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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Ned's Polka Dot Blanket Recipe




Hello friends!
Recently I finished making a blanket for my little friend Ned who was born at the start of the year, (yes, it took me a while to finally finish it!! Ned was very patient though :-)
I made it using a technique called Tapestry Crochet. You can find lots of great tutorials on how to do Tapestry Crochet on youtube (This is a particularly good video, I used the first method she describes for my Polka Dot blanket :-). I highly recommend taking the time to look it up and learning this skill because it's so much fun and you really can do some amazing things with it :-)
It's a little bit like Fair Isle knitting, but it's completely reversible, with no exposed yarn carried along the back of your work. Yay!
I didn't use a pattern to make Ned's blanket, I just got out some graph paper and did a few calculations and came up with this polka dot design (with Ned's name in the corner :-)
I have had a lot of people asking for a pattern so they can make their own Polka Dot Blanket, I haven't written a pattern, as such, for this blanket, but if you have a little bit of crochet experience & a knowledge of tapestry crochet, you may find the following notes (or Blanket Recipe) useful to make your own Polka Dot blanket (without Ned's name in the corner, hehe). Referring to the photographs will also help :-)
You can find this blanket recipe on RAVELRY :-)

My blanket measured approximately 100cm x 100cm. I used a 4.5mm hook & Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8 ply (DK) in the shades Lake and Oceanic. (Unfortunately it seems that Oceanic is now a discontinued colour, which is a real shame, as it is a gorgeous colour :-( ) I used approximately 2.7 200g balls (1080m or 1180yds) of Oceanic (Main Colour) and .7 of a 200g ball (280m or 306yds) of Lake (Contrast Colour).
Please note: I will use British/Australian crochet terms in this blanket recipe. U.S. crochet terms are different, so if they are the terms you like to use you may need to look up a conversion chart on the net :-)

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
st or sts = stitch or stitches
dc = double crochet

Using Main Colour make 137 chain, 
Row 1: Using Main Colour, 1dc in 2nd chain from hook, 1dc in each chain to end, 136sts in total. 
Row 2-4: Using Main Colour, 1ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc in each st to end. Turn.
Row 5: Using Main Colour, 1ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc in each of next 5 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 4 sts, **using Main Colour, 1dc in each of next 20sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 4 sts. Repeat from ** to last 6 sts, using Main Colour, 1 dc in each st to end. Turn.
Row 6: Using Main Colour, 1ch (to count as 1dc), 1 dc in each of next 4 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 6 sts, **using Main Colour, 1 dc in each of next 18 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 6 sts. Repeat from ** to last 5 sts, using Main Colour 1dc in each st to end. Turn.
Rows 7-10: Using Main Colour, 1ch (to count as 1dc), 1dc in each of next 3 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 8 sts, **using Main Colour, 1dc in of next 16 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 8 sts. repeat from ** to last 4 sts, using Main Colour, 1 dc in each st to end. Turn.
Row 11: As Row 6.
Row 12: As Row 5.
Rows 13-16: Using Main Colour, 1ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc in each st to end. Turn. 
Row 17: Using Main Colour, 1ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc in each of next 17 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 4 sts, **using Main Colour, 1dc in each of next 20sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 4 sts. Repeat from ** to last 18 sts, using Main Colour, 1 dc in each st to end. Turn.
Row 18: Using Main Colour, 1ch (to count as 1dc), 1 dc in each of next 16 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 6 sts, **using Main Colour, 1 dc in each of next 18 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 6 sts. Repeat from ** to last 17 sts, using Main Colour 1dc in each st to end. Turn.
Rows 19-22: Using Main Colour, 1ch (to count as 1dc), 1dc in each of next 15 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 8 sts, **using Main Colour, 1dc in of next 16 sts, using Contrast Colour, 1dc in each of next 8 sts. repeat from ** to last 16 sts, using Main Colour, 1 dc in each st to end. Turn.
Row 23: As Row 18.
Row 24: As Row 17.
Rows 25-28: Using Main Colour, 1ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc in each st to end. Turn.

