Rosary Hill Blanket Finishing

 

 

I can’t believe we are at the end of the Rosary Hill Blanket CAL & Charity Blanket! The first three weeks we made three different crochet squares and today’s lesson is how to join them and add a border. It has been my pleasure to host you through this beautiful blanket and I hope you will give back to those less fortunate by donating a square or two to the Rosary Hill Blanket Charity Project! Please remember all squares must be received by July 15th to qualify for the giveaway, but of course we will accept squares for as long as  you send them!

 

 

 

Here’s how it will work:

The Free CAL Part:

1. The CAL/CHARITY project will run over a 4 week period starting 6/3/2016 and you can read about it HERE.
2. Click HERE to join the Rosary Hill CAL Facebook Event to be sure and get all the details and news on the CAL.
3. The first 3 Fridays, 6/3, 6/10 and 6/17, I will release a new free pattern for a 12″ afghan square.
4. The 4th week, 6/24,  will be a lesson in how to join the squares and add the border.

 

The Giving Part:

1. The pattern is yours to keep with no obligation, of course, but in the spirit of giving I ask that you consider making 2 squares and donating them to the Rosary Hill Blanket Project.
2. If you participate in the donation, you will automatically be entered into a Grand Prize Giveaway, which will include yarn from our generous sponsor Red Heart Yarns and a mystery goodie!

 

Donating Squares:

Each blanket uses 12 white squares and 6 each of the green and wine. Because the nuns would like the blankets to be uniform, all squares must be made using Red Heart Soft yarn in the colorway for that week’s square ( Week 1= white; Week 2=wine; Week 3= dark leaf). One skein of yarn will make two squares but feel free to make as many as you like!

Mail the squares to the designated address (available in the Facebook Event), to be received no later than July 15th to qualify for the Grand Prize Drawing, but of course, you are welcome to continue to donate squares after that too. The more squares we receive, the more blankets we make!

The squares will be assembled and lovingly joined, and bordered by a small team of “angels” who have volunteered to help out and the blankets will be delivered to the hospice in time for the 2016 Christmas season.

Now for the pattern!

~ Add It To Your Ravelry Queue or Favorites ~

~ Pin It Too ~

* Purchase an ad-free PDF of this pattern on 

Ravelry or Craftsy *

 

Joining the Squares and Adding a Border

Materials:
Red Heart Soft ~ 1 skein of each white, wine and dark leaf green
Clover Amour Hook USI/5.5mm

Size: Approximately 54″ x 78″

Abbreviations:
beg: beginning
ch(s): chain(s)
hdc: half double crochet
sl st: slip stitch
st(s): stitch(es)

Now that you have all your squares made I’ll bet you can’t wait to join them and finish your blanket! Ok, that’s what we are here for. If you are making the full size blanket as shown, you will need 12 white squares, 6 wine squares and 6 dark leaf squares.

Lay the squares out in the configuration you wish. I used PicMonkey to play with my layout and get exactly the look I wanted. If you haven’t used PicMonkey yet, give it a try. The free version is quite helpful in editing pictures and making collages and for a small annual fee you can get the full version which has a lot more editing features and goodies!

I’ve used the configuration below:

 

 

Joining:

Once you’ve decided on the layout, it’s time to join the squares! I love making afghan squares, but I hate sewing them together! So you may certainly sew these together using a whip stitch or any other stitch you like, but if you are like me, you will slip stitch the joins with your crochet hook. The picture tutorial below will show you how I do it.

I first joined the squares in rows of 4 across, then joined the rows. I find doing it this way gives a neater seam and finish.

 

Now that wasn’t too bad was it? Now you are ready for the border and this is an easy one!

Round 1: With the wine color, join in any corner, ch2 (counts as hdc), work 2 more hdc in same st, *hdc in each st to next corner, 3 hdc in next corner*, repeat between * ending with a join in the last st.

Round 2: Sl st into center st of corner, ch2 (counts as hdc), work 2 more hdc in same st, *hdc in each st to next corner, 3 hdc in next corner*, repeat between * ending with a join in the last st. Fasten off.

Rounds 3 & 4: Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 with white color

Rounds 5 & 6: Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 with dark leaf green color – do not fasten off

Last Round: Turn the blanket to work from the underside (wrong side), working loosely (you may want to go up one hook size) work slip stitches all around, this will help to keep the edges from curling up. Fasten off.

Weave in your ends and you are ready for blocking! Well, blocking is not absolutely necessary and there are those that will tell you blocking acrylic yarn doesn’t accomplish anything since it is not a natural fiber, however, I have found that blocking does provide a more finished and professional finished product, so I always recommend it.

Thank you for reading through and I hope you have enjoyed the CAL and will share your talents  by donating a few squares to the charity project too!

Be sure to share this post with your other crafty friends!

 

 

 

************************************************************************************************

I can't wait to see your finished projects,

so feel free to share them on my Facebook page!

Follow me on…

 

Sign up for my newsletter and get free patterns, giveaways and

other fun stuff delivered directly to your mailbox!

CLICK HERE

****************************************************************

I’m always happy to help you with questions regarding my patterns. Send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Please feel free to sell finished items from my patterns. Pattern credit is not required, but is always appreciated.

Copyright © 2023 Pattern Paradise. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.