Feast your eyes on the Borealis blanket! The motifs resemble little snowflakes in various colours of the Northern Lights. The blanket is joined and bordered in white with a faint hint of pink, making the colours stand out even more. The blanket measures 90 x 120 cm (35½ x 47 in) but is easily adaptable in size. The pattern includes written instructions and crochet diagrams, and is written in US terms. The Borealis Blanket is suitable for advanced beginners or intermediate crocheters.
Materials and preparation
Yarn
| Label | Colour name | Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour A | Pink Quartzite | 821 | 5 balls |
| Label | Colour name | Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour B | Steenbras | 942 | 2 balls |
| Colour C | Mekong | 943 | 2 balls |
| Colour D | Nile | 944 | 2 balls |
| Colour E | Mississippi | 946 | 2 balls |
| Colour F | Yarra | 949 | 2 balls |
| Colour G | Rhine | 952 | 2 balls |
Shop the yarn
You can buy your Scheepjes Stone Washed and River Washed at your local Scheepjes retailer, or webshops such as:
Crochet hook
3.5mm (US size E/4)
Measurements
90 by 120 cm (35½ x 47 in).
Gauge/tension
Motif measures 10cm (4 in) in diameter
Abbreviations (US terms)
- ch
- chain
- ch-sp
- chain-space
- dc
- double crochet
- dc2tog
- double crochet 2 stitches together
- hdc
- half double crochet
- RS
- Right side
- sc
- single crochet
- ss
- slip stitch
- st(s)
- stitch(es)
- tr
- treble
- WS
- Wrong side
Repeat formats
- *….; rep from * once/twice/3x — Crochet the instructions after * and then repeat that section a further number of times as indicated.
- *…; rep to end — Crochet the instructions after * and then repeat that section to the end of the row or round.
- (…) once/twice/3x — Crochet the instructions between brackets the total number of times indicated.
- […] — Indicates the amount of stitches at the end of a row or round.
- (…) in same st/sp — Indicates that all instructions between brackets are worked in the same stitch or space.
Notes
- All rounds in the full motifs and joining/edging are worked on the RS.
- Please note that the first two rows of the half motif are worked in rows rather than rounds. You work each row in the half motif on the RS with the exception of Row 2 (see chart).
Colour layout
For this blanket I chose the colours of the motifs at random. The only rule I adhered to was not using a colour twice in one motif.
For the layout of the motifs I arranged the motifs into three different stacks: 1) The red stack. These were the motifs which contain primarily red, pink and orange, and occasionally one of the other colours. 2) The blue stack. These motifs were primarily blue, purple and magenta. And 3) A stack with all the motifs that were in-between, being neither light nor dark. Try to make approximately 30 of each stack. This is just a rule of thumb, as long as you have 90 motifs in total.
Crochet pattern
Motif
Make 90 motifs.
Make a magic ring with Colour A.
Half motif
Make 12 half motifs. The half motifs are row-based motifs.
Make a magic ring with Colour A.
Joining & Colour Choices
Take your red stack and place it in alternating columns of 8 and 7 motifs. Next, take the In-between stack and place it to the right of the red motifs, again alternating 8 and 7 motifs per column. Finally, take your blue stack and place these to the right of the in-between stack.
Now it’s time to start swapping motifs into columns of other stacks. Switch 2 or 3 motifs from the blue stack to the red stack and vice versa, and switch 3 or 4 motifs from both the red and blue stacks into the In-between stack. This way, the colour gradient of your blanket looks semi-random.
Keep switching motifs until you’re happy with the colour gradient. Fill in the gaps on the sides of the blanket with the half motifs. If you need more guidance on this, have a look at the picture below to show you the division of stacks.
Once you know how to arrange your motifs, take a picture of them and next, stack the motifs per row or column, depending on how you prefer to join them and tie them together with a piece of yarn so you don’t mess up the order of your motifs.
Joining first full motif
Take the first motif of the first row and follow the instructions below.
With Colour A, join with a ss in the first sc after a ch4-sp, 1sc in same st, 7sc, ch4, skip ch4-sp of Round 5, *8sc, ch4, skip ch4-sp of Round 5; repeat from * another 4 times, join with ss in first sc. Fasten off.
Joining subsequent full motifs
Repeat the join for the first motif, join the motif to adjacent motifs by making a ss in the ch4-corners of Round 5 after crocheting 2 of the 4 chains.
Repeat the joining of the full motifs for all the other rows, joining motifs in adjacent ch-sps as you go. Join all full motifs before joining the half motifs.
Joining half motifs
Start on the right corner of the flat side of the half motif. Join A with ss in last sc of Row 5, sc 17 sts evenly along the long side of the motif. When you reach the other corner of the flat side, continue joining as for the full motifs by making a ss in the ch4-corners of adjacent motifs after crocheting 2 of the 4 chains.
Border
Please note that the top corners of Round 1 are each crocheted differently from each other. See the chart for clarification.
This first round of the border is chaotic and complex because of all the different motifs and combinations in the corners. Stitch counts aren’t going to help much and a mistake is easily made. Don't fret too much over it: I think it’s much more important that your edging lays flat, than that your stitch count is correct. So if you feel that you need to add a stitch here and there, or take one out, that’s fine. The next few rounds are ‘simple’ rounds of half double crochets, so you have some wiggle room.
Weave in all loose ends and block blanket to size.
Diagrams
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