I wasn't planning on writing a blog post for this one however I have had so many questions about it it seems like a good idea to have the information is in one place.
Finding ways to crochet with variegated yarn can be challenging. Many times I've bought a variegated yarn and then it sits in a bag or box for months because I just can't visualise the end result or I've tried and failed to make it work well. There's even been times I've given up and sent it to the charity shop.
Variegated yarns are often designed with knitters in mind, crochet uses a lot more yarn than knitting for each stitch so the resulting effect can look totally different. Some crochet stitches use more yarn than others too so that's another variable to consider.
When I bought King Cole Bramble DK in Loganberry for my Logan blanket I also bought some of the Greengage colourway as I absolutely love the earthy tones.
I really wanted to use this one for a striped blanket this time. The way I often tackle stripes with variegated yarn is to break the colours up with a contrasting neutral colour. I've done this with moss stitch in the past, here's one I made a few years back for a friend using Stylecraft Merry Go Round, the alternating contrasting white really helped the variegated yarn to look less busy.
Rainbow Stripes for a Rainbow Baby
I didn't want to do moss stitch this time though so settled on granny stripe stitch which is another very simple repetitive stitch. I haven't used a specific pattern but you'll find many online, Attic24 has a good photo tutorial if you need one.
I don't count the whole foundation chain as I work it, I just count the stitch multiple until it is about the width I want my blanket, I find I don't lose count so easily that way. I then alternated the rows with the variegated yarn and the contrast which is Yarnsmiths Create DK in Off White.
I cut my yarn and re-join the next colour at the end of every row. I don't carry the yarn or crochet over it. I much prefer to sew my ends in individually. It's not unusual for me, when I'm crocheting stripes, to leave all the ends until after I've worked the border. I find it easier then to see where my foundation round stitches need to go. If I sew them in first it sometimes distorts the edge a little so by leaving them until the end I find I get a much more even straight border. There's no right or wrong though, it's just a little tip from me to you.
I wanted to keep the border very plain and simple for this one so all the lovely earthy tones can speak for themselves!
I used camel stitch technique for my border using the Off White. You can find my video for this technique here
I used around 160g of the King Cole Bramble and at a guess possibly just over 200g of the Off White. I was using part balls of off white from my stash so I didn't keep track of exactly how much I used. My blanket came out at approx 75cm x 90cm
I've still got a good amount of the Greengage left in my stash, around 140g so I'm going to probably make some squares or circles with it and hopefully have enough to turn them into another small blanket!
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Thank you and happy crocheting
Faye :)
