Picnic on the Beach Week 8

Welcome to the final instalment, Week 8, of my Picnic on the Beach blanket! 🙂 This week is all about the border and then our picnic inspired blankets will be complete… oh what a wonderful crochet-along this has been! ❤️❤️❤️

A sharing of crochet joy and togetherness as we’ve dreamed of picnic gatherings to come! 🥰❤️

For our grand finale, I’ve filmed an extra long video which, amongst the general chat, includes a picnic on the beach which I enjoyed last Sunday with my family at a coastal beauty spot not too far from where I live… enjoy!

I continue to be in absolute awe of how a crochet design that comes from within me can be made by so many people all around the world. It’s truly incredible! I feel honoured that so many of you have crocheted along and I’m very happy to have been able to share my picnic journey with you… Our blankets are crocheted with such picnic happiness in mind! 🙂

A crochet-along needs people who are crocheting along! And I am truly grateful to each and every one of you for following my crochet work and showing me such kindness and support throughout the CAL and beyond. I will always be so grateful and I appreciate you all… THANK YOU! ❤️❤️❤️

And yes, as you can see, I did bring that heart shaped piece of driftwood, which I found during the CAL, home to our front garden! 🙂 It has a special place in my heart and reminds me of how amazing it has been connecting with so many of you around the world… ❤️

And now’s a good opportunity to let you know that nominations for the British Knitting and Crochet Awards are open! It’s really out of character for me to ask, but if any of you do feel inclined to nominate me for an award in either the ‘Most Iconic Crochet Designer‘ or ‘Social Media Superstar‘ categories, I would be extremely honoured and grateful!! 🙂 🙂 ❤️

https://acevillepublications.typeform.com/to/s5SGkeD9

www.let’s knit.co.uk/awards

I’ve been asked how many people have taken part in this crochet along and I really don’t know the answer except that it’s many thousands! My blog statistics tell me that over 45 000 people have viewed the Week 1 blog post from over 50 different countries! Of course not everyone who visits my website goes on to crochet a blanket but I do know of lovely people who have crocheted along from countries in every continent, including Russia, Israel, Japan, USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, France, many other countries all over Europe and of course the UK. It’s just wonderful! 🥰🌏🌍🌎

Crochet has brought us together and made the world a better place! THANK YOU to all of you who have been a part of it, whether crocheting along or watching from the sidelines… 🙂

And what fabulous crochet stitches we’ve enjoyed to create our picnics! We’ve had gingham checks, basketweave, waves, cupcakes, strawberries, salad, shells, sandcastles, kites, hearts, sunsets and this week pineapples too… What a picnic feast!

And here we have our final round-up of blanket photos that have been shared this week over on Instagram and in the Facebook Group – there are six amazing grids of beautiful blankets being crocheted! There’s even a cockatoo captured in a photo from Australia which I absolutely love! 🙂

It really is this sharing of photos and the interactions with each other over on Instagram or in the Facebook Group which has added to the CAL experience… I truly appreciate it and I know many of you do too! 🙂

And this photo was shared in the Facebook Group yesterday by Ann from Israel… an extra special birthday cake made for her by her niece in celebration of this blanket!

Isn’t it wonderful?! 😍

So many happy moments have been created and shared as we’ve crocheted along together… ❤️

And here are words shared by a very special crocheter in California who has taken part in all four of my blanket CALs… (you know who you are ❤️) and the words are just perfect… ❤️

“A CAL isn’t a project to work on and be done with, a CAL is a blending of thoughts, dreams, tears, hopes!

If someone is behind a week or 2, we don’t judge or tease, we know life gets crazy at times. So we encourage, we cheer! We all move on together. If someone makes obvious errors? Do we criticize? Absolutely not!!!! Usually we point out something we know we may have made an error on, and then we laugh together.

And we both feel better, no, not both, often there are many out there afraid to show what didn’t go quite right, so I’m sure that seeing us interact, even if they don’t join in with our chatting, helps them too. Maybe it should be a Crochet Along With Friends, after all, it’s impossible to do a Crochet Along alone.”

💙💙💙

Moving onto this weeks border and the final rounds for our blankets, I have kept the border to our blankets relatively simple. We have some Pineapple Clusters for wonderful texture and to remind us of a last drink and a toast to our picnics…

We have some Moss Stitch in the same colours as our Gingham Squares to remind us to fold away the picnic blankets.

