As promised, I will release a special Advent crochet pattern right before the period of Advent starts. And here it is! It is right on time to get you started and prepared before the 1st of December. Each year, many of us crafters keep up with the tradition of buying or gifting ourselves or someone close to you an advent calendar full of yarn. Often, these calendars hold small skeins of yarn to unpack. Most calendars have 24 gifts to unpack – 24 mini skeins of hand-dyed yarn. As I couldn’t resist it myself once again this year and purchased two of them, I felt the need to think about a purpose for them to use them right away.
This year, I bought the advent calendars for Wol met Verve. A Dutch company in hand-dyed yarns. She offered two themes this year – Fjord and Kimono. I chose both because I think these two themes are a perfect match for me. But that means 48 mini skeins of pure pleasure to unpack. What to do? Earlier this year, I designed the Scrappy Squares blanket, which is perfect for these mini skeins, but I didn’t feel like crocheting that one again. So, I wanted to make something similar in the same way as I did with the squares. And so I came up with these fun arrow motifs. Of course, this pattern is not only for mini skeins out of advent calendars; you can use up any scraps or types of yarn you have lying around.
Okay, well, you now know why this pattern is designed. But you’re probably full of questions of the why, how, what, and other sorts of questions. Let me tell you some general information about the pattern like yarn usage and sizes:
Yarn requirements: I have used different brands of yarn for this blanket. I will also not give a total of yarn as you can let this blanket grow to any size possible. It is just a start-up for whatever you like to make. I have used two Colors. Color A will be a fingering weight (sock) yarn held double in a range of 360-420 meters of yarn per 100 grams. This will be, for example, all the mini skeins out of your advent calendar. As a divider, I used Color B, a dark blue yarn with the same conditions; this can also be any brand you like as long as both colors are in the same condition level. For example, my fingering weight yarn were mini skeins of Wol met Verve hand-dyed yarn held double combined with La bien Aimee DK merino in colorway Amege as a dividing color. Although these conditions of yarn are different, the fingering weight of yarn held double will turn to a DK type of yarn and match the actual DK yarn. In this way, all things are possible to combine as long as the weight of the yarn is the same for all parts.
Needed for one arrow motif on a stripe:
Color A: any fingering (sock) yarn held double ( 10 grams of yarn held double / approx. 29 – 39 meters of yarn) (if you used a single thread of DK yarn, you would need 5 grams (12-14 meters) of yarn)
Needed to finish one Stripe and combine them:
Color B: a yarn matching the same conditions as Color A ( 12 grams of yarn / approx. 27-30 meters of yarn)
As Color B is only used between the arrow stripes, the amount of yarn used is given per Stripe.
Hook size needed: As we want a nice drape, I advise a full-size hook size that is more significant for the chosen yarn. I used a 5.0mm crochet hook for my yarn conditions.
Size: One arrow without an edge will measure 12 x 8 cm (5 x 3 inches), and with an edge, it will measure 12 x 10 cm (5 x 4 inches).
There is no finished size for the entire blanket, as you can start and decide your own size by adding as many arrows on a stripe as you wish to gain width. Length is obtained by the number of stripes made.
-I used my mini skeins from an advent calendar for the pattern. When using the yarn-held double, you can make two arrow motifs out of one mini skein of yarn, as most hand-dyed mini skeins are approximately 20 grams. As I used the yarn-held double, I winded it up to a little ball and worked with the outer thread and the thread from the center simultaneously. If you don’t have a winder, make two balls of 10 grams to work with out of one mini skein.
-Although I decided to use a fingering weight held double in combination with a single thread of DK yarn for the divider, you can really make your own choices here. You can also use a single thread of fingering weight yarn with a similar fingering weight yarn as color B. You can use two single threads of DK yarn for both colors. You can even take a worsted-weight yarn for both colors. Anything is possible if you ensure Colors A and B have the same conditions. A few meters of difference between types of yarn aren’t an issue. Take note that any combination you choose that differs from what I did will have a different outcome in size. Make a little swatch at the start of the pattern to see how things will turn out when unsure.
Where can I get the pattern? As usual, it can be found in My Ravelry and Etsy shops. After purchase, you can download a PDF file in all available languages, including Dutch and English (US).
No charts or videos are available for this pattern. It is very beginner-friendly; therefore, the written instructions accompanied by photos are enough to get you started.
Here are the links to the pattern:
Well, that is all you need to know for now. The fun thing about this pattern is that you definitely have noticed the blanket is not finished in the photos taken. Guess what? During the entire Advent period, I will work on this project, unpacking a mini skein each day, winding it, and directly crocheting a motif to add to this blanket. I will keep progressing on my social media during this period, so if you are interested in seeing how this will evolve, keep following it there.
theguywiththehook.com 
Geef een reactie