Dot - free blanket pattern and tutorial

Hello! Today I'm going to talk through the making of Dot step by step. It's a nice and easy pattern for beginners and experienced hookers alike.  If you don't need step by step help, please feel free to skip to end where there's a written motif pattern for you 😊

It's made from Scheepjes Colour Crafter which is 100% premium acrylic and is available in 100g balls. A blanket designed to be easy care. My blanket is a cot sized blanket (34"x48") but you can easily make more squares to increase the size.

Ok let's get started!

Ingredients

Scheepjes Colour Crafter in the following colours:

Sint Niklaas x 2 balls

Malmedy x 1 ball

Den Helder x 1 ball

Bastogne x 1 ball

Terneuzen x 1 ball

Wilnis x 1 ball

Knokke x 1 ball

Charleroi x 1 ball

4mm crochet hook

Scissors

Darning needle to weave in ends

Blocking board and pins

How To

(We are working in UK English crochet terms)

Please bear in mind that I am left handed when looking at the photos 😉

Begin with your chosen coloured yarn. 

Make a magic circle (I always wrap my yarn around my fingers twice to make a secure circle)

Round 1. Working into the circle, chain 3 to make your first stitch and then work another treble crochet and chain 1. Next work 2 treble crochet stitches and chain 1, repeat this 6 more times so that you end up with 8 sets of 2 treble crochets separated by a chain stitch. 

Join with a slip stitch into the third chain of your first stitch. Now pull the tail of your magic circle tight. 

Round 2. Slip stitch into the next chain space to get you into the starting position for this round. Now we are going to make some treble clusters into the chain spaces made in the previous round. The first cluster is made slightly differently as we need to make the first stitch. Chain 2 to make the first stitch, yarn over hook and insert into the chain space, pull through 2 loops, repeat this twice more (you should have 4 loops on your hook) yarn over hook and pull through all 4 loops and chain 3. Yarn over hook and insert your hook into the next chain space, pull through 2 loops. Repeat this 3 times. You will have 5 loops on your hook (see photo above). Yarn over hook and pull through all 5 loops, chain 3. Repeat this 6 more times.

Join with a slip stitch to the first cluster.

Round 3. In this round we are going to make some puff stitches. A little fiddly but effective!

Slip stitch into the next 3 chain space. Yarn over hook, insert into the chain space and pull through, repeat 4 times so you will have 11 loops on your hook (as in photo above),  yarn over hook and pull through all 11 loops....this is the tricky bit!

It should like the photo above!

Now secure this by chaining 2. Work a double crochet into the top of the next cluster and chain 2. Make another puff stitch into the next chain space, chain 2 and double crochet into the top of the next cluster, chain 2. Repeat this for the rest of the round.

Join with a slip stitch. Fasten off yarn.  Don't worry if your circle curls up a bit at the edges, that will settle when we work the next round. 

Round 4. With the grey yarn, join in any 2 chain space. Chain 2 (counts as first half treble crochet) and work 2 more half treble crochets into the same chain space. Into the next 2 chain space work 3 half treble crochets. It should look something like the photo above. 

To  make the corner, into the next chain space work 1 half treble, 1 treble and 1 double treble, chain 1 and move onto the next chain space. Into that space work 1 double treble, 1 treble and 1 half treble. Your corner should look like the photo above!

So continue to work 3 half trebles into the next 2 sets of chain spaces and then make a corner as before. 

It should look like this! Fasten off and weave in the ends. 

So that's how you make the squares. 

For a cot sized blanket measuring approximately 34"x48" I made a total of 117 squares which when blocked measured 4" each. 

I made 17 squares in each of 5 colours and then 16 in the last 2 colours. 

Next step is to block your squares. I pinned mine to my blocking board and then gave them a good soaking with the spray gun!

Joining

Lay your squares in the order that want them to be joined. 

(Mine are unblocked for this tutorial!)

Next place right sides together and work a double crochet in the corner chain space. Chain 3 and work a double crochet in the space between the next set of 3 stitches. Repeat this to corner space. Instead of fastening of pick up your next pair of squares and repeat the process.

You should end up with a row of sets of squares joined like this although yours will be longer! Continue joining your squares like this. So on the next row you will be adding 1 square at a time to the 2 already joined if that makes sense?

You'll end up with rows of horizontal joins. Joining by using this method cuts down on joining and fastening off and ultimately doesn't have so many ends to weave in which is always a bonus!!!

Once you have made all of your horizontal joins you can start on the vertical joins using the same method.

It should end up something like this on the reverse..... 

And this on the right side! I don't weave my ends in at this point as I find it much neater to weave them into the border stitches but it's entirely up to you. 

Border

I have opted for a very simple border of linen stitch. Using the grey yarn, start by joining into a corner chain space, work a double crochet, chain 3, double crochet into the corner space, chain 1 miss 1 stitch and double into the top of the next stitch. Continue along each edge in this pattern and work a double, chain 3 double into each corner space. Join with a slip stitch. You may have to fudge a little for the first round 😉 On the next round you are going to make your double crochets into the chain spaces and a double, chain 3 double crochet into the corner spaces. Work another round in the grey and finish by working the final round in one of the colours. Fasten off and weave in your ends. 
TADA!!! Your blanket is finished!

Motif Pattern

UK English terms.

Using one of the coloured yarns, make a magic circle.

Round 1. Ch3 (counts as first tr) tr into circle, ch1, *2tr, ch1. Rep from * 6 times. Join with slst in 3rd ch of 1st st. 

Round 2. Slst into ch-sp. Ch3, 3trcl, ch3, *4trcl, ch3, rep from * 7 times. Join with slst.