And we finish with some half treble (US half double crochet) stitches worked into the one very back loop only to create the long chain effect.

I love it and it’s a reminder that keeping things simple at times can be a good thing…

Our picnics can be elaborate with amazing foods and all kinds of picnic accessories brought along but do remember that they can also be so simple with just a sandwich in your back pack! Anything goes as we enjoy being outdoors…

Enjoy these final rounds and I really hope that as we emerge out of the worldwide pandemic you can all go out and enjoy picnics together wherever you are and whoever you might be with!

I know that I will really cherish my own ‘Picnic on the Beach’ blankets and I hope that yours will be enjoyed for a very long time to come too, whether you’re keeping them or giving them away!

All the blog posts, the pattern, step by step photos and video tutorials will remain up indefinitely so maybe you’ll come back and make another one day! Or if you haven’t yet finished, don’t worry, it’s all here waiting for you when you’re ready… 😄❤️

So let’s get crocheting! 🙂

For those of you who have purchased the pattern on Ravelry it has now been updated to include Week 8:

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 abbreviations.

Week 8 – Colourful Picnic Memories

That’s it… our picnic is coming to an end. A last drink together to toast our wonderful day and we have now made all those fabulous colourful memories! We can cherish these forever and of course we can just do it all over again very soon…

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

Border

The whole blanket is now crocheted around. With RS facing and blanket held upright, join Yarn A to outer top left st from Row 16 in Week 7 (into the top of the 2 ch which was the first st of that row)

Round 1 (RS) 3ch (counts as first tr), 1tr into same place, * 2ch, 2tr into side of Row 16 from Week 7 around the post of the same first st from Row 16, (first corner ch-sp made), 1tr into side of each of next 7 rows, 2tr into side of each of next 2 rows, 1tr into side of each of next 2 rows, 2tr into side of next row, 1tr into side of next row, 2tr into side of each of next 2 rows, 1tr in each of next 172 sts across Row 16 from Week 6 (pay attention to crochet into top of 3 ch which is the final st), 2tr into side of each of next 2 rows, 1tr into side of next row, 2tr into side of next row, 1tr into side of each of next 2 rows, 2tr into side of each of next 2 rows, 1tr into side of each of next 7 rows, 2tr into side of next row, 2ch, 2tr into first st of top panel (second corner ch-sp made), 1tr in each of next 170 sts across Row 16 from Week 7**, 2tr into final st (which is the top of 2 ch), repeat from * for next side edge and top edge ending at **, ss to top of first 3 ch to join, turn. [216 sts along each side edge, 174 sts on top and bottom edges with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 2 (WS) 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc into same st, * 1dc in each st to end of side, (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times, 1dc in final st, ss to first st, turn. [218 sts on each side edge, 176 sts on top and bottom edges with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 3 (RS) 3ch (counts as first tr), 1tr in each of next 2 sts, * (1tr, 2ch, 1tr) 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,do not turn. [220 sts on each side edge, 178 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Pineapple clusters – Do not pull up the loop too high when working the pineapple cluster stitches so as to not make the clusters too loose. Keep the RS of the blanket facing you for Rounds 4 – 9.

Here’s a video tutorial for the Pineapple Clusters…

Round 4 (RS) Join Yarn E to any corner ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1 tr and 2 ch), 1tr in same corner ch-sp, * (1ch, miss next st, 1 pineapple cluster in next st) to end of side, 1ch, ** (1tr, 2ch, 1tr) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, ss to third ch of beginning 5 ch, fasten off. [110 pineapple clusters on each side edge, 89 pineapple clusters on top and bottom with 2tr in each corner ch-sp]

Round 5 (RS) Join Yarn F to any corner ch-sp, 2ch (counts as first htr), (1htr, 2ch, 2htr) in same corner ch-sp, *miss next st, 2htr in next ch-sp, (miss next pineapple cluster, 2htr in next ch-sp) to final st of side, miss final st **, (2htr, 2ch, 2htr) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, ss to top of first 2 ch, fasten off. [226 sts on each side edge, 184 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Keep the RS of the blanket facing. Half Treble stitches are unique in that they have 3 loops/strands at the top of the stitch. Make sure that in Round 6 you are inserting your hook into just the one very back loop only which sits towards the back of the work. This ensures that two loops remain to the front of the work.

