better late than never

Finally finished the knee rug for my mum, I was hoping to have it all done at least by this time last week. But after a false start; I started one back in January while doing jury duty (there is a lot of waiting around) but couldn't find matching wool to continue. So I had to start all over again and made sure I bought enough wool this time.

sitting on the veranda with the fan on trying to keep cool while crocheting 

The funniest part in making this blanket was sweltering beneath it. Darwin is not the best place for making woolies. One evening about 9.30 while crocheting away I looked at our little weather station to discover it was still 31 degrees C with a humidity of 76% and rising. The air con had to go on. Just felt so funny. Things we do for family. The last blanket I made was a couple of years ago when I was still living south of Adelaide. At the time I needed the blanket to get bigger to keep me warm.

close up of the multiple coloured 9 stitch zig zag pattern

For those who may wish to  crochet your own, I've nutted out the pattern. It took me a couple of starts to get the width I wanted so do a little test square to figure out your tension and therefore your desired dimensions.

I wanted a soft lacy feel so I used a large hook 9.00mm and 100% acrylic yarn so it can be thrown in the washing machine, no worries.

the width of each 9 stitch pattern and quiet a large hook I used

Crochet
This knee rug or  throw rug is made up of a repeat 9 stitch pattern. My set of stitches measure about 8 cm so for a blanket about 90cm wide I multiplied the pattern by 12.

Casting on
For each block of 9 stitches chain 9 stitches. So for mine I cast on 108 chain. (to increase or decrease the width add or minus 9 chain)

2 ch. stands for first tr. at the beginning of  the next and every following row.

1st Row:   2ch, 1 tr into the 4th chain from the hook, 1tr in next chain, 3tr in next ch, 1 tr in next 3ch skip 2 chain* 1 tr. into next  3 ch., 3 tr. into next ch., 1 tr. in next 3 ch., miss 2 ch., and repeat from * to end of row.

2nd Row: 2 ch, skip 1tr., 1 tr. in next 2 tr. of previous row, 3 tr into next tr, 1 tr into next 3 tr, skip 2 tr, *1 tr into next 3 tr, 3 tr into next tr, 1 tr into next 3 tr* repeat till end of row.

Continue 2nd row until you have your desired length and cast off.

Note the rug I made my mum had several rows of colour that I tied on to start a new row, I then did two rows of double crochet (US single crochet) down each side to neaten and hide where I tied on.

conversion table
Yarn   8 ply Aust. = dk, double knit UK = sport weight - double knit US

Crochet Hook Size  Metric 9.00mm, US is a 13 and Old UK is 00


Stitches 
English and American stitches both agree that ch = chain is a chain but.....
English tr = treble is an American dc =double crochet
English dc = double crochet is an American sc =single crochet


American Translation
2 ch. stands for first tr. in next and every following row.

1st Row:   2ch, 1 dc into the 4th chain from the hook, 1dc in next chain, 3dc in next ch, 1 dc in next 3ch skip 2 chain, * 1 dc. into next  3 ch., 3 dc. into next ch., 1 dc. in next 3 ch., miss 2 ch., and repeat from * to end of row.

2nd Row: 2 ch, skip 1dc., 1 dc. in next 2 dc. of previous row, 3 dc into next dc, 1 tr into next 3 dc, skip 2 dc, *1 dc into next 3 dc, 3 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next 3 dc* repeat till end of row.

Continue 2nd row until you have your desired length and cast off.


I think I need a cuppa after all that brain beating,


Enjoy x Luna