Picnic on the Beach Week 5

Welcome to Week 5 of my ‘Picnic on the Beach’ crochet along, and yes, this week we return to our gingham checked Tunisian Crochet Entrelac squares… 🙂

These classic gingham checks are wholeheartedly inspired by the quintessential gingham tablecloth… perfect for taking on a picnic! So this weeks crochet is a celebration of all the picnic rugs, tablecloths and of course blankets we can bring along…

And here’s a little introduction for you… enjoy! 🙂

So a celebration of the picnic rugs, picnic blankets and picnic tablecloths it is and I brought my blankets down to the beach whilst recording my introductory video this week… perfect to keep me warm because it was still a little chilly down there…

And I’ve adored watching all your progress this week… I seem to have unleashed an amazing amount of creativity in so many of you! The photos being shared and little extra details in the blankets are just so inspiring!

Do have a look over on Instagram and in the Facebook Group… 🙂

There are little picnic set ups in the living room, some beach visits and even an old truck as a backdrop. And how could I resist an extra grid dedicated to our furry companions… there’s even a guinea pig picnic!

Whilst I’m aware some of our Australian friends have been experiencing heavy rain and severe weather warnings this week (stay safe! ❤️), we continue to see spring weather here on the south east coast and nature is blooming… it will certainly be time to pack a picnic soon. 🙂

This time each gingham square is only 5 squares across at the bottom and the sides so they are smaller than our central square. And I’ve done a tutorial to show how the non-working yarn can be carried and crocheted around on the colour change rows, significantly reducing the amounts of ends that need weaving in! I know lots of you will appreciate that… 🙂

Cutting the ends and weaving them into the back of the square in the same colour does give the neatest possible finish so it’s personal preference which method you use – cut the ends or carry the yarn behind the work – it depends how much you want to avoid all those ends! 🙂

And at the end of Week 5 we crochet around the entire blanket after we’ve attached the Gingham squares. If you wanted a smaller blanket (maybe a baby blanket or lap blanket) then this would be a good place to stop to have a mini ‘Picnic on the Beach’ blanket! I hope you’ll all carry on crocheting along with me… but I wanted to let you know in case you want to make a smaller blanket in the future! 🙂

So let’s get crocheting…

For those of you who have purchased the pattern on Ravelry it has now been updated to include Week 5:

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 

Week 5 – Picnic Rug

As our blanket grows, we think of all the picnic rugs, picnic blankets and picnic tablecloths that we can use… to lay on, to put the food on and maybe just to keep us warm and cosy as the day cools. We return to our classic gingham checked squares!

3 colours are used: Yarns A, B and C.

Small Tunisian Entrelac Gingham Squares (Make 4) 

Using a 4.5mm hook and beginning with Yarn C, follow instructions for the central gingham square in Week 1 for Diagonal Rows 1 – 5 and then decrease rows 10 – 13, following the colour chart above so that each gingham square has a total of 5 squares across at the bottom and 5 squares in height.

Joining squares to blanket

A 4.0mm hook is now used for the rest of the blanket.

Here’s a video tutorial for this part…

Top left square

Horizontal join

Insert gingham square into the square space on the top left of the blanket. Ensure it is facing upright to match central gingham square. Fold gingham square over rows from Week 3 so that RS are together. With WS of main blanket facing, insert hook through first st of Row 18 from Week 3 and the base of the gingham square going through both layers. Join Yarn A and make 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc in same place going through both layers, 1dc in next st and base of gingham square, 1dc through both layers of each of next 18 sts (make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), fasten off. [20 sts]

Keeping WS of blanket facing rotate work ready to crochet vertical join of gingham square to main blanket.

Vertical join

With RS together, insert hook into side of Row 1 from Week 4 and through to bottom side edge of gingham square and join Yarn D, 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc in same place going through both layers, 2dc in next row edge and evenly spacing sts in gingham square (not made in the same place, make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), 2dc in next row edge, 1dc in each of next 11 row edges, 2dc in each of final 2 row edges, fasten off. [20 sts]

Top right square

Horizontal join

Insert gingham square into the square space on the top right of the blanket. Ensure it is facing upright to match central gingham square. Fold gingham square over rows from Week 3 so that RS are together. With WS of main blanket facing, insert hook into Row 18 from Week 3 into first st to left of first st made in Row 1 of Week 4 and the base of the gingham square going through both layers. Join Yarn A and make 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc in same place going through both layers, 1dc through both layers of each of next 19 sts (make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), fasten off. [20 sts]

Keeping WS of blanket facing rotate work ready to crochet vertical join of gingham square to main blanket.

Vertical join

Insert hook into side of Row 16 from Week 4 and through to top side edge of gingham square and join Yarn D, 1ch (does not count as st), 2dc in same place going through both layers and ensuring sts on gingham square are spaced out evenly, not made in the same place and 2 stands are picked up (make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), 2dc in next row edge and evenly spacing sts in gingham square, 1dc in each of next 11 row edges, 2dc in each of next 2 row edges, 1dc in final row edge, fasten off. [20 sts]

Repeat these instructions for the two squares at the bottom of the blanket.

The entire blanket will now be crocheted around.

With RS facing, blanket held upright and using a smaller 4.0mm hook, join Yarn A to top left square of top left gingham square to the side of the top row on outer left edge ensuring 2 strands of yarn are picked up.

