First I need to admit that I wasn't happy with how the temperature blanket was going. I felt that it was too wide, so rather than continue, I decided to rip it all back and begin again. Therefore, I haven't been able to post an update while I was working on re-creating the blanket to the point that I had been at. While this set me back a bit and I have been playing catch-up, I'm much happier with the end result.
The last update left off with Row 55 which was a double crochet row to finish off the granny squares.
Row 55 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row to attach the granny squares (Medium green)
Row 56 - V Stitch, chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn, skip first dc and in next stitch *dc, chain 1, dc, skip next stitch, repeat from * across until the last stitch, 1 dc in last stitch. (Dark green)
Row 57 - V Stitch, chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn, skip first dc and in next stitch *dc, chain 1, dc, skip next stitch, repeat from * across until the last stitch, 1 dc in last stitch. (Medium green)
Row 58 - V Stitch, chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn, skip first dc and in next stitch *dc, chain 1, dc, skip next stitch, repeat from * across until the last stitch, 1 dc in last stitch.
In the image below, you can see the three rows of V Stitch in dark green, medium green, and white.
While in Maui, I bought a beautiful green hand-dyed wool by Maui Yarns. The tag on this beautiful yarn says that it "has been lovingly hand dyed in West Maui, Hawaii. All the yarn is gently rinsed in waters from the rainforests of the West Maui Mountains and dried in the natural breezes from our tradewinds" while the spinner, Sara Lindquist, admits it's just her tap water "a good portion of [the water] truly does come from [the] rainforest." What could be more perfect for a temperature blanket than this beautiful wool that encompasses the wind and rain of Maui.
The weight of the yarn is lighter than the yarn I've been using so I used a smaller hook and choose to do hdc so that it would be denser and the straight crocheting would show the variations in the yarn. The colour reminds me of the sea turtles that swim in the waters around Maui.
Rows 59, 60, 61 and 62 - Chain 2, hdc across the row.
When I added the granny squares, I seemed to throw my stitch count out of whack and ended up with more stitches in the row than had originally been there so in these 4 rows (above) I worked to decrease and bring the blanket back into line.
Little Woolie's mixed stitch stripey blanket features this lovely chevron pattern, which I have attempted to duplicate here.
The chevron pattern should be done on the wrong side so I needed to add another row (Row 63) so that I would be working on the wrong side of the work.
Row 63 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Mint green)
Row 64 - (On the wrong) chain 1, *1 hdc into the next stitch, 1 dc into next stitch, 3 treble (tr) into next stitch, 1 dc into next stitch, 1 hdc into next stitch, 1 sc into next stitch** repeat from * to ** across the row. You may need to adjust depending upon your stitch count. (Mint green)
Row 65 - Change colour, chain 1, skip 1 stitch, 1 sc into next stitch (counts as sc2tog), 1 sc into each of next 2 stitches, *3 sc into next stitch, 1 sc into next 2 stitches, over the next 3 stitches work sc3tog, 1 sc into each of the next 2 sts; repeat from * until the last 5 sts, 3sc into next stitch, 1 sc into each next 2 stitches, over last 2 stitches work sc2tog, turn. You may need to adjust depending upon your stitch count. (Grey)
Row 66 - This is a repeat of Row 65. (Grey)
Row 67 - This is the 4th row of the chevron pattern and completes the pattern. Change colour, ch 4, skip 1 stitche, 1 tr into the next stitch (counts as tr2tog), * 1 dc into next stitch, 1 hdc into next stitch, 1 sc into next stitch, 1 hdc into next stitch, 1 dc into next stitch, over next 3 sts work tr3tog; repeat from * for rest of the row. (Mint green)
To make the pattern symmetrical, I completed another row of dc in mint green.
Row 68 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Mint green)
To break the colours up a bit and because we were still getting the odd bit of snow, I did a row of double crochet in white.
Row 69 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (White)
I was getting a wee bit tired of the green wool I had in my stash, so I splurged at our local wool shop, Top Drawer Yarn on a lovely skein of variegated grey, white, and green wool. I felt that the colours represented the current weather as even though the spring green is attempting to peek through it is often hampered by bits of snow when the temperature drops a bit and the grey of the skies and dust from the sand that is put on the roads. This wool is certainly more pretty than the streets are in early spring in PG. It's hard to see in the image below but there is such a gentle green in the mix.
