Picnic on the Beach Week 3

It’s Week 3 of our ‘Picnic on the Beach’ blankets… and this week it’s all about the picnic food! 🙂

This has to be one of my favourite weeks… not only because tucking into delicious food is a wonderful part of any picnic… but oh how I adored designing these food inspired rows. A real crochet design challenge which I fully embraced and enjoyed! 🙂

We begin with the rows of green textured stitches…are they salad leaves, apples, pears, olives or grapes? I’ll let you decide…

We then have strawberries and blackberries…

And yes, we have scrumptious cherry topped cupcakes too! Or are they Cherry Bakewells? I do love a Bakewell tart… 🙂

All these textured crochet stitches are created by using varying combinations of raised stitches… that’s your Front and Back Post stitches in the US. I just love crocheting them and the various effects that can be achieved are truly amazing! 🙂

And here’s my Week 3 introductory video which I filmed on the beach during sunset last weekend. It was a particularly beautiful sunset… really special! Enjoy the footage…

So what’s your favourite kind of picnic food? Do you like to prepare things from scratch, cook special recipes or do you buy ready made treats from the shops? We have a ‘Greggs’ bakery near to us and in the days before Covid when our weekends often meant going out for the day, we’d pop into Greggs and buy some of their delicious baguettes to take with us for a quick and easy picnic! 🙂

I spend far too much time focussing on my crochet endeavours to be able to focus too much on improving my cooking skills… 🙂 So if any of you have some quick, easy and inspiring picnic recipes or good old family favourites then I’d love to hear about them! Do share them in the Facebook Group or over on Instagram using the hashtags #picniconthebeachcal and #picniconthebeachblanket

Here are some knitted foods that my dear friend Lindsay sent me to celebrate the launch of our ‘Picnic on the Beach’ crochet along… aren’t they adorable! ❤️

And here’s the weekly round-up of photos shared over on Instagram and in the Facebook Group… 🙂

Week 2 really was a lovely week of crocheting waves… 🌊🌊🌊 And so many fabulous photos are being shared… thank you! 😍 I particularly love the springtime flowers, picnic baskets, foods, furry friends and some stunning outdoor locations that are being shared! 

And here are some photos I took whilst on the beach at the weekend… a beautiful sunset indeed!

So lets get crocheting our picnic food inspired rows…

For those of you who have purchased the pattern on Ravelry it has now been updated to include Week 3:

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/picnic-on-the-beach-blanket

Pattern in UK Crochet Terminology. US Terms are at the end of this blog post.

See Week 1 for all the abbreviations but here are some specifically for this weeks crochet…

Bobble: Complete all the following in the same stitch: with contrasting colour yarn, *yarn over hook (yoh), insert hook into st, yoh, pull contrasting yarn through to front, yoh, pull through 2 loops, repeat from * 5 times more (you should now have 6 contrasting colour loops and 1 main colour loop on hook), pull main colour yarn through all the loops on the hook (1 bobble made), continue with main colour, push bobble towards front of work, carry contrasting colour yarn along behind work and crochet next stitches around it to carry yarn along invisibly behind the work.

RdtrF: Raised double treble Front: complete a double treble st as normal (the stitch starts by wrapping yarn around hook 2 times) but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the front to the back and then round to the front again.

RtrB: Raised treble Back: complete a treble st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the back to the front and then round to the back again.

RtrB3tog: Raised treble back three stitches together: *complete a treble st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the back to the front and then round to the back again, stop at last yoh when there are only 2 loops left, repeat from * around stem of each of next 2 sts, (there should now be 4 loops left on the hook), yoh and pull through all the loops on hook.

RtrF: Raised treble Front: complete a treble st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the front to the back and then round to the front again.

RtrF5tog: Raised treble front five stitches together: *complete a treble st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the front to the back and then round to the front again, stop at last yoh when there are only 2 loops left, repeat from * around stem of each of next 4 sts, (there should now be 6 loops left on the hook), yoh and pull through all the loops on hook.

Week 3 – Picnic Food

It’s time to tuck into our by picnic food! What foods will you bring on a picnic? There are so many delicious treats and here we have some cupcakes, strawberries or blackberries and some salad too! Lots of texture is created with these raised stitches.

5 colours are used: Yarns A, B, C, E and F.

Continue with the top and bottom panels started at the end of Week 2. Continue from the end of Row 2 whenYarn F was joined and ensure RS of blanket is facing.

