So, this post is hopefully better late than never! I am so sorry to those of you who have been waiting for this month's post. We had a little bit of a hiccup here yesterday which delayed things a little……
The design for this month's pattern is all about autumn. We are still getting warmish sunny days here, but as the leaves are dropping and the mist is starting to descend in early evening here in North London there is no mistaking that we are definitely within the throws of autumn. I think October really is autumn at it’s best – here in the UK it tends to be relatively nice weather this month, before the grey murkiness and drizzle of November and December set in! I have said before that the Spring and Summer are my favourite months, but there is something special about October, I suppose because you can still be surprised by a really warm beautiful day and of course can go for long walks kicking through fallen leaves!
When I think of October I think of Halloween and all things pumpkin related, so it was no surprise to me that as soon as I sat down to work on my design for this month the very first thing that came to mind was to make crochet bobbles in pumpkin colours! I really love crochet bobbles as they are almost perfectly round and sit much more pronounced from the background fabric than their knitted equivalent.
The design for this month's pattern is all about autumn. We are still getting warmish sunny days here, but as the leaves are dropping and the mist is starting to descend in early evening here in North London there is no mistaking that we are definitely within the throws of autumn. I think October really is autumn at it’s best – here in the UK it tends to be relatively nice weather this month, before the grey murkiness and drizzle of November and December set in! I have said before that the Spring and Summer are my favourite months, but there is something special about October, I suppose because you can still be surprised by a really warm beautiful day and of course can go for long walks kicking through fallen leaves!
When I think of October I think of Halloween and all things pumpkin related, so it was no surprise to me that as soon as I sat down to work on my design for this month the very first thing that came to mind was to make crochet bobbles in pumpkin colours! I really love crochet bobbles as they are almost perfectly round and sit much more pronounced from the background fabric than their knitted equivalent.
Last month you
started a new blanket strip, which you should have made twice over. This month
you are working onto the top edge of that strip.
If you want to purchase a download copy of the patterns for just 95p you can access the Stylecraft Special DK version by following this link and the Yarn Stories version by following this link - please note that step by step images in all patterns are from the Special DK version.
Yarns used:
Yarns used:
Stylecraft Special DK 100g balls
1078 Petrol
1067 Grape
1709 Gold
1027 Khaki
1063 Graphite
1065 Meadow
1711 Spice
1722 Storm
Blue
Yarn Stories Fine Merino DK 50g balls
2503 Cobalt
2518 Thistle
2502 Burnt Sienna
2501 Bottle
2500 Anthracite
2510 Leaf
2515 Rouge
2535 Bluebell
Equipment Special DK:
4.5mm hook
Sewing needle
Equipment Fine Merino DK:
4mm hook
Sewing needle
Dealing with yarn ends: Sewing yarn ends in as you go along makes the
finishing process much easier and means that you are less likely to loose
stitches or make errors with your tension.
Hook Changes:
This month you
will work using 4.5mm (4mm) hook throughout
Pattern Repeat:
The bobbles are made over a pattern repeat of 8sts. The bobble counts as one stitch and there are 7sts between each bobble.
To make the bobbles sit centrally you will need to allow some stitches at the beginning of the row for the lead into the repeat and the lead out at the end of the row
Note: The pattern in written in UK terminology
Pattern Repeat:
The bobbles are made over a pattern repeat of 8sts. The bobble counts as one stitch and there are 7sts between each bobble.
To make the bobbles sit centrally you will need to allow some stitches at the beginning of the row for the lead into the repeat and the lead out at the end of the row
Note: The pattern in written in UK terminology
Method:
Undo last st and
rework to the point where you can change yarn shade to Petrol (Cobalt) on the final step
of the st, turn
Row 11: (RS facing) Using Petrol (Cobalt) & 4.5mm (4mm) hook, 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each st to end, turn (171sts)
Row 12: 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc into each st to end, changing yarn
shade to Grape on the final step of the last st, turn (171sts)
Row 13: Using Grape (Thistle) 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc into each st to end,
turn (171sts)
On the next row
you are going to make some bobbles!
Bobbles are a
little fiddly to make, especially as they are made with the Wrong Side of the
work facing you. This means you need to keep an eye on your stitch count and
also need to move your yarns from back to front to avoid having yarn left on
the incorrect side of the work.
I love bobbles and
especially like them when they are worked in different shades to the background
yarn colour, however, if you find making bobbles in this way too tricky you
could always stick to working in just one colour to create textural bobbles.
