I designed this edging pattern especially for my Sweet Pea blanket which is crocheted using the Trellis Stripe pattern.
The Trellis Stripe produces quite a stretchy, open fabric, so this edging has a certain amount of give in it to allow the blanket to look and feel relaxed and retain its natural stretch.
HOOK SIZE
You should use the same hook size which you used to crochet the Trellis Stripes in the body of the blanket - there is no need to increase your hook size.
COLOURS
I chose seven colours for my border, and they are worked in the following order ::
🌸 1. Meadow 🌸 2. Pistachio 🌸 3. Soft peach 🌸 4. Wisteria 🌸
🌸 5. Magenta 🌸 6. Fuchsia Purple 🌸 7. Violet 🌸
YARN QUANTITIES
For a standard single-size bed blanket (120cm x 180cm), I used around 18g for the first few colours, and 22g for the final few colours, with the middle rounds using something in between. I had plenty of yarn left after making my blanket stripes to make this edging comfortably. However, you may find that after finishing your blanket stripes your left over balls of yarn may vary from colour to colour. So before you begin your border, please do try and weigh your yarn to make sure you have enough.
The other thing to mention is that you don't have to make all seven rounds if you don't want to - you can make a narrower border using 3, 4 or 5 rounds. You can also change colours to suit yourself if you wish, I am all for encouraging a bit of colour play and individuality! I've gone for the richer floral shades on my outer rows as these are the sweet peas that I love the most, but you might prefer the mid pink shades, or the soft pastels instead.
PATTERN
This pattern uses just one basic stitch which is a UK double crochet.
I'm writing my pattern using UK crochet terms as follows :
dc [double crochet] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops on hook (note :: this is equivalent to the US sc stitch)
You will begin at the top right hand corner of your blanket. Make sure the right side of the blanket is facing you (your tail ends should all be neatly darned in under the right hand edge of the blanket when the right side is facing uppermost)
Round 1 : Use Meadow yarn
Insert your hook into the first stitch and pull through a loop of the new colour.
Chain 2 (counts as 1 dc); 1 dc into same stitch (as above).
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc into next stitch (as above);
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
Into the next stitch work (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) - as shown in the above photo. Throughout the pattern I'm going to refer to this as a "little point".
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
*1 dc into next stitch;
chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
work (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) into next stitch (little point);
chain 1; skip 1 stitch*
Repeat between ** all along the top edge, until one stitch remains.
You should have 45 "little points" in total along this top edge.
Please double check your row and make sure you've not made any mistakes - you should alternate between single dc stitches and "little points", each separated by a chain-1.
The last stitch in the row is actually the top of the chain-3 from the previous row - you'll be working a Corner Turn into this stitch, as follows....
....(2 dc ; chain 2; 2 dc) in last stitch to form the Corner Turn (as shown above).
Chain 1.
You will now be working down the long side of the blanket.
When working down the side edges of the blanket, you'll be working around the "post" of the stitch. This means inserting your hook into the gap between the last two stitches of that particular stripe row (see where my needle is in the above photo?)
Ready to work those posts?
1 dc into the end of the first row; (as shown above)
Chain 1;
Under the post of the next stitch, work a little point (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc); chain 1;
1 dc into the next stitch; chain 1;
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) into the next stitch; chain 1;
1 dc into the next stitch; chain 1; *
Repeat between ** until you reach the bottom...
These long side edges will feel.....long!!! Keep going, the bottom corner will arrive eventually!
We'll now be working along the bottom edge of the foundation chain....
Work (2 dc; chain 2; 2 dc) into the first stitch to make your corner turn; chain 1;
Skip 1 stitch; 1 dc in next stitch;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
(1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) in next stitch; chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc in next stitch;
skip 2 stitches; chain 1;
OK, time for a little explanation about the skip 2 stitches bit. You may have already realised this, but due to the way the Trellis Stripe pattern was worked, the bottom edge of the blanket contains more stitches than the top edge. Normally, this wouldn't matter too much, but with the Trellis Edging containing very definite "little points", I felt it was important that the top edge and bottom edge matched.
