Forked Cluster – PipsRainbow

The time has finally come to say fairwell to this journey of stitches. Week 52 is here and is ready for you all to finish your blankets. 52 different stitches, with just over 52 different yarns. Wow. I hope you have enjoyed this journey, as much as I have. I now feel very excited about the possibilities with all these new stitches. There are so many to choose from. I think for crocheters and knitters alike, we can easily keep to our comfort zone and stick to stitches and patterns that we know. I know when I am in a rush to make something for someone, I will always go straight to a pattern that I am familiar with. But now I feel I can stretch my wings out and comfortably use a different stitch for a different design and texture. I hope I have given you that confidence too. Each weeks instalment will stay on my blog for you to refer to, but I am also hoping to create video clips for each of them to help you pick them back up quickly. I feel this would be a good reference guide for you all. So fingers crossed I can get to grips with those.

I have lots of new ideas for 2019 that I can’t wait to share with you. Hoping to publish another Crochetalong at some point too next year, but I don’t think it will be quite as epic as the Year of the Stitches. It’s definitely been a long one hasn’t it. I think the best thing I liked about it is the fact people could easily pick it up each week and spend half an hour with a cuppa and hook. I also love the fact you can snuggle up in it while you were hooking the next row. Loved the warmth on your legs. Think I might need to start another blanket!!

So how we’re all your Christmas’s? I hope you have all had a wonderful time. Christmas is such a special time of the year. It brings people together in a way that doesn’t seem to happen with any other time of the year. Families seem to organise and arrange months in advance as to where they will be eating for one particular meal!! Sounds rather bonkers when you put it like that!! Some will even have already decided where they will be a year before, basing it around some kind of Christmas meal rota!! Think we seem to be in one, but guessing it’s quite natural and feel very very lucky to be able to have so much lovely family that we want to spend Christmas with. We stayed at home with my parents and sister, which was lovely. My daughter and I managed to finish our stockings too, which we’re well received. These little stocking were made with my smallest children’s slipper sock pattern, but with a few rounds taken out of the length. Hope you like them.

I did manage to start a little bit of my Christmas West Yorkshire Spinner socks, but then started a hat for my husband which I had promised him. Oh well. Will start it again soon, I am sure.

Right then, we had better get onto this border now hadn’t we. Before we get started, I just wanted to say a huge huge thank you for all your support this year!!! It has been such a rainbow ride of yarny fun. This time last year, my life was a little different and PipsRainbow was just starting out. I feel that I have grown in confidence this year in my ability to design and create for you. My friend can tell you that I used to panic so much about publishing patterns and it would take me ages to proof read them. But now it seems to be second nature. I definitely feel like I can tackle most crocheting things now, which I can tell you is a lovely feeling to have. If there is ever anything anyone would like me to design, then please let me know! I am always up for exciting new adventurers and challenges!! Anyways. Happy hooking to you all for 2019. Here’s to to 2019 and all those crocheting projects we will all take on.

Ok Week 52 Year of the Stitches is now is session…

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.

Spike Stitch – So insert your hook through the dc stitch in the row below, yarn over your hook and then pull back through. (It will be easier if you work this loop up loosely) Now finish your stitch by yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.

Forked Cluster (fc) – So work 1fc stitch into the next stitch and following alternate stitch. So *{(Yarn over your hook, insert into stitch, yarn over your hook and pull through.) Repeat this ( ) twice in the same stitch. Then yarn over your hook and pull through the first 4 loops on your hook.}Now miss a stitch and repeat this {} in the next stitch. Then yarn over your hook and pull through 3 loops on your and finish off by working 2 chains.*

Supplies –

Right then. So for the very last time, here’s my choice of yarns for my border. Now I have plumbed for 3 different colours, as I wanted to give it a little depth. But you can use just one or even two colours, it is totally up to you. The cream yarn is from the wonderful baby merino/silk range from Rowan. The light silver is of course the wonderfully soft Sublime merino/cashmere yarn and the top is actually a tweed yarn from the Sublime range, which has an ever so slight yellow fleck in it. As always you can use any double knit yarn. I have used a ball for each of my colours, but only used between 30 – 40g of each. Don’t forget your scissors, 4mm crochet hook and blunt ended tapestry needle.