Round 3. Slst into next ch-sp. *Puff st in ch-sp , ch2, dc in top of cluster, ch2. Rep from * 7 times. Join with a slst. Fasten off yarn. 

Round 4.  Using grey yarn join into any ch-sp. Ch2 (counts as htr for this group of htr only) 2htr into ch-sp, 3htr into next ch-sp, (htr, tr, dtr) in next ch-sp, (dtr, tr, htr) in next ch-sp (corner made) Rep around motif. Join with slst. Fasten off yarn. 

Weave in ends and block to 4" square. 

Joining and border made as above. 

Hope you find my instructions useful. 

Enjoy!

Til next time x

Scheepjes Christmas Blog Hop - Free Hot Water Bottle Knitting Pattern

Hi Folks!

So today we have reached the 12th and final day of the Scheepjes Christmas Blog Hop 2015! I think you will all agree, we have seen some stunning patterns and great ideas :-)
Yesterday we visited the lovely Bernadette and saw her stunning Christmas Noel Collar *swoons*
I thought I'd do a quick recap of the projects just in case you missed any, so here goes!
Day One

Annelies' Decorative Hanger
Day Two

Sarah's Secret Surprise Santa
Day Three

Nerissa's Christmas Gnome
Day Four

Tammy's Candy Cane Wine Cozy
Day Five

Tatsiana'a Gift Tag
Day Six

Carmen's Sweater Make-over
Day Seven

Jellina's Crochet Christmas Trees
Day Eight

Atty's Crochet Christmas Angels
Day Nine

Esther's Crochet Mandala Jar Topper
Day Ten

Kirsten's Cross Stitch Mug Cozy
Day Eleven

Bernadettes Christmas Noel Collar
Aren't they fabulous?....and best of all?.....all free!!!!
Ok so if you've been following my blog, you'll know that I've been learning to knit socks. Actually, it's turned into a bit of an addiction! So it popped into my head the thought that by varying a sock pattern you can make all manner of things! Cool!
And with winter upon us, what better than a snuggly hot water bottle cover??!!!!

I promise that it's really easy! If you can knit and purl you can make this. Ok there are a couple of other techniques involved too but I've found some lovely video tutorials that will help you. 

The main body is knitted and I've added some simple crochet snowflakes to decorate but you can add whatever you like. 

Ok let's get started!

Ingredients!

(NB the pattern is for a 2litre bottle - if yours is smaller or larger you will have to adjust the pattern accordingly)

2 x 50g Sheepjes Stone Washed XL in your chosen colour (I've used Amazonite)

Scraps of Stone Washed Regular yarn to make the snowflakes (I've used Moon Stone)

Hot Water Bottle (Mine is a 2 litre one that I bought cheaply from Amazon)

5mm circular needle with a decent length cord (minimum 80cm....it just makes it easier when working the magic loop method)

3 - 3.5 mm crochet hook (I've used a 3.5 as I hook tightly)

Scissors and a darning needle.

Techniques Used
Judy's Magic Cast On (JMCO) Magic Loop  Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast Off  M1R & M1L SSK K2tog Duplicate Stitch (optional for adding detail to the reverse)
Just click on the technique and it will take you to the tutorial :-)
Let's do this!!!!
Using JMCO cast on 48 stitches (24 on each needle) Knit one round (remember to knit into the back of the stitches on the second needle to untwist them!)
Increase Rounds - to shape the bottom of the hot waterer bottle we will increase on alternate rounds until we have 64 stitches in total (32 on each needle). There are 2 rounds that will form the increase pattern as follows:
Round 1 (knit 1, M1L, knit to last 2 stitches, M1R, knit 1) Repeat on second needle. Round 2 Knit
Repeat until you have 64 stitches. 

 Knit the next 52 rounds. Try your hot water bottle cover on regularly to check for fit. (ummm.....on the hot water bottle....not yourself ;-) hahaha!!!)

You should now be ready to start the decrease rounds! Don't worry if it feels a little loose. Remember that when filled with water the bottle will expand a little :-)
Decrease Rounds
Again these are made of 2 rounds as follows:
Round 1 (knit 1, SSK, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, knit 1) Repeat on second needle Round 2 Knit
Repeat these 2 rows until you have 36 stitches (18 on each needle)

Home stretch now!

Knit 1 round.

We are going to knit the neck cuff twice the required length so we can double it over and give the appearance of a polo neck!

Work 33 rounds of knit 2 purl 2 rib.

Cast off using Jeny's surprisingly stretchy cast off.

Now this is important! If you don't use a stretchy cast off you make not be able to fit your hot water bottle into it's cover!!!!!

You now have a finished hot water bottle cover ready to decorate!

Crochet Snowflakes

There are tons and tons of free crochet snowflake patterns on the internet. God bless all those lovely designers that share free patterns :-)
I chose 2 free patterns for my snowflakes.  I won't explain the making of them step by step here as quite frankly the instructions on the blogs are fab and why reinvent the wheel??!!!!
I used this pattern to make the large snowflake and this one to make the 3 smaller ones.  They were made with regular Stone Washed yarn in Moon Stone. 
After a quick block (this really did transform them so don't skip this step!) they were ready to attach.  I pinned them in place and using the regular Stone Washed I joined them using a stitch at each point. 
NB Fill your hot water bottle with water and place the cover over it before attaching the snowflakes! This helps to prevent the cover being distorted in shape. 

Cute huh?

On the back of my cover I added a Scheepjes label and a little triangle of stitches that were sewn using the duplicate stitch method. 
I hope you like my pattern and I'd love to see your covers!  Til next time x