This essentially means that when you work the bottom edging row, after every seventh stitch you will skip an additional stitch (so skip 2 stitches instead of 1)
I've tried to show you this in the photo above - after every alternate single dc, you skip 2 instead of 1.
This isn't ideal by any means as it makes the bottom edge quite tricky to get right. It's one of those things in crochet where it feels like you are fudging it a bit in order to make it all fit, but I promise you that if you take it slow, concentrate and count accurately, then it will work out.
So this is the complete pattern repeat for the bottom edge:
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc); chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc; chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
(1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc); chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc; place stitch marker into top of dc just made; chain 1; skip 2 stitches *
When I was working my bottom edge, I found it hard to keep remembering where I was in the pattern repeat. It was so frustrating! In the end I decided to use a stitch marker to do the job.
I placed a marker into the top of the single dc stitch, just before I skipped 2 stitches.
This technique worked a treat and stopped me from making too many mistakes. I've shown you in the above photo where the stitch markers were placed to reinforce the pattern repeat, but actually I found I only needed 1 stitch marker. I simply moved it along, placing it into the top of the single dc stitch as soon as I'd crocheted it, to remind me I then had to skip 2 stitches.
If you don't have any stitch markers, you can use a paper clip, or a hair grip.
As you work along your row, keep checking your pattern at regular intervals. I found a few times I made silly mistakes - see above where I worked two little points next to each other instead of alternating them with single dc stitches? Yeah, I had to pull back almost half the row to rectify that!
Take your time, check often, use a stitch marker, count out the pattern repeat as you work.
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc); chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc; chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
(1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc); chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc; place stitch marker into top of dc just made; chain 1; skip 2 stitches *
When you are nearing the end of your row (when you've got about 15 stitches left) stop and have a quick count of your Little Points. Remember we are aiming to make 45 little points in total, to match the top edge.
However, I found that no matter how many times I worked it, I ended up with 46 little points instead of 45.
So I thought - hmmmm - I have two choices here. I can either leave it with 46 little points, or I can skip additional stitches towards the end of this row to make it all fit and have my 45 little points. This is officially known as Fudging The Pattern, and I gave myself permission to do this. I give you permission too, haha!!
I'm so so sorry if this seems unprofessional, but this is real life and crochet is pretty forgiving and in my book it's OK every once in a while to embrace the imperfections. It all works out fine in the end. I just hope this bottom row doesn't cause you too much stress. My top tip would be to walk away if you begin to feel like yanking your own hair out and come back to it a bit later in the day.
So look at the above photo, and you can see where I skipped the additional stitches. You should be ending your pattern repeat with a single dc; chain 1, skip 2;
Then you will be ready to work your corner turn in that final stitch.
Make your corner turn - (2 dc; chain 2; 2 dc) in the last stitch of the bottom row;
Chain 1.
The worst is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You will now be working the final long side of the blanket, crocheting around the stitches at the end of each stripe row just as you did for the first long side.
1 dc around the post of the stitch at the end of the first stripe (as shown above);
Chain 1;
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) around the post of the next stitch; chain 1;
1 dc around the post of the next stitch; chain 1; *
Repeat between ** ......
....keep going all the way up that final edge, remembering to check your pattern regularly to make sure you are alternating your single dc stitches and your Little Points.
When you reach the top, you should end your pattern repeat with a single dc; chain 1 into the final row of the stripe.
Now you need to complete your corner.
Insert your hook into the same stitch where you began your edging (shown by my needle above).
Work 2 dc; chain 2.
Now you need to insert your hook into the 2nd chain of the beginning chain-2 (see where my needle is in the above photo?), and work a slip stitch to complete that corner turn and close up the round. Fasten off.
Ta-dah!!!! I bet you're reeeeeeeeeally glad that's all over, aren't you????!!!!!! You may find that you need something appropriate at this point - cake maybe. Or chocolate. Or gin.
The first round of any edging is always a bit of a chore, but the following rounds are very much easier I promise you.
Round 2 : Use Pistachio yarn
Insert your hook into the chain-2 space of the corner at the top right hand edge of the blanket and pull through a loop of the new colour.
Chain 2 (counts as 1 dc); 1 dc into same stitch.