Round 1 (RS) 1ch (does not count as st), * work 1dc evenly down left side edge working 4dc evenly across each square within the gingham square [20 sts], 

2dc into side of each of next 4 rows, 1dc into side of each of next 4 rows, 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc into side of each of next 6 rows, 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows [26 sts],

1dc in each of next 74 sts across Row 18 from Week 2 (pay attention to crochet into top of 3 ch which is the final st) [74 sts],

2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc into side of each of next 6 rows, 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc into side of each of next 4 rows, 2dc into side of each of next 4 rows [26 sts],

1dc evenly across side edge of gingham square working 4dc evenly across each square within the gingham square [166 sts in total across side edge],

at the bottom corner make 2ch and continue along bottom edge with 4dc evenly across each square within the gingham square [20 sts],

1dc in each of next 84 sts across Row 16 from Week 4 (pay attention to crochet into top of 3 ch which is the first st) [84 sts],

4dc evenly across each square within the gingham square [124 sts in total across bottom edge],

at the next corner make 2ch, repeat from * at the beginning of Round 1 for next side edge and top edge, at final corner make 2ch, ss to first dc to join, turn. [166 sts along each side edge, 124 sts on top and bottom edge with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 2 (WS) 3ch (counts as first tr here and throughout), *(2tr, 2ch, 2tr) in corner ch-sp, 1tr in each st to end of side, repeat from * three times, ss to top of first 3 ch, fasten off, turn. [170 sts on each side edge, 128 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Pattern in US Crochet Terminology

See Week 1 for abbreviations.

Small Tunisian Entrelac Gingham Squares (Make 4) 

Using a 4.5mm hook and beginning with Yarn C, follow instructions for the central gingham square in Week 1 for Diagonal Rows 1 – 5 and then decrease rows 10 – 13, following the colour chart above so that each gingham square has a total of 5 squares across at the bottom and 5 squares in height.

Joining squares to blanket

A 4.0mm hook is now used for the rest of the blanket.

Top left square

Horizontal join

Insert gingham square into the square space on the top left of the blanket. Ensure it is facing upright to match central gingham square. Fold gingham square over rows from Week 3 so that RS are together. With WS of main blanket facing, insert hook through first st of Row 18 from Week 3 and the base of the gingham square going through both layers. Join Yarn A and make 1ch (does not count as st), 1sc in same place going through both layers, 1sc in next st and base of gingham square, 1sc through both layers of each of next 18 sts (make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), fasten off. [20 sts]

Keeping WS of blanket facing rotate work ready to crochet vertical join of gingham square to main blanket.

Vertical join

With RS together, insert hook into side of Row 1 from Week 4 and through to bottom side edge of gingham square and join Yarn D, 1ch (does not count as st), 1sc in same place going through both layers, 2sc in next row edge and evenly spacing sts in gingham square (not made in the same place, make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), 2sc in next row edge, 1sc in each of next 11 row edges, 2sc in each of final 2 row edges, fasten off. [20 sts]

Top right square

Horizontal join

Insert gingham square into the square space on the top right of the blanket. Ensure it is facing upright to match central gingham square. Fold gingham square over rows from Week 3 so that RS are together. With WS of main blanket facing, insert hook into Row 18 from Week 3 into first st to left of first st made in Row 1 of Week 4 and the base of the gingham square going through both layers. Join Yarn A and make 1ch (does not count as st), 1sc in same place going through both layers, 1sc through both layers of each of next 19 sts (make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), fasten off. [20 sts]

Keeping WS of blanket facing rotate work ready to crochet vertical join of gingham square to main blanket.

Vertical join

Insert hook into side of Row 16 from Week 4 and through to top side edge of gingham square and join Yarn D, 1ch (does not count as st), 2sc in same place going through both layers and ensuring sts on gingham square are spaced out evenly, not made in the same place and 2 stands are picked up (make sure each square from the gingham square has 4 sts going across), 2sc in next row edge and evenly spacing sts in gingham square, 1sc in each of next 11 row edges, 2sc in each of next 2 row edges, 1sc in final row edge, fasten off. [20 sts]

Repeat these instructions for the two squares at the bottom of the blanket.

The entire blanket will now be crocheted around.

With RS facing, blanket held upright and using a smaller 4.0mm hook, join Yarn A to top left square of top left gingham square to the side of the top row on outer left edge ensuring 2 strands of yarn are picked up.

Round 1 (RS) 1ch (does not count as st), * work 1sc evenly down left side edge working 4sc evenly across each square within the gingham square [20 sts], 

2sc into side of each of next 4 rows, 1sc into side of each of next 4 rows, 2sc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1sc into side of each of next 6 rows, 2sc into side of each of next 2 rows [26 sts],

1sc in each of next 74 sts across Row 18 from Week 2 (pay attention to crochet into top of 3 ch which is the final st) [74 sts],

2sc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1sc into side of each of next 6 rows, 2sc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1sc into side of each of next 4 rows, 2sc into side of each of next 4 rows [26 sts],

1sc evenly across side edge of gingham square working 4sc evenly across each square within the gingham square [166 sts in total across side edge],

at the bottom corner make 2ch and continue along bottom edge with 4sc evenly across each square within the gingham square [20 sts],

1sc in each of next 84 sts across Row 16 from Week 4 (pay attention to crochet into top of 3 ch which is the first st) [84 sts],

4sc evenly across each square within the gingham square [124 sts in total across bottom edge],

at the next corner make 2ch, repeat from * at the beginning of Round 1 for next side edge and top edge, at final corner make 2ch, sl st to first sc to join, turn. [166 sts along each side edge, 124 sts on top and bottom edge with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 2 (WS) 3ch (counts as first dc here and throughout), *(2dc, 2ch, 2dc) in corner ch-sp, 1dc in each st to end of side, repeat from * three times, sl st to top of first 3 ch, fasten off, turn. [170 sts on each side edge, 128 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]