Baby Rainbow Sampler Blanket 2 (Part 12)

• The pattern for this blanket is long. To keep track of where you are, I’ve divided it into different parts. Each part introduces a new section with Techniques and also contains a crochet diagram.
• In most rows you’ll make a ch1 before turning your blanket. This is a turning chain and does not count as a stitch. If you find a ch1 is too small, you can also make a ch2. This depends on how tight you crochet.

The instructions for the border contain many tips and explanations because the border is usually the part of a blanket where tension issues reveal themselves. Luckily, it’s also the most forgiving when fudging. So, I’m giving you lots of tips to fudge the border professionally. Read them before starting, and see which ones are useful to you!

When we’re making the edging, if you encounter a section that you wrote down, do one of two things:

1. when it flares outwards, crochet a sc or ss instead of a hdc.
2. When it pulls inwards, crochet a dc or a tr instead of a hdc.

The height difference in these stitches helps to fill any gaps or bumps. The aim is to have a smooth, straight border. If one row doesn’t fix it, do the same in the next row(s) until the border is more or less straight.

I like a border that’s equally wide on all sides, and since the top and bottom rows already have two rows of white hdc’s each, I want to add two rows of hdc on both long sides before going all the way around the blanket.

A note before we start: The stitch count on the long sides is less important than to have a flat border. I think you better have too few than too many stitches on your border. If you have too few stitches, the remaining stitches tend to stretch out to ‘just enough to lay flat’, but if you have too many stitches, the border will definitely ruffle. To check, lay the section(s) flat and smooth with your hands. It’s okay if there’s a bit of tension in the border, as long as your blanket doesn’t curl up on itself.

The perfect amount of stitches for the border depends on how long your blanket ends up after blocking, but a great rule of thumb is to crochet 1 hdc in the side of each sc or hdc row, and 2 hdc’s in the side of each dc row.

I ended up with 175 hdc on both long sides for both blanket versions.

If you don’t have the same number of stitches on both sides, you can always add a little ‘2hdc in one stitch or ‘hdc2tog’ here and there. It’s not strictly necessary to have an equal number of stitches on both sides, but it just works more easily in the final round of the edging. This is also the remedy if your blanket has too many or too few stitches in the first round and you want to tweak a bit without frogging the rows.

We will work around the blanket for the final couple of rounds.

Repeat Round 2 another 3 times, giving you five border rounds in total. If you stick to the stitch counts given in Round 2, you end up with a stitch count of 157 hdc on the short sides and 189 hdc on the long sides. Cut yarn, and weave in all your ends.

You can now block your blanket again following the instructions in Part 11. And don’t forget to take a moment to pat yourself on the back—you made it to the end of this big project!