Row 70 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Variegated grey, white and green)
Row 71 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Variegated grey, white and green)
The wool was quite a bit thicker than the previous wool so again I did a bit of adjusting to compensate.
I wanted to work on a bit of a shell stitch which turned out to be a bit of fail but I like the colours and frankly I've done enough ripping out for a while.
Row 72 - Shell - chain 3, dc in bottom of chain 3, skip 3 stitches, 4 dc in next stitch, repeat across ... (Dusty green)
The weather is warming up and it is time to add some yellow. It certainly is early for us but I am tentatively optimistic that this weather will last.
Row 73 - Shell - chain 3, dc in bottom of chain 3, 2 dc in same stitch, skip 3 stitches, 4 dc in space between two shells, repeat across until end. (Vanna's Choice Duckie)
Row 74 - Shell - chain 3, dc in bottom of chain 3, 2 dc in same stitch, skip 3 stitches, 4 dc in space between two shells, repeat across until end. (Vanna's Choice White)
Well, the warm weather continues. I must admit that I am happy to have the chance to crochet in a colour other than green and blue.
Row 75 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Light yellow)
Row 76 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Yellow)
Well we have now made it to St. Patrick's day and Row 77. The temperature has cooperated with me and dropped to below 10 to allow me to use green. On my recent shopping trip to Top Drawer Yarn, I had picked up a lovely Irish green -- Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed from Kilcar, Ireland).
Row 77 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed from Kilcar Ireland)
Row 78 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Yellow)
In the name of symmetry, I cheated a wee bit and used the Irish green for another row.
Row 79 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Green tweed)
Row 80 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Yellow)
Row 81 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Light yellow)
Row 82 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (White)
Now for a wee bit of fun - more bobbles.
Row 83 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Light yellow)
This will count as the foundation row for the bobbles.
Row 84 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), lay your bobble colour yarn along top of your stitches. Start to double crochet as normal, making sure your bobble yarn gets enclosed. Double crochet along until you get to the stitch before the one where you want to have the bobble. I chose to have my bobbles every 15 stitches. Start to do a double crochet but do not pull the yarn through the two loops on the hook. Now bring the yarn you were using forward and to the side so that it lies along the stitches of the row below. Take the bobble yarn back over your fingers to the usual position for crocheting. Pull the bobble yarn through the two loops on your hook to complete the double crochet stitch you started. The next stitch you do will go into the next stitch along just like normal. Start your bobble by doing a treble stitch but do not pull the yarn through the last two loops on the hook. Do another treble, again leaving the last two loops of that treble. Do this twice more so you'll have five loops on your hook. Next pull the yarn through all five loops on your hook. Now change yarns over and do a double crochet into the stitch. Bring the bobble yarn towards you and the other yarn goes over your fingers in the usual way. Do a double crochet in the usual way using the 'non' bobble yarn. Double crochet along to where you want your next bobble. Repeat across. (Dc in light yellow and bobbles in white)
Please see Tales from Cuckoo Land for a great tutorial on the bobble stitch.
Row 85 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Light yellow)
Row 86 - Repeat Row 84 - bobble row. This time I offset the bobbles and used a darker yellow.
Row 87 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Light yellow)
Row 88 - Repeat Row 84 - bobble row. I set the bobbles 15 stitches apart and used white for the bobbles again.
Row 89 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Light yellow)
Row 90 - Chain 1 (counts as first sc), turn and sc in each stitch across row (White)
Row 91 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (Duckie)
With spring well in hand and temperatures going over 20 degrees, I thought this tulip motif would be perfect. I chose to do a foundation row in white to break the patterns.
Row 92 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (White)
Row 93 - V stitch - change colour, chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn, skip first dc and in next stitch *dc, chain 1, dc, skip next stitch, repeat from * across until the last stitch, 1 dc in last stitch. (Impeccable soft fern)
Row 94 - Cluster** stitch which forms the tulip - with right side facing you, change colour, chain 4 (counts as first dc and chain 1 space); *CL in ch-1 space of V-stitch, ch 2; repeat from * across to last v-stitch, CL in last space, ch 1, dc in dc to finish off. (Orange)
**Cluster (CL): (YO, insert hook in specified st and draw up a lp to height of a dc) 4 times; YO and draw through all 9 lps on hook: CL made.
Row 95 - Chain 2 (counts as first hdc), turn and hdc in each stitch across row (White)
Row 96 - Chain 3 (counts as first dc), turn and dc in each stitch across row (Yellow)
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