Rows 5 - 28 make up the polka dot pattern. Continue working in this pattern repeat until your blanket reaches the desired length. 

I then did 2 rounds of dc around the entire edge of the blanket as a small border. Don't forget to do 3 stitches in each corner so the border doesn't curl up :-)

I hope you have fun with this blanket recipe :-)

© Copyright Shara Lambeth Designs. Copyright remains that of the author at all times. The pattern is for personal use only. Reproduction of this pattern in anyway (electronic, email, photocopying, transcribing etc) is strictly prohibited, except with the explicit permission of the author. Please do not sell the pattern or the finished product that is made using this pattern without permission of the author, as this is a direct infringement of the copyright laws protecting this pattern. Also please be aware that copyright laws vary from country to country (sometimes even from state to state), I am Australian, in Australia, therefore my patterns are protected by Australian copyright laws. This copyright protection still stands no matter what country the item is made in or who makes it. Thank you!!
If you do want to sell the blankets you make using this pattern at a market, craft fair or in your online store please do ask, as in most cases I will give permission :-)
And please feel free to make as many blankets as you like for yourself, your friends and your family. You might also like to make some to donate to your local charities :-)



11 comments:

  1. Hi, I'm new to your blog, I found it through Ravelry when I was searching for polka dot patterns. I've never tried crocheting like this before but now that your patterns introduced me to it I can't wait to give it a go. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Hello Crafty Blueberry :-) Thank you! I'm so glad you're going to try Tapestry Crochet, it's so much fun! It will open up a whole new world of crochet to you :-) I hope you found lots of beautiful Polka Dot patterns on your search :-)

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  3. I like your pattern, the polka dots look great.

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  4. Love the look of this! Linked to you this morning on my blog. :) http://www.mooglyblog.com/free-polka-dot-knit-crochet-patterns/

    Thanks so much for sharing it!

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  5. Can you give a few tips on graphing out the name? I tried looking at the oucture but it looks like some stitches you 6o one color than alt? Basicaly I want to know how you did bottom most stitches of each letter. Rest is self expkanatory

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  6. Hello Heather, to make the name is easy :-) All you need is some graph paper. You use the exact same method for the letters of the name as you do the graph for the polka dots :-) I just played around a little with some graph paper and a grey lead pencil or graphite pencil) so I could erase and redraw anything that needed changing or adjusting. In this example i have chosen to use a serif type font. You can find LOTS of really great alphabet graphs online for free as well, which I'm sure will be helpful :-)
    SO, basically once I had figured out the graph for the specific name, I decided where it was going to be placed on the blanket, then "inserted" in into my overall polka dot graph.
    If you imagine that your crochet blanket is like a big bit of graph paper and each stitch is like one square of the graph paper then this should help too :-)
    If you don't have any graph paper handy there are lots of free downloadable graph papers available online that you can print off using your home printer. I find graph paper with 5mm x 5mm squares the easiest to work with, because I can actually see what I'm doing :-)
    I hope this information is helpful to you when it comes to plotting out your name :-)
    I hope this helps :-)

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  7. I love this pattern.
    Added bonus...my name is Shara too. Very uncommon name he in the U.S.

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  8. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your recipe - I've been tooling around on the web for hours looking for something lovely and a bit fun and this is perfect! Thanks!!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Dani :-) I'm glad you like the "recipe" and I hope you have lots of fun with it!

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  9. Thanks Shara...I have a blog about my art, crocheting, cooking, my photography and living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and would love to put a link to this pattern in my blog. Let me know..here's my blog:http://www.heartofdixiebyjohnel.blogspot.com

    Again, thanks for sharing this pattern. Johnel

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    Replies
    1. Hello Johnel :-) I'm happy for you to add a link to this page on your blog :-) And thank you for writing to ask and let me know, I really appreciate it! Have a wonderful day!

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