Here’s a video tutorial for Round 6 and also Rounds 12- 13.

Round 6 (RS) Join Yarn D to any corner ch-sp, 3ch (counts as first tr), (1tr, 2ch, 2tr) in same corner ch-sp, * 1tr in very back loop only of each st to end of side (pay attention to crochet into the very first htr st of the side which is less clear to see) **, (2tr, 2ch, 2tr) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, ss to top of first 3 ch, fasten off. [230 sts on each side edge, 188 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Here’s a video tutorial for Rounds 7 – 10…

Round 7 (RS) Join Yarn B to any corner ch-sp, 1ch (does not count as st), (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) in same corner ch-sp, * (1ch, miss next st, 1dc in next st) to end of side, 1ch **, (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, ss to first dc, fasten off. [117 sts along each side edge with 116 x 1-ch-sps, 96 sts along top and bottom with 95 x 1-ch-sps, 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 8 (RS) Join Yarn C to any corner ch-sp, 1ch (does not count as st), (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) in same corner ch-sp, * (1ch, miss next st, 1dc in next 1-ch-sp) to end of side, 1ch, miss final st of side **, (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, ss to first dc, fasten off. [118 sts along each side edge with 117 x 1-ch-sps, 97 sts along top and bottom with 96 x 1-ch-sps, 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 9 (RS) Repeat Row 8 using Yarn A.

Ensure the WS is facing for Round 10. This helps prevent the edging from curling.

Round 10 (WS) Repeat Row 8 using Yarn D but with WS of blanket facing, do not fasten off, turn. [120 sts along each side edge with 119 x 1-ch-sps, 99 sts along top and bottom with 98 x 1-ch-sps, 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 11 (RS) ss in first 1-ch-sp, 2ch (counts as first htr), 1htr in same ch-sp, * (miss next st, 2htr in next 1-ch-sp) to end of side, miss final st of side, (2htr, 2ch, 2htr) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times, ss to top of first 2 ch to join, fasten off. [242 sts on each side edge, 200 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

In Rounds 12 and 13 insert hook into the very back strand/loop only of the htr sts, leaving 2 loops to the front of the work.

Round 12 (RS) Join Yarn F to any corner ch-sp, 2ch (counts as first htr), 2htr in same corner ch-sp, * 1htr in very back loop only of each st to end of side, 3htr in corner ch-sp, repeat from * two times, 1htr in very back loop only of each st to end, ss to top of first 2 ch, fasten off.

Round 13 (RS) Join Yarn B to very back loop only of any st, 2ch (counts as first htr), 1htr in very back loop only of each st around whole blanket, ss to top of first 2 ch to join, fasten off and weave in all ends.

And that’s it! Our wonderful picnic inspired blankets are finished! 🙂 I hope you’ve enjoyed crocheting them as much as I have and will enjoy them for a very long time to come! THANK YOU…

And Happy Crocheting Everyone… 🙂 🙂

Pattern in US Crochet Terminology

See Week 1 for abbreviations.

Border

The whole blanket is now crocheted around. With RS facing and blanket held upright, join Yarn A to outer top left st from Row 16 in Week 7 (into the top of the 2 ch which was the first st of that row)

Round 1 (RS) 3ch (counts as first dc), 1dc into same place, * 2ch, 2dc into side of Row 16 from Week 7 around the post of the same first st from Row 16, (first corner ch-sp made), 1dc into side of each of next 7 rows, 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 2dc into side of next row, 1dc into side of next row, 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc in each of next 172 sts across Row 16 from Week 6 (pay attention to crochet into top of 3 ch which is the final st), 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc into side of next row, 2dc into side of next row, 1dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 2dc into side of each of next 2 rows, 1dc into side of each of next 7 rows, 2dc into side of next row, 2ch, 2dc into first st of top panel (second corner ch-sp made), 1dc in each of next 170 sts across Row 16 from Week 7**, 2dc into final st (which is the top of 2 ch), repeat from * for next side edge and top edge ending at **, sl st to top of first 3 ch to join, turn. [216 sts along each side edge, 174 sts on top and bottom edges with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 2 (WS) 1ch (does not count as st), 1sc into same st, * 1sc in each st to end of side, (1sc, 2ch, 1sc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times, 1sc in final st, sl st to first st, turn. [218 sts on each side edge, 176 sts on top and bottom edges with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 3 (RS) 3ch (counts as first dc), 1dc in each of next 2 sts, * (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) 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, do not turn. [220 sts on each side edge, 178 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Pineapple clusters – Do not pull up the loop too high when working the pineapple cluster stitches so as to not make the clusters too loose. Keep the RS of the blanket facing you for Rounds 4 – 9.

