I designed this Hello Blanket with the thought of providing some cuddle comfort to a child who might be going through a tough time in hospital. I hope to be able to send my finished Hello Blanket to a children’s cancer hospital. I am also planning to list the graph for this for anyone interested in the design.
Specifications
- Yarn Content: 100% Acrylic
- Final Size: 115x115cm – estimated 120x120cm if working standard C2C
- Final Weight: 655g
- Yarn: DK weight (e.g. Stylecraft DK, Paintbox Simply DK) – use different yarn weights for different sizing
- Hook size: 3.5mm – use appropriate hook size for your chosen yarn
- Stitch: no-gap C2C (squares of 3 linked dc i.e. 3LDC) – you can use standard C2C viz. 4dc squares
- Approximate yarn length: 1,808m (I never know why people want to know this!!!!)
- Number of Colours: 20
- Graph: 75×75 squares
- Crochet Terminology: US
- Total Design & Production Time: 13 days
(Status: g0700/0800 0TF0 -ch -r -et N/A. Gifted to Ange&Caleb)
From Lightbulb Moment to Graph
Here I show and talk about some of the steps in making this blanket.
The C2C graph (with colour count) will be offered for sale. The graph is specially designed for C2C crochet – it incorporates the diagonal lines that are so useful for C2C graphed work.
I give credit to Pinterest and all the artists who so generously share their ideas and drawings. Drawings and illustrations in this case. I drew my first draft drawing by incorporating a number of ideas I saw there.
1. doodle (pencil & paper)
2. vectorise (Inkscape)
3. graph (LibreOffice spreadsheet)
And after that, of course came the extra fun part … the crochet!!
Note on No-Gap C2C using Linked Double Crochets (LDCs)
worked my sample using squares of 3 LDCs (Linked Double Crochet). The sample piece here was a 5×5 block, giving a measurement of 8x8cm.
Possibly Upcoming:
When I have more time, I might write up a tutorial on how to use the LDCs (Linked Double Crochet) in C2C crochet work. There is a little bit more to it then just a straight LDC. But not too difficult at all.
Once I had my gauge, I could more or less work out the number of squares I needed to create the blanket size I wanted.
The graph size is: 75×75 squares.
Here are some close-ups of the no-gap C2C. If you are familiar with the standard C2C, you will know that there are inevitable “gaps” or “holes” in the final fabric. Personally I didn’t like them. Especially over time, the holes get larger and larger with use. And I really feel them when the weather gets colder.
Close UP of Linked C2C Crochet
The following are some WIP shots. I was trying to capture how it progressed from day to day. However I must remember to have a word with my memory because I kept forgetting to do that on many a day.
As many craters of colourwork know, it becomes increasingly daunting as the number of colours increase. In this piece, I have 20 colours. And that can normally translate to 20+ to 30 different bobbles of yarn going at the same time.
So in the middle of my work, I had to take a day off to try to come up with a yarn holder that would be flexible and modular enough to make life easier.
Finishing Up
Now the Finishing up involves hours of weaving in the loose ends. This one took half to three quarters of a day. I use what I call the “infinity weave” or the “8 weave”. It yields a virtually invisible weave and is also very secure.
I did try to pause and weave some of the loose tails in as I worked. And that did help to lighten the workload at the end. Still, it was a long process.
How Long Did it Take?
