Just Pootling

♥ Simple, lightweight pompom blanket ♥

I have so enjoyed making this blanket, from start to finish it has been such an easy, 

uncomplicated make that hasn't demanded any extra concentration

 and has made for the perfect calming crochet project .

I first knew I wanted to make it after I finished my Chelsea Flower Show cushion. 

I wanted a lightweight blanket, that would be plain in design 

and that would co-ordinate with the main colourway of the cushion. 

The finished blanket measures W 120cm  x H 140cm .

The yarn that I chose to use is DROPS Baby Merino, 

it's beautifully light and soft and is 100% superwash merino wool.

The colour is very similar to the DROPS yarn that I used for the cushion, 

and the two shades work beautifully together. 

To tie the two makes together I edged the blanket and made

  the pompoms in the same DROPS Cotton Merino that I used for the cushion.

The pattern is written in UK terms.

Tension square:

22 sts x 25 rows, worked in dc with a 3mm hook = 10cm x 10cm.

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To make the blanket:

Materials:

26 x balls of DROPS BABY MERINO in colour 43.

3 x balls of DROPS COTTON MRINO in colour 29.

3mm crochet hook

35mm pompom maker

For the blanket:

Using the DROPS baby merino and the 3mm crochet hook work a chain of 261. 

Keep your chain taut, but not too tight, as this will make the first row a little easier.

If you find that even whilst keeping your chain relatively loose it is still difficult to 

work the first row, try using a 3.5mm hook just for the initial chain.

Row 1: Starting in the second chain from the hook work 1 htr in to each chain

 all the way along to the end. 260 sts. At the end of the row, chain 1 and turn.

Row 2: Starting in the first stitch of the row, work 1 htr in each stitch all the 

way to the end of the row. 

When I work htr's I work each stitch into the space below the stitch rather than directly 

under the stitch as I find this gives a lovely neat appearance to the finished blanket. 

If you prefer to work htr's in the usual way it will work equally work.

And that really is the most complicated part over as now all you need 

to do is keep repeating Row 2, 

remembering to chain 1 and turn at the end of each row.

Keep crocheting away until your blanket measures approx. 139cm, 

finishing on a right side row.

At the end of the final row, finish off and sew in the ends.

 

To edge the blanket:

Round 1: Using DROPS Cotton Merino and the 3mm hook, join in the yarn at the top 

right hand corner, at the start of the row ( right side facing), and work a row of dc. 

Work 2 extra dc in to the last stitch and then continuing on around, 

 work 1 dc in to each end of row stitch all the way down the left hand side of the blanket. 

Work  3dc in to the last st and then work 1 dc in to each

 stitch along the bottom of the blanket. 

Work 3dc in to the last stitch and then work back up the right hand side of the blanket. 

Work 2 extra dc in to the last st and then sl st back to the beginning of the top row to join.

Round 2: Where you have just joined the end of the round, chain 1 and work 1 dc in to 

the same stitch. Now work another complete round of dc as for Round 1. 

Sl st to join at the end of the round, as for Round 1.

You could choose to finish your edging at this point, or, if you wanted to add a further 

round to give extra weight to the blanket, you could work 1 round of Rope stitch 

all the way around the edge of the blanket. 

Rope stitch is essentially dc, but worked in a clockwise direction

 rather than the usual anti-clockwise direction.

Once you have completed the border make sure all your ends are sewn in carefully.

For the pompoms:

For my pompoms I used a 35mm pompom maker and the DROPS Cotton Merino.

To keep all the pompoms the same size make sure you wrap the same amount

 of yarn evenly around the maker for each one. 

I worked 90 wraps of yarn for both the top half and bottom half of each pompom.

Make sure that the tie for the centre of the pompoms has tails of a good length 

as you will be using these to stitch the pompoms to the blanket.

                                 

The key to getting a neat pompom is to spend a little bit of time trimming 

each finished pompom with a small pair of scissors.

 You will find that this makes all the difference to the finished look, and that it is 

so worth spending a little bit of time doing this.

In total I made 24 pompoms.

Once you have made the pompoms, lay your blanket out on a flat surface

 and evenly space 12 pompoms along the top edge

 and then the same along the bottom edge.

Once you are happy with the positioning stitch them securely in to place.

And that completes your blanket !

All you need to do now is to find the perfect chair or sofa to lay it on.

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