Here’s a video tutorial for Rows 3 – 6…

Row 3 (RS) 3ch (counts as first tr here and throughout), 1tr in each of next 2 sts, 5RtrF all around next st, (1tr in each of next 8 sts, 5RtrF around next st) 13 times, 1tr in each of next 3 sts, turn. [180 sts including 14 groups of front raised sts]

Row 4 (WS) 2ch (counts as first htr here and throughout), 1RtrF around each of next 2 sts, 1RtrB around each of next 5 sts, (1RtrF around each of next 8 sts, 1RtrB around each of next 5 sts) 13 times, 1RtrF around each of next 2 sts, 1htr in final st (which is the top of the 3 ch from Row 3), turn. [180 sts]

Row 5 (RS) 2ch, 1RtrB around each of next 2 sts, RtrF5tog over next 5 sts, (1RtrB around each of next 8 sts, RtrF5tog) 13 times, 1RtrB around each of next 2 sts, 1htr in final st, turn. [124 sts]

Row 6 (WS) 2ch, 1RtrF around each st to end (the top of the RtrF5tog from previous row counts as 1 st to crochet around), 1htr in final st, join with Yarn C at end of final st, turn. [124 sts]

Here’s a video tutorial for the Strawberry / Blackberry rows… 🙂

Row 7 (RS) 3ch, 1tr in each of next 7 sts, miss next st working 3RdtrF around st directly below it (the fifth st along from the group of raised sts 2 rows below in Row 5), (1tr in each of next 8 sts, miss next st, 3RdtrF around fifth st along from raised sts below in Row 5) 12 times, 1tr in each of next 7 sts, join with Yarn F at end of final st, turn. [150 sts including 13 groups of front raised sts]

Row 8 (WS) 2ch, 1RtrF around each of next 6 sts, RtrB3tog over next 3 sts, (1RtrF around each of next 8 sts, RtrB3tog) 12 times, 1RtrF around each of next 7 sts, 1htr in final st, join with Yarn B at end of final st, turn. [124 sts]

Row 9 3ch, 1tr in each st to end, turn.

Row 10 3ch, 1tr in each st to end, join with Yarn E at end of final st, turn.

Here’s a tutorial for the Cupcake rows…

Row 11(RS) 2ch, 1RtrB around each of next 10 sts, (3RtrF around each of next 3 sts, 1RtrB around each of next 6 sts,) 11 times, 3RtrF around each of next 3 sts, 1RtrB around each of next 10 sts, 1htr in final st, turn. [196 sts including 12 groups of front raised sts]

Row 12 (WS) 2ch, 1RtrF around each of next 10 sts, 1RtrB around each of next 9 sts, (1RtrF around each of next 6 sts, 1RtrB around each of next 9 sts) 11 times, 1RtrF around each of next 10 sts, 1htr in final st, turn. [196 sts]

Row 13 (RS) 2ch, 1RtrB around each of next 10 sts, (RtrB3tog) three times over next 9 sts, (1RtrB around each of next 6 sts, (RtrB3tog) three times over next 9 sts) 11 times, 1RtrB around each of next 10 sts, 1htr in final st, fasten off, do not turn. [124 sts including 12 groups of raised sts]

Do not turn work, go back to beginning of Row 13 and join Yarn A to top of 2 ch made at beginning of Row 13.

Row 14 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc in same place at top of 2 ch, 1dc in each of next 11 sts, miss next st working 1 bobble with Yarn C below it in fifth st along of 9 raised sts below in Row 12, (1dc in each of next 8 sts, miss next st working 1 bobble with Yarn C in fifth st along of 9 raised sts below in Row 12) 11 times, 1dc in each of next 12 sts, turn. [124 sts including 12 bobbles]

Rows 15 – 17 3ch, 1tr in each st to end, turn. [124 sts]

Row 18 3ch, 1tr in each st to end, fasten off and weave in ends.

Repeat Rows 3 – 18 on opposite side of blanket.

All this food has made me hungry! I really hope you enjoy crocheting these fun food filled rows… they were a lot of fun to design! 🙂

Happy Crocheting Everyone… 🙂 🙂

Pattern in US Crochet Terminology

See Week 1 for all the abbreviations but here are some specifically for this weeks crochet…

Bobble: Complete all the following in the same stitch: with contrasting colour yarn, *yarn over hook (yoh), insert hook into st, yoh, pull contrasting yarn through to front, yoh, pull through 2 loops, repeat from * 5 times more (you should now have 6 contrasting colour loops and 1 main colour loop on hook), pull main colour yarn through all the loops on the hook (1 bobble made), continue with main colour, push bobble towards front of work, carry contrasting colour yarn along behind work and crochet next stitches around it to carry yarn along invisibly behind the work.

BPdc: Back Post double crochet: complete a double crochet st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the back to the front and then round to the back again.