Round 4 (RS) Join Yarn E to any corner ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1 dc and 2 ch), 1dc in same corner ch-sp, * (1ch, skip next st, 1 pineapple cluster in next st) to end of side, 1ch, ** (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, sl st to third ch of beginning 5 ch, fasten off. [110 pineapple clusters on each side edge, 89 pineapple clusters on top and bottom with 2dc in each corner ch-sp]

Round 5 (RS) Join Yarn F to any corner ch-sp, 2ch (counts as first hdc), (1hdc, 2ch, 2hdc) in same corner ch-sp, *skip next st, 2hdc in next ch-sp, (skip next pineapple cluster, 2hdc in next ch-sp) to final st of side, skip final st **, (2hdc, 2ch, 2hdc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, sl st to top of first 2 ch, fasten off. [226 sts on each side edge, 184 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Keep the RS of the blanket facing. Half Double Crochet stitches are unique in that they have 3 loops/strandsat the top of the stitch. Make sure that in Round 6 you are inserting your hook into just the one very back loop only which sits towards the back of the work. This ensures that two loops remain to the front of the work.

Round 6 (RS) Join Yarn D to any corner ch-sp, 3ch (counts as first dc), (1dc, 2ch, 2dc) in same corner ch-sp, * 1dc in very back loop only of each st to end of side (pay attention to crochet into the very first hdc st of the side which is less clear to see) **, (2dc, 2ch, 2dc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, sl st to top of first 3 ch, fasten off. [230 sts on each side edge, 188 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 7 (RS) Join Yarn B to any corner ch-sp, 1ch (does not count as st), (1sc, 2ch, 1sc) in same corner ch-sp, * (1ch, skip next st, 1sc in next st) to end of side, 1ch **, (1sc, 2ch, 1sc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, sl st to first sc, fasten off. [117 sts along each side edge with 116 x 1-ch-sps, 96 sts along top and bottom with 95 x 1-ch-sps, 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 8 (RS) Join Yarn C to any corner ch-sp, 1ch (does not count as st), (1sc, 2ch, 1sc) in same corner ch-sp, * (1ch, skip next st, 1sc in next 1-ch-sp) to end of side, 1ch, skip final st of side **, (1sc, 2ch, 1sc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times ending final repeat at **, sl st to first sc, fasten off. [118 sts along each side edge with 117 x 1-ch-sps, 97 sts along top and bottom with 96 x 1-ch-sps, 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 9 (RS) Repeat Row 8 using Yarn A.

Ensure the WS is facing for Round 10. This helps prevent the edging from curling.

Round 10 (WS) Repeat Row 8 using Yarn D but with WS of blanket facing, do not fasten off, turn. [120 sts along each side edge with 119 x 1-ch-sps, 99 sts along top and bottom with 98 x 1-ch-sps, 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

Round 11 (RS) sl st in first 1-ch-sp, 2ch (counts as first hdc), 1hdc in same ch-sp, * (skip next st, 2hdc in next 1-ch-sp) to end of side, skip final st of side, (2hdc, 2ch, 2hdc) in corner ch-sp, repeat from * three times, sl st to top of first 2 ch to join, fasten off. [242 sts on each side edge, 200 sts on top and bottom with 4 x corner 2-ch-sps]

In Rounds 12 and 13 insert hook into the very back strand/loop only of the hdc sts, leaving 2 loops to the front of the work.

Round 12 (RS) Join Yarn F to any corner ch-sp, 2ch (counts as first hdc), 2hdc in same corner ch-sp, * 1hdc in very back loop only ofeach st to end of side, 3hdc in corner ch-sp, repeat from * two times, 1hdc in very back loop only of each st to end, sl st to top of first 2 ch, fasten off.

Round 13 (RS) Join Yarn B to very back loop only of any st, 2ch (counts as first hdc), 1hdc in very back loop only of each st around whole blanket, sl st to top of first 2 ch to join, fasten off and weave in all ends.