Ok so let’s go…

Now because of the nature of the blanket, I haven’t included a stitch count. Obviously the stitch count at both ends are 200 stitches, but up the sides will vary slightly according how you pick each stitch up. So don’t worry too much. Obviously with a normal blanket, you would have an exact amount, but because this involves so many different stitches I felt we could just keep it quite simple for the border and not worry too much.

Now there are 3 round to your border. A normal double crochet rounds, a spike stitch round and a forked cluster round. They are all very simple, so no worries with this one. Remember you can use which ever colours you like and if you don’t want to do all the rounds, you could just do a simple double crochet edge or a double and a spike edge. The reason I did the spike edge, was to give a slight firmness to the border, so that it held its shape.

1 – Right then, so the first things first. Attach your new yarn in any stitch in the last row you worked and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the same stitch. Then work 1dc in each stitch in the row.

When you come to the end, work 2dc in the last stitch in the row. This is to start creating a corner.

Now work your way down the side of your blanket, working 1dc in the side of each row in the blanket. Now if you find there is a large stitch, such as the V stitch or the pyramid stitch, then you might need to work 2dc stitches.

Remember when you come to a new corner, always work 2dc into the corner stitch. Once you have worked your way around the whole blanket, slip stitch into the first dc you created to complete the round. Now fasten off and sew in your ends.

2 – Now once again attach your new yarn into any stitch. Now you are going to work a spike stitch into the same stitch. If you remember, this is when you insert your hook into the stitch below. You can see this where my hook is on the photo below. Now yarn over your hook and pull back through and bring it back up to the height of the row. It’s easier if you do this loop loosely. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops on your hook. (It’s basically a double crochet stitch, but being worked in the row below.)

Now work 1 spike stitch in each stitch around the blanket. Now remember, at each corner, work 2 spike stitches into the corner stitch.

Once you have worked 1 spike stitch into each stitch around your blanket, slip stitch into the first spike stitch and then fasten off and sew in your ends.

3 – Ok so here’s the final part of your border and week 52’s Stitch. It’s called the Forked Cluster Stitch. Now for this stitch, attach your new yarn in any of the stitches from the previous round and chain 4. Now work a Forked Cluster (fc) stitch. So to do this yarn over your hook and insert into the first stitch, then yarn over your hook and pull through. Then once again yarn over your hook and insert into the same stitch, then yarn over your hook and pull through. (5 loops)

Now yarn over your hook and pull through the first 4 loops on your hook.

Now miss a stitch and do the same in the next next stitch. So yarn over your hook and insert into the stitch, then yarn over your hook and pull through. Then once again yarn over your hook and insert into the same stitch, then yarn over your hook and pull through. (5 loops) Now yarn over your hook and pull through the first 4 loops on your hook.

Now yarn over your hook again and pull through all 3 loops on your hook.

Then chain 2. This is your first forked cluster completed.

Ok so now work 1fc stitch into the next stitch and following alternate stitch. Here’s how to do it again. So *{(Yarn over your hook, insert into stitch, yarn over your hook and pull through.) Repeat this ( ) twice in the same stitch. Then yarn over your hook and pull through the first 4 loops on your hook.} Now miss a stitch and repeat this {} in the next stitch. Then yarn over your hook and pull through 3 loops on your and finish off by working 2 chains.*

Now repeat this ** around the blanket. When you come to a corner, instead of working 2 chain stitches, work 4 chain stitches and work the next fc stitch in the same stitch as the last part of the previous fc stitch. This will give you a lovely sharp corner.

Can you see in the photo below how I have worked the first part of the fc stitch into the same stitch, rather than the next one.

Now continue working all the way around the blanket as before.

At the end of the round slip stitch into the first chain 4. And that completes your border.

Once you have finished your blanket and sewn in your ends, it is time to block your blanket. Now I cannot recommend blocking enough. It is so worth it. It seems to let the yarn relax and fall into its natual place. So if your edges have gone a little wobbly, which they can do with this blanket or your tension was a little looser in one row than another, blocking will help, as it allows you to set the blanket in the shape you wish.

All you need is a large flat space, a pack of tall pins and some of these funky kids sponge mat tiles.

All you need to do is lay out the sponge tiles with enough room to pin your blanket around the edge. Now because the blanket is so big now, I have placed mine in a rectangle with a hole in the middle. Now you need to wet your blanket with some warm water, I just popped it in the sink/washing bowl and then ring it out with a towel, so that it’s not dripping. Now with your pins, pin it to the tiles, smoothing with your hands as you go, to create a nice straight edge to your blanket.