BPdc3tog: Back Post double crochet three stitches together: *complete a double crochet st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the back to the front and then round to the back again, stop at last yoh when there are only 2 loops left, repeat from * around stem of each of next 2 sts, (there should now be 4 loops left on the hook), yoh and pull through all the loops on hook.

FPdc: Front Post double crochet: complete a double crochet st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the front to the back and then round to the front again.

FPdc5tog: Front Post double crochet five stitches together: *complete a double crochet st as normal but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the front to the back and then round to the front again, stop at last yoh when there are only 2 loops left, repeat from * around stem of each of next 4 sts, (there should now be 6 loops left on the hook), yoh and pull through all the loops on hook.

FPtr: Front Post treble: complete a treble st as normal (the stitch starts by wrapping yarn around hook 2 times) but insert hook around the stem of the st inserting hook from right to left going from the front to the back and then round to the front again.

Continue with the top and bottom panels started at the end of Week 2. Continue from the end of Row 2 when Yarn F was joined and ensure RS of blanket is facing.

Row 3 (RS) 3ch (counts as first dc here and throughout), 1dc in each of next 2 sts, 5FPdc all around next st, (1dc in each of next 8 sts, 5FPdc around next st) 13 times, 1dc in each of next 3 sts, turn. [180 sts including 14 groups of raised sts]

Row 4 (WS) 2ch (counts as first hdc here and throughout), 1FPdc around each of next 2 sts, 1BPdc around each of next 5 sts, (1FPdc around each of next 8 sts, 1BPdc around each of next 5 sts) 13 times, 1FPdc around each of next 2 sts, 1hdc in final st (which is the top of the 3 ch from Row 3), turn. [180 sts]

Row 5 (RS) 2ch, 1BPdc around each of next 2 sts, FPdc5tog over next 5 sts, (1BPdc around each of next 8 sts, FPdc5tog) 13 times, 1BPdc around each of next 2 sts, 1hdc in final st, turn. [124 sts]

Row 6 (WS) 2ch, 1FPdc around each st to end (the top of the FPdc5tog from previous row counts as 1 st to crochet around), 1hdc in final st, join with Yarn C at end of final st, turn. [124 sts]

Row 7 (RS) 3ch, 1dc in each of next 7 sts, miss next st working 3FPtr around st directly below it (the fifth st along from the group of raised sts 2 rows below in Row 5), (1dc in each of next 8 sts, miss next st, 3FPtr around fifth st along from raised sts below in Row 5) 12 times, 1dc in each of next 7 sts, join with Yarn F at end of final st, turn. [150 sts including 13 groups of front raised sts]

Row 8 (WS) 2ch, 1FPdc around each of next 6 sts, BPdc3tog over next 3 sts, (1FPdc around each of next 8 sts, BPdc3tog) 12 times, 1FPdc around each of next 7 sts, 1hdc in final st, join with Yarn B at end of final st, turn. [124 sts]

Row 9 3ch, 1dc in each st to end, turn.

Row 10 3ch, 1dc in each st to end, join with Yarn E at end of final st, turn.

Row 11(RS) 2ch, 1BPdc around each of next 10 sts, (3FPdc around each of next 3 sts, 1BPdc around each of next 6 sts,) 11 times, 3FPdc around each of next 3 sts, 1BPdc around each of next 10 sts, 1hdc in final st, turn. [196 sts including 12 groups of front raised sts]

Row 12 (WS) 2ch, 1FPdc around each of next 10 sts, 1BPdc around each of next 9 sts, (1FPdc around each of next 6 sts, 1BPdc around each of next 9 sts) 11 times, 1FPdc around each of next 10 sts, 1hdc in final st, turn. [196 sts]

Row 13 (RS) 2ch, 1BPdc around each of next 10 sts, (BPdc3tog) three times over next 9 sts, (1BPdc around each of next 6 sts, (BPdc3tog) three times over next 9 sts) 11 times, 1BPdc around each of next 10 sts, 1hdc in final st, fasten off, do not turn. [124 sts including 12 groups of raised sts]

Do not turn work, go back to beginning of Row 13 and join Yarn A to top of 2 ch made at beginning of Row 13.

Row 14 (RS) 1ch (does not count as st), 1sc in same place at top of 2 ch, 1sc in each of next 11 sts, skip next st working 1 bobble with Yarn C below it in fifth st along of 9 raised sts below in Row 12, (1sc in each of next 8 sts, skip next st working 1 bobble with Yarn C in fifth st along of 9 raised sts below in Row 12) 11 times, 1sc in each of next 12 sts, turn. [124 sts including 12 bobbles]

Rows 15 – 17 3ch, 1dc in each st to end, turn. [124 sts]

Row 18 3ch, 1dc in each st to end, fasten off and weave in ends.

Repeat Rows 3 – 18 on opposite side of blanket.