Row 14: Using Grape (Thistle) 1ch (does not count as a st)
1dc into each next 4sts, 1dc into the next st until
the last step of the stitch so that 2 yarn loops
remain on the hook. Bring yarn to the front. Draw
Gold (Burnt Sienna) through the last step of the stitch leaving a
yarn tail of approximately 15cm (6in). Yarn loop
on hook is Gold (Burnt Sienna).
* Using Gold (Burnt Sienna), work 5
incomplete treble crochet stitches into the next st, leaving 1 yarn loop on the
hook after each stitch so that 6 loops remain on the hook.
Bring Gold (Burnt Sienna) to the
front.
Pick up Grape (Thistle) and
draw through all yarn loops, pulling the yarn across the back of the bobble.
Yarn loop on hook is Grape (Thistle). Tighten the
working yarn – do not pull too tightly as you can loose the stitch at
the top of the bobble.
Using Grape (Thistle) 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc
into each next 3sts, 1dc into next st,
weaving in Gold (Burnt Sienna) yarn as you work the stitch ** 1dc into each next
3sts, changing yarn shade to Gold (Burnt Sienna) on the final step of the last st; repeat from * until a total of 21 bobbles have been made (5sts remain), ending
last repeat at **, 1dc into last st, turn. Cut Gold (Burnt Sienna) yarn.
Row 15: (RS facing) Using Grape (Thistle) 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each
next 5sts, 1dc into st at top of bobble, * 1dc into each next 7sts, 1dc
into st at top of bobble; repeat from * to last 5sts, 1dc into each next
5sts, changing yarn shade to Khaki (Bottle) on the final step of the last st, turn
(171sts)
It is a good idea
to check that your stitch count is correct as the end of this row!
To help you count
your stitches use the following guide:
- Count 5 sts at the beginning of the row before the first bobble
- 1 stitch at the top of the next bobble
- [7 stitches before the next bobble, 1 stitch at the top of the next bobble] x 20 times
- 5 stitches at the end of the row after the last bobble = 171 sts
Stitch count from
here to end of this set of pattern will remain at 171sts.
Row 16: Using Khaki (Bottle), 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each st to end of
row, changing yarn shade to Graphite (Anthracite) on the final step of the last st, turn.
Row 17: Using Graphite (Anthracite) work as Row 16, changing yarn shade to Meadow (Leaf) on the
final step of the last st, turn
Row 18: (WS facing) Using Meadow (Leaf), 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each
next 9sts, changing yarn shade to Spice (Rouge) on the final step of the st, * bring
yarn forward and make a bobble (MB) as for Row 14 changing yarn shade back to
Meadow (Leaf) once the bobble is complete (make sure that yarn tails stay on the wrong
side of the work), 1dc into each next 3sts, 1dc into next st weaving in Spice (Rouge) yarn as you work the stitch, 1dc into each next 3sts, changing yarn shade to
Spice (Rouge) ready for next bobble; repeat from * until 20 bobbles have been made
(9sts remain), using Meadow (Leaf) 1dc into each st to end, weaving in the tail end of
Spice as before and changing yarn shade to Graphite (Anthracite) on the final step of the
last st, turn (171sts)
Again it is a good
idea to check that your stitch count is correct as the end of this
row.
- To help you count your stitches use the following guide:
- Count 9 sts at the beginning of the row before the first bobble
- 1 stitch at the top of the next bobble
- [7 stitches before the next bobble, 1 stitch at the top of the next bobble] x 19 times
- 9 stitches at the end of the row after the last bobble = 171 sts
Row 19: (RS facing) Using Graphite (Anthracite), 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each
next 9sts, 1dc into st at top of bobble, * 1dc into each next 7sts, 1dc
into st at top of bobble; repeat from * to last 9sts, 1dc into each
next 9sts, changing yarn shade to Khaki (Bottle) on the final step of the last st, turn
(171sts)
Row 20: Using Khaki (Bottle), 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each st to end of
row, changing yarn shade to Grape (Thistle) on the final step of the last st, turn.
Row 21: Using Grape (Thistle) work as for Row 20, do not change yarn shade.
Row 22: (WS facing) Work bobble row as for Row 14.
Row 23: Work as Row 15, changing yarn shade to Petrol (Cobalt) on the final step of the
last st, turn.
Row 24: Using Petrol (Cobalt), 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each st to end,
turn.
Row 25: Work as Row 24, changing yarn shade to Storm Blue (Bluebell) on the final step of
the last st, turn.
Row 26: Using Storm Blue (Bluebell), 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into each st to end,
place last st on a holder.
Work another piece to
match
Each piece should
measure approximately 13.5/14cm from bottom edge x 92cm wide
The image above shows the pattern for next month, which will be published on the 7th November.
With thanks to the team at Crochet Now Magazine.
With thanks to the team at Crochet Now Magazine.