Borealis Blanket

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 120cm (35.5 x 47in) but is easily adaptable in size. The pattern contains written instructions, crochet diagrams and is written in US terms. The Borealis Blanket is suitable for advanced beginners or intermediate crocheters.

Crochet hook

3.5mm (US size E/4).

Measurements

A blocked and finished blanket measures 90 by 120cm (35.5 x 47in).

Gauge/tension

One unblocked motif measures 10cm (4in) in diameter.

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.

Motif (make 90)

Make a magic ring with Colour A.

Round 1 (RS) 6sc in magic ring, don’t fasten off. Continue to Round 2 without joining or making a chain in between rounds. [6 sc in ring]

Round 2 1sc in first sc, ch3, *1sc in next sc, ch3; repeat from * another 4 times, ss in first sc, fasten off. [6 sc, 6 ch-3 sps]

Round 3 With second colour, join with ss in ch3-sp, ch2, (1dc, ch3, dc2tog) in same ch-sp, (dc2tog, ch3, dc2tog) in each ch-sp around , join with ss in top of first dc. Fasten off. [12 dc2tog, 6 ch-3 sps]

Round 4 With third colour, join with a ss between two dc2tog’s, 1sc in same space, ch3, 6dc in next ch3-sp, ch3, *1sc between next dc2tog’s, ch3, 6dc in next ch3-sp, ch3; repeat from * another 4 times, join with ss in first sc, fasten off. [6 6-dc groups, 12 ch-3 sps, 6 sc]

Round 5 With fourth colour, join with a ss in any ch3-sp before a 6dc cluster, 1sc in same space, 1sc in each of next 6 dc’s, 1sc in ch3-sp, ch4, *1sc in next ch3-sp, 6sc, 1sc in next ch3-sp, ch4; repeat from * another 4 times, join with ss in first sc. Fasten off. [48 sc, 6 ch-4 sps]

Half motif (make 12)

Make a magic ring with Colour A.

Row 1 (WS) 4sc in magic ring, ch1, turn. [4 sc in ring]

Round 2 (RS) 1sc in first sc, *ch3, 1sc in next sc; repeat from * another 2 times, fasten off. [4 sc, 3 ch-3 sps]

Round 3 (RS) With second colour, join with ss in first sc of previous round, ch3, (dc2tog, ch3, dc2tog) in each of next 3 ch-sps, 1dc in last sc, fasten off. [2 dc, 6 dc2tog, 3 ch-3 sps]

Round 4 (RS) With third colour join with ss in top of ch-3 of previous round, 1sc in same st, *ch3, 6dc in ch3-sp, ch3, 1sc in between next dc2tog’s; repeat from * another 2 times ending with the final sc in the dc of previous round. Fasten off. [3 6-dc groups, 6 ch-3 sps, 4 sc]

Round 5 (RS) With fourth colour join with ss in first sc of previous round, 1sc in the same sc, ch4, 1sc in ch3-sp, 6sc, 1sc in next ch3-sp, ch4, *1sc in ch3-sp, 6sc, 1sc in next ch3-sp, ch4; repeat from * once more, 1sc in last sc. Fasten off. [23 sc, 4 ch-4 sps]

Joining - Colour Choices

Take your red stack and place them in alternating columns of 8 and 7 motifs. Next, take the In-between stack and place them 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 of both the red and blue stack 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.

Round 1 (RS) With colour A join in bottom right corner ch-sp with ss, ch2, 1hdc in ch-sp, 17hdc, 2hdc in ch-sp, 1hdc in join, 2hdc in ch-sp, 8hdc, *2hdc in ch-sp, 1hdc in join, 2hdc in ch-sp, 17hdc, 2hdc in ch-sp, 1hdc in join, 2hdc in ch-sp, 8hdc; repeat from * another 4 times, 2hdc in ch-sp, ch4, rotate blanket 90 degrees, don’t fasten off.

1tr in side of hdc, 1tr in ch-sp, 2dc, 2hdc, 4sc, 4sc in ch-sp, *4sc, 2hdc, 1dc, dc2tog in last sc of this motif and first sc of next motif skipping 2 ch-sps, 1dc, 2hdc, 4sc, 4sc in ch-sp; repeat from * another 6 times, 4sc, 2hdc, 2dc, 2tr in ch-sp, ch2, rotate blanket 90 degrees, don’t fasten off.

4hdc in side of last tr, *2hdc in ch-sp, 8hdc, 2hdc in ch-sp, 1hdc in join, 2hdc in ch-sp, 17hdc, 2hdc in ch-sp, 1hdc in join; repeat from * another 4 times, 2hdc in ch-sp, 8hdc, 2hdc in ch-sp, 1hdc in join, 2hdc in ch-sp, 17hdc, 2hdc in ch-sp, ch2, rotate blanket 90 degrees, don’t fasten off.

2sc in ch-sp, 4sc, 2hdc, 1dc, dc2tog in last sc of this motif and first sc of next motif skipping 2 ch-sps, *1dc, 2hdc, 4sc, 4sc in ch-sp, 4sc, 2hdc, 1dc, dc2tog in last sc of this motif and first sc of next motif skipping 2 ch-sps; repeat from * another 6 times, 1dc, 2hdc, 4sc, 2sc in ch-sp, ch2, join with ss in second ch, don’t fasten off.

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.

Round 2 (RS) Ch2 (counts as st), 1hdc in each st along long side, (4hdc, ch2, 1hdc) in corner ch-sp, 4hdc, *5hdc, 6sc, 5hdc, 1dc, skip dc2tog, 1dc; repeat from * another 6 times, 5hdc, 6sc, 9hdc, (1hdc, ch2, 1hdc) in corner ch-sp, 1hdc in each st along long side, (1hdc, ch2, 1sc) in corner ch-sp, 3sc, 5hdc, 1dc, skip dc2tog, 1dc, 5hdc, *6sc, 5hdc, 1dc, skip dc2tog, 1dc, 5hdc; repeat from * another 6 times, 3sc, 1sc in ch-sp, ch2, 1hdc in ch-sp, join with ss in second ch, don’t fasten off.

Round 3 (RS) Ch2 (counts as st), 1hdc in each st around, (1hdc, ch2, 1hdc) in each corner ch-sp. Join with ss to second ch, fasten off.

Weave in all loose ends and block blanket to size.

Diagram