Chain 1; skip 2 stitches;
Your next stitch is going into the top of the single dc stitch from the row below - see where my needle is pointing? Insert your hook under both loops of the stitch and work 1 dc;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch
Your next stitches are going into the chain-2 space which was created when you made the Little Point in the row below - see where my needle is pointing? Insert your hook into this little space and work the following :
(1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) - this makes another Little Point stacked directly above the little point in the row below.
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
work 1 dc into the next stitch;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) into chain-2 space (stack the Little Points!);
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc into next stitch;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch; *
Can you see how easy this is now?? You are simply repeating the pattern you worked in the first round, stacking the stitches on top of the ones below so that they line up nicely.
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) into chain-2 space (Little Point);
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc into next stitch;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch; *
Repeat between ** to the end of the row.
Work (2 dc; chain 2; 2 dc) into the chain-2 corner space;
Chain 1; skip 2 stitches;
You'll now be working down the long side of the blanket.
Work 1 dc into the next stitch (shown by my needle in the above photo);
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) into chain-2 space (Little Point);
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc into next stitch;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch; *
Repeat between ** to the end of the long blanket edge.
Work (2 dc; chain 2; 2 dc) into the chain-2 corner space;
chain 1; skip 2 stitches;
1 dc into the next st;
chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
Continue following the pattern repeat along the bottom edge, working (2 dc; chain 2; 2 dc) to turn the corner at the end of the bottom row.
Continue working the pattern repeat along the final long edge of the blanket until you get back to where you started.
To complete the corner, insert your hook into the first chain-2 corner space and work 2 dc;
Chain 2;
Slip stitch into 2nd chain of beginning chain-2 to close the round. Fasten off.
Oh yes!! See how pretty it's already looking?
Right, on with round 3......
Round 3 : Use Soft Peach yarn
Insert your hook into the chain-2 space of the corner at the top right hand edge of the blanket and pull through a loop of the new colour.
Chain 2 (counts as 1 dc); 1 dc into same stitch.
Chain 1; skip 2 stitches;
* (1 dc; chain 2; 1 dc) into chain-2 space (Little Point);
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch;
1 dc into next stitch;
Chain 1; skip 1 stitch; *
Repeat between ** all the way around the blanket, working (2 dc; chain 2; 2 dc) to turn the corners.
Finish the round by working 2 dc into the very first chain-2 space; chain 2; slip stitch into the 2nd chain of the beginning chain-2 to close the round. Fasten off.
Round 4 : Use Wisteria yarn, and repeat the pattern as for round 2.
Round 5 : Use Magenta yarn, and repeat the pattern as for round 2.
Round 6 : Use Fuchsia Purple yarn, and repeat the pattern as for round 2.
Round 7 : Use Violet yarn, and repeat the pattern as for round 2.
You don't have to complete all seven rounds if you don't want to - feel free to stop once you're happy with how it looks (I was tempted to stop after round 5!)
By the time you've completed all seven rounds of the border, you will find that your corners are curling inwards. This is easy to fix with a little bit of light steam blocking.
Arrange the corner of your blanket onto a folded up towel and gently stretch and flatten the corner into shape, using T-pins to hold in place. Using a cool steam iron, puff a few seconds of steam onto the surface of the crochet without letting the iron touch the yarn! This is a very quick process - just a few seconds of steam is all you need. Be careful not to over do it or your corner will be all limp, and we don't want limp corners, we want perky ones!
You'll find that your corner will be magically straightened and beautifully pointy too.
Repeat the steaming process for each of your four corners.
And that, my lovelies, is the Trellis Edge in all it's beautifully neat glory. I hope you're pleased with it!
If you need to find any of the other parts of the Sweet Pea blanket CAL, I'll list all the links below for you.
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🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET INTRODUCTION
🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET PREPARATION (includes a sneak peek of the Posy and Colourwash blankets)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 1 (colour info for stripes 1-15)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 2 (colour info for stripes 16-30)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 3 (colour info for stripes 31-45)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 4 (colour info for stripes 46-60)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 5 (colour info for stripes 61-75)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 6 (c0lour info for stripes 76-83/86)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 6.5 (general chat, plus charts for Colourwash baby blankets)
🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 7 (general chat about the border, plus lots of finished blanket photos!)
