one. She can be made to be so unique and tailored to each little owner. I love how each person can be their own designer and put their own colour scheme on the mane and tail. I know the two I have made, are well and truly loved by their little people. Happy hookimh on this one chaps. She’s a keeper in my eyes.

So we have had a rather strange week in our household with illness from the little man. Poor lamb!! He’s been snuggled under my blanket for the majority of the week. So strange when he is ill, as there’s no squealing of fun and noises of his little feet, pitter pattering around the house. I hate when they are ill and we seem to have had our fair share in the last few weeks! I’ve never known anything quite like it! It’s officially now known as the illness umbrella! I am wondering when it will lift! Heyho, it’s surely at an end now! Fingers and toes crossed. I think this cuppa was well and truly deserved this morning.

Through the craziness of all the illness, I did manage to sneak the pattern for these two little munchies out. Olly and Olive Octopus. Hoping this pattern will be loved by you guys as much as me. I think I like it so much because you can play around with crazy rainbowy lovely colours. And they are just the best aren’t they!!! 🌈

Hmmm, can you tell I like rainbow colours – love how these two patterns are just so colourful and have so much potential. Have fun!!!

So, think we had better get on to this weeks blanket stitch. So this week it’s the Crunch Stitch.

Hee hee, loving the name of this stitch!! Crunch!! Love it!! I’d really like to meet the guy who got to name all these mega stitches!! Funny. I wonder where the inspiration came from. So this week is a rather simple one, but again one I can see me using in many projects. I reckon it would be mega for a hat!!! It’s made up of Half Trebles and Slip Stitches, so ever so easy to make up!!

Supplies –

So this week I have chosen a beautiful clean white from my all time favourite super soft Sublime range. Couldn’t resist using it this week. It’s just soooooo soft. Like how it sits with the Toft pink from last week. Feel like it’s a goo colour to represent the start of a new PipsRainbow year. As usual, you roughly need about 30g of yarn. Don’t forget your scissors, blunt ended tapestry needle and of course your 4mm crochet hook.

 

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

Half treble (htr) – A half treble crochet is basically one less movement than a treble. So yarn over hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through all 3 loops.

Ok so here we go…

1 – Start by attaching your new yarn onto the right side of your blanket and chain 2. Then work 1htr in the same stitch.

Now work a slip stitch into the first ch1sp.

Then work 1htr in the next stitch and slip stitch in the next.

*Now work 1htr, ss in the ch1sp then 1htr, then 1 ss into the next stitch.* Repeat this ** across the row.

Work a ss in the last stitch. (200)

2 – So turn your work and chain 2. Then work 1htr in the same stitch.

Then work ss in the next stitch. (This will be a htr stitch from the row below.) Then repeat. So work *ss, then 1htr* across the row. If you get confused which stitch you are on, just remember that the slip stitches are being worked in the Half Treble stitches and the Half Trebles are being worked into the slip stitches.)

Finish by working a slip stitch in the last stitch. (200)

3 – So we are going to repeat row 2. So turn your blanket and chain 2. Now work 1htr in the same stitch. Now work *ss, then 1htr.* Repeat this ** across the row, finishing with a ss in the last stitch. (200)

 

4 – So we are going to repeat row 2. So turn your blanket and chain 2. Now work 1htr in the same stitch. Now work *ss, then 1htr.* Repeat this ** across the row, finishing with a ss in the last stitch. (200)

5 – For the last row, we are going to repeat row 2 again. So turn your blanket and chain 2. Now work 1htr in the same stitch. Now work *ss, then 1htr.* Repeat this ** across the row.

At the end work a slip stitch in the last stitch and then fasten off as usual and sew in your ends. (200)

Well there you have the wonderful Crunch Stitch. It’s a fab one isn’t it! Definitely going in the ‘must use’ list!!! Thank you so much for all your continued support!!!

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈Xx

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