Easy dove grey crochet throw

I’ve never posted a crochet article before, despite being fairly OK at it. I can’t be bothered to write down all those ‘SC’ and ‘YO’ instructions. I ‘freeform’ my crocheting, in that I never follow a pattern and I pretty much make it up as I go along, working to a sketch or an existing image I’ve found on Pinterest or elsewhere. If I need to remake it (such as the other glove!) I just copy the first item. I learnt to crochet and knit as a child, as my mum and one of my sisters were dab hands at both.

This project, however, is soo easy peasy that I thought I’d share (not much explanation needed from me). It barely qualifies as a ‘pattern’, but results in a lovely throw and can be adapted to any size you like. For instance, you could crochet two squares and make a cushion cover. I often sit there playing with stitches and patterns, unravelling what I’ve done if I don’t like it. This is exceptionally simple but does give a great, puffy and comfy half shell pattern in larger weight yarns (it’s not so great looking with finer yarns and smaller stitches).

I have made a video on the stitches for this throw – you can find it below. It’s not a particularly brilliant video (and slightly embarrasing!) but I hope it might help 🙂

Yarn

Use a heavy double knit yarn in a dove grey for this project. Of course you can change the colour but there’s something extra comforting – and currently bang on trend – about a fluffy dove grey blanket.

For my throw I used six x 100g balls in Robin Chunky, Silver.

At time of writing [Mar 2019] these were £2.05 each from a knitters’ market stall, so the throw cost me £12.30. This is an acrylic (100%) yarn as I wanted to be able to wash the throw without fear of shrinkage.

LoveCrafts – all things for knitting and crochet including plenty of DK yarn for this project. You can obtain 15% off your first order with Love Crafts. Just type in my name at the Checkout stage – Lynn Clark – to get the discount. [For transparency and honesty, I do also get 15% off an order if you use this discount code].

Hook

• Size 7mm hook

Other tools

• Large wool needle
• Scissors/snips

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Crochet stiches used

Normally people refer to the same crochet stitches: that is a double crochet means the same to most people but some crochets sites and patterns do list slight differences. To be clear, this is what I’m working to:

Single crochet

• Your hook will already have one loop from the last stitch made. Put the hook through a chain.
• Wind the yarn over the end of the hook: you now have three loops on your hook (the original loop, the chain loop and this new ‘yarned-over’ loop).
• Drag the loop of yarn (you’ve just made) through the next loop along – you have two loops on your hook now.
• Wind over another loop and then drag this through both loops on the hook. You’ve made one single crochet and are back to having a single loop on the hook.

Double crochet

• Your hook will already have one loop from the last stitch made. Wind the yarn over the hook (now two loops on the hook).
• Put the hook through a chain (you now have three loops on your hook). Wind the yarn over the end of the hook (four loops on the hook).
• Drag the fourth loop of yarn through the chain loop (only) – you’re back to three loops on the hook.
• Wind the yarn over the hook again (back to four loops on the hook) and drag this through loops two and three (now two loops remaining).
• Wind the yarn over yet again (back to three loops) and drag this through all the remaining loops so that you have a single loop on your hook.

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Notes

Leave a long tail on each new ball of wool join, so that you can weave the ends of the yarn in to the throw. If you weave in a long tail of yarn it is less likely to unravel and show after using and washing. Because this throw is loosely crocheted it is easy to weave the yarn end through without it showing up.

Stitch size/tension

Don’t fuss too much about getting the tension for this – it’s not a garment so doesn’t need to be exact to meet a size. I would recommend you crochet this loosely (nothing more specific than this instruction is needed), as generosity of stitch results in a softer finished item that ‘gives’ and moves, which is comfier in a blanket.

Joining balls of wool

Join balls of wool in the middle of a row of stitches, not at the end by tying a reef knot (or you can use the invisible Russian join if you prefer). Leave plenty of ‘ends’ to sew in later. Avoid joining at edges as usually the knot give a harsh, angular edge to the stitch which shows up at the edge of a project but which can be hidden in the middle of a row of stitches.

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Length/number of rows and initial chain

I’ll leave you with the decision on how many rows – it depends on the end use of your blanket/throw and how much wool you’re willing to buy!

If you want to match the size of my completed throw, which measures 1m x 2.5m this is:

• Foundation row of 120 stitches
• 110 rows, excluding the initial foundation row (remembering that each row, excluding the foundation row, is actually three stitches tall)

Foundation/chain row

Tie a loop and then crochet a chain that is a multiple of three (3). I used a row of 120 for my throw.

First row

*In the third chain from the hook make one single crochet.

In the next chain, make one double crochet

Skip two chains*

Repeat between the * * for the whole way along

At the end stitch of the row, you’ll have two loops over your hook: just loop the yarn over the hook and pull through. Turn.

Second row onwards – including the final row

Repeat as for the first row, but the chain in which you insert your hook (every third chain along) is very easily visible:

*In the third chain from the hook make one single crochet.

In the next chain, make one double crochet

Skip two chains*

Repeat between the * * for the whole way along

Finishing

When you have made your throw as large as you require, finish your final row with those last two loops on your hook. Cut off the yarn with at least 12 cm / about 6 inches spare and thread the end through these two loops and pull tight to secure. (Don’t do the final extra stitch on your last row or you will get an unwanted sharper corner).

Sewing in

There is no substitute to properly hiding a loose end of yarn other than to weave it into the existing stitches. It’s tedious, but it works. It hides the end by mimicking the original pattern and secures the end, so that it does not (hopefully) come loose with wear or washing.

As an additional way to secure the end halfway through weaving an end in, I sew the needle through one actual loop of yarn (ie through the thread itself) as this anchors it and then do a little more weaving.

As this is the first crochet instructions I’ve written up I would be grateful to know if I’ve made any errors or made it too confusing!

Happy crocheting and enjoy the comfort of your fluffy throw.

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