A few months ago I saw a picture of a black and white alternating stripes rug on Apartment Therapy and I wanted to see if I could make it work as a crochet blanket.  I happened to have some leftover Bernat Roving yarn from my Tribal Chevron Blanket and I just love this mustard color so much that I decided to try it.

I still want to make another version in the future that looks more like the rug above – in black and white with smaller alternating stripes, probably using a less hefty yarn.  For this mustard and white blanket I ended up cutting my yarn each time I switched colors across a row, which does make weaving ends in a little bit of a pain at the end.

If you aren’t a fan of weaving in ends, you can use the technique my mom used in her Modern Modified HDC Throw where she simply left the yarn without cutting it and then picked it back up again when it was time to switch colors.  For some reason I just didn’t like the look of the yarn being picked up for each row for this blanket, so I decided to cut and weave in the ends, but I would suggest you do a practice swatch to see which way you like better.

When I first started making this blanket I wasn’t sure what is going to be for…I thought it would make a nice couch throw, but I don’t really have this color in my living room.  I love the mustard so much that I figured I would just hold onto it until it found the right home, but then a few days ago my sister sent me a text saying she needed a gift for a friend who was decorating her nursery in mustard and light blue and that this blanket would be perfect!  She sent me a picture of her friend’s nursery and I think it will match great.

I really enjoyed making this blanket because it’s a great project to zone out on while watching Netflix :).  I used the simple half double crochet stitch and all I had to worry about was switching colors. I think it could look great in all sorts of colors so I hope you’ll get creative and share your project with us so we can see!

Materials

Bernat Roving (80% acrylic, 20% wool, 100 g/3.5 oz, 109 m/120 yds)

4 skeins Squashed, 4 skeins Rice Paper

Size K/6.5mm hook, scissors, tapestry needle

Size

Finished size 42 in x 38 in

Stitches

Half Double Crochet (HDC): YO, insert your hook, YO and pull up a loop, YO and pull through three loops on hook.

Pattern

Tips about turning the HDC: Usually you chain two and turn and HDC into the very first HDC of the row below. The chain two usually does not act as a HDC like a CH 3 does for DC. I’ve seen patterns that have you chain 1 and turn, which is what I chose to do to make this stitch even simpler.

Chain in 40 Rice Paper, then chain 40 in Squashed (pull through with Squashed on the 39th chain.  If you want to make it longer or shorter, simply chain an even number and chain half in each color).

Work HDC in Squashed until you reach the Rice Paper.  On the last Squashed stitch, finish your half double crochet by pulling through with the Rice Paper.  (There should be three loops on your hook when you pull through with the Rice Paper.)

Continue to work HDC in Rice Paper to the end of the row.  Chain one and turn.  Continue to work HDC in Rice Paper until the last Rice Paper stitch before the row changes to Squashed.  Pull through with Squashed before completing the last Rice Paper stitch.

This is the part where you can decide whether or not to cut your yarn and weave in your ends later, or simply leave the yarn you aren’t using and pick it back up when you get back to the middle of the blanket.  Again, I’d suggest doing a practice swatch to see which look you like better.  Each block of color is 12 rows.

And that’s all there is to this blanket!  I haven’t been crocheting for very long and I’m definitely still a beginner in a lot of ways, but I love how creative crochet allows me to be without having to be an expert in the craft.  It’s amazing that with just one simple crochet stitch there are infinite numbers of color coordinations and shape patterns that can be created.

Please share your projects with us on Instagram and use #daisyfarmcrafts!  We’d love to see your creativity!

xo,

Hannah