Shell Stitch

Get hooking Lucy Croft's third block for our beautiful blanket

This is the third pattern in our gorgeous Hook ‘n’ Learn blanket crochet-along, which we’ll be running over the year. Perfect for beginners and fun for more experienced stitchers, you’ll learn how to do 12 attractive stitches, then we’ll show you how to put it all together in the last issue. Choose between the beautiful soft shades of Stone Washed XL, or the bright tones of Colour Crafter (or go mad and make both!). This issue, have a go at Lucy’s striking Shell stitch. Please note: you’ll need to make two shell blocks if you are making the Colour Crafter version.

Stone washed xl

Make one Shell Block

■ Scheepjes Stone Washed XL

(70% cotton, 30% acrylic, 50g/75m),

1 ball of each: Malachite (865), Peridot (867) ■ A 5.5mm (US I/9) hook

For yarn stockists for both versions visit Scheepjes at www.scheepjes.com/en MEASUREMENTS

Shell Stitch Block measures 20x40cm (8x16in)

TENSION

3 Shells meas 12cm (4 in) and 11 rows meas 11cm (4 in) over pattern using a 5.5mm hook

colour crafter

Make two Shell Blocks

■ Scheepjes Colour Crