LAZY HOOKER'S CAL FACTS AND FIGURES

FACTS AND FIGURES 

STARTS SUNDAY 13th MARCH 2016

Hook used :  SIZE 5 - I'm using my faithful Clover Amour


                                                                     

Yarn used: 1600g (approx) of any CHUNKY ( I am recommending either James C Brett Marble Chunky or King Cole Riot Chunky, both widely available on line or in Stitchery Do or Ashridge if you live local.) PLUS SOME PLAIN CHUNKY TO DO THE BORDERS/EDGE

                       


I have hooked up a few different colour-ways to help you choose...so so hard!

Total number of squares made: 28 small ( 4 different designs)  and 5 large (2 different designs)


Dimensions: MINIMUM SIZE 140cm by 110cm PLUS the borders/edge

Time taken : 19 weeks plus the edge/borders  Starts 13 March 2016  Ends 31 July 2016  (approx)

Designs : These are all my own designs although I have been inspired by some fabulous other squares out there including some by Jan Eaton and Joyce Lewis 

Blocking :I will be blocking every square as I make them to ensure that they are all the same size. I do this by pinning them out to the desired size on foam mats then spraying well with cold water and leaving to dry naturally.

Sewing in ends. I will be taking the LAZY hooker's way of crocheting the ends under as much as possible as I go to minimise the amount of sewing in at the end. Do whatever you find best.

GENERAL INFO

One of the reasons that I love crochet so much is that it is SO forgiving in comparison to knitting. If you make a mistake it is nearly always possible to correct it without having to take loads of work out. Bear this in mind as the stitch count will not always be vital, as long as you have the same number on each side and the pattern stays symmetrical. I am basically apologizing in advance for errors in my patterns...but want to reassure you that you can make it good by adding/omitting the odd stitch here and there. Honestly it works out fine! Just make sure that you don't miss out the HIDDEN stitch after the corners - you'll need to pull the corner stitches to the right a bit to find it. 

Each square will have a LINEN stitch border in the main colour to give them all some continuity, so if you find that one of your squares is much bigger or smaller than the rest, just add or omit the final row of linen stitch.

The exact SIZE of each square is not vital either as long as they are ALL THE SAME. My small squares come up at about 16cm by 16cm and the big ones about 34cm by 34 cm. As long as you can get 2 of the small squares on the edge of the big square comfortably then you'll be ok. The squares can easily be BLOCKED in to the right size and they will all stretch nicely when bordered too.

ABBREVIATIONS

ch - chain
sl st tj - slip stitch to join
dc - double crochet
htr - half treble crochet
tr - treble crochet
dbtr - double treble
YO - yarn over
POPCORN stitch - do as many (trebles) as indicated, remove hook from loop, replace hook in top of the first treble/ch3 and put back in to last loop, YO pull though both loops tightly.
CLUSTER stitch - do as many (trebles) as indicated but do not complete the final pull through until all trebles worked, then YO and pull through ALL the loops left on the hook.
V-STITCH - (1tr 1ch 1tr) all in same place

Unless otherwise stated,

  Ch1 at the beginning does NOT  count as a dc
 Ch2 at the beginning counts as a HTR
 Ch3 at the beginning counts as a TR


PREVIEW OF THE DESIGN PLAN

This is a (very) rough illustration of how all the squares fit together, so that those of you planning to use a different/plain yarn can plan how to position them. This blanket is adaptable to make it more personal. Choose your own yarn, add more squares, add a bigger border, make it yours.