A cuddly stitch pattern combines with a cuddly yarn to make a super quick reversible baby blanket! Took me 3 days. The special thing about this technique & design (besides the extra touchable combination of a fluffy yarn & a cuddly stitch) is its economics. It only uses 4 skeins of yarn, works up quickly, and does not leave giant holes. If you were to try 4 skeins with a standard double-crochet stitch and a large hook trying to achieve the same size, the holes would be big.
Skill level: Intermediate if you do not already know Tunisian, Crochenit & Crochenit Bedspread technique, Easy if you've learned these skills already.
Size: approximately 35" x 38.5"
Materials: Super Bulky Yarn (6); 9 ounces color A (multi) / 210 yards, 11 oz color B (solid) / 245 yards ; designed for use with Red Heart Baby Clouds, 2 skeins Multi, 2 skeins Solid (pattern worked out to have no Multi left, 1.5 oz Solid left). note - if 2 solids are chosen, blanket can be a bit longer; if you choose 2 multis, you will have to stop shorter than 38.5" and leave room for edging.
Hook: Size Q double-ended hook (or a size Q cabled double-ended hook)
Technique: Crochenit/crochet-on-the-double/double-ended basic stitch
Gauge: 10 sts = 7"wide
With solid color, ch 50.
Proceed with basic Crochenit stitch pattern until muti color yarn runs out (about 34.5" high at 33" wide).
End with solid color, finishing last forward solid color row with: ch 1, sc across as follows: (*insert hook in next vertical bar, yo, pull through, yo, pull through 2 loops on hook*) to end of row (counts as top sc edging).
Edging - continue with solid color after top edge sc across; at corner, *sc, ch 1, sc* in each corner, sc evenly along edges, join with sl st to first sc, finish off.
Tip: join new yarn at edge, not in middle of row, weave in ends vertically along edge, not horizontally into row.
Make your own size tip:
at 33 - 35" wide, 1 skein baby clouds multi = 16" high
at 33 - 35" wide, 1 skein baby clouds solid = 23.5" high
At the time of this pattern design, Red Heart Baby Clouds specs: Multi = 4.5 oz / 127 g, 105 yd / 96 m; Solid = 6 oz / 170 g, 140 yd / 128 m
This is my first pattern design, offered for free, on ravelry.com. You may have linked to this blog from here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/double-cuddles
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prerequisite knowledge: basic double-ended hook crochet method/stitch and "bedspread technique" variation of this skill -
- Tunisian (Afghan stitch) crochet: basic stitch. Double-ended hook basic stitch is a two-ended variation of this.
- Basic technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mfF4O3qyxc
- Bedspread technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_PgFcdqKtA
update 9/18/09 - you don't need to know the bedspread technique of you have a cabled double ended hook in the proper size.
- Optional: Explanation of the double-ended hook crochet brand-naming and how it is a variation of Tunisian
crochet: http://kimguzman.bravejournal.com/entry/21484 (scroll to
"Tunisian, Afghan Stitch, Crochenit, Cro-Hook, MoEZ? What's the difference?")
Size Q 16 mm double-ended crochet hook can be purchased online, for example:
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2873&PRODID=prd12626
Alternatively, the Denise crochet hook set http://www.stitchdiva.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=DEN-001 comes with the possibility of creating up to a size Q double-ended cabled hook, as well as tunisan and standard. Found it at stitchdiva.com (this would eliminate using the bedspread technique if a cabled double-ended hook is used) (puchasing the additional hook pack is neccessary to create the double-ended, here is a link to the 4 head pack, there is also a 3 head pack http://www.stitchdiva.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=DEN-003 )
