Welcome back to Couch Surfer Crochet! This is the last week of the Hip to be Square Crochet Along! I hope you have enjoyed working on this CAL! We are now on the final week : the BORDER!! These squares have been so much fun to create and I truly love the finished blanket. This week I will teach you how to add a border to this blanket. I’ll also show you a trick that I use to make finishing a blanket go much quicker!
The photos you have shared in the Facebook group are absolutely stunning! You all have inspired me so much with your fabulous work and your awesome color choices! Maybe you will be inspired to try this pattern again with a different set of colors. I think I might do just that!
For a refresher, all of the previous weeks can be found here:
WEEK 1
WEEK 2
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
WEEK 5
WEEK 6
WEEK 7 (joining)
I wanted the border to tie all of the squares together nicely, so I chose to go with the Block Stitch (sometimes known as the Box Stitch). It incorporates the granny square motif without being totally repetitive. Plus doing it this way allows me to create a cool look around the edge and use each of the colors in the blanket as well!
We are still using the I/9 5.5mm hook for joining.
Last week I suggested to all of you that you leave a decent length of yarn tail as you did your joining stitches across each row. That’s because you will still be using the same color for the first row of the border. By continuing to use Color F (Red Heart SS in Soft Navy), it allows me to crochet those long tails right into the first row of the border. This cuts down on the sewing time at the end, and really pulls the joining stitches together!
This is how it looks as you do the first row of the border!
On to the pattern!
Now…here’s the awesome tip! You can work on this border 3 rows at a time!!! See photo below:
As you know, these kinds of projects can get quite heavy and bulky as they grow! By doing 3 rows at a time you minimize how many times you have to turn this beast to get it done! And it makes you feel like a lightning fast crocheter when you see how quickly you can get it finished!
You can use whichever of your colors you want for the border! For the granny motif rows I used each color from my solid colored squares once (Red Heart SS in Light Sage, Red Heart SS in Royal, and Impeccable Lavender). I used Red Heart SS in White for the sc rows since it was the least used color in my squares and I wanted to tie them all together! The final row I used the joining color (Red Heart SS in Soft Navy) again to finish it off!
R1: Using same color as joining stitches : Start in corner, ch 2, 2 sc in corner, *sc in each st across, do 1 sc in each ch2 sp, 3sc in corner, repeat from *, sl st to second ch of starting ch2
R2: Start in corner : [Ch 3, 2dc, ch 3, 3dc] in corner, *ch 1, sk 3 st, 3dc in next st, repeat from * to corner, **[3dc, ch 3, 3 dc] in corner, repeat from *, sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch3
R3: Start in corner : ch 4 (counts as sc + ch1), sc in same sp, * ch 3, sc in ch1 sp, repeat from * to corner, **[1 sc, ch 3, 1 sc] in corner, repeat from *, sl st to 1st ch of starting ch1
R4-5: Repeat rows 2 & 3
R6: Using same color as joining stitches : Start in corner, ch 2, 2 sc in corner, *sc in each st across skipping ch 1 sp (this keeps the finished blanket even around the edges), 3sc in corner, repeat from *, sl st to second ch of starting ch2
Voila! You are now finished with the Hip to be Square blanket! Can you believe this used to look like this?!?
This has been such a joy to create and to share with all of you! I have a Crochet Page and Shop over on Facebook. Like that page to keep up to date with all things Couch Surfer Crochet! Or feel free to join us in the Couch Surfer Crocheters group on Facebook if you haven’t already! I would love to see all of your squares joined up. We are finished!!! I hope you have enjoyed this pattern!
If you want to try another Crochet Along after this, check out the Mixed Stitch Blanket CAL! It works up in rows of varying stitches each week! Also feel free to follow me and tag me on Instagram and share your progress there!
With the holidays upon us, this will be the last Crochet Along for 2017. HOWEVER!! I will be posting new patterns every week (occasionally twice a week)! I plan to do a few holiday themed posts before Christmas so please check back often to see what’s new!
Update: Now that this Crochet Along is complete, the FULL pattern is available as an AD FREE PDF through Ravelry.
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Looking for other patterns to try?! Check out my ETSY shop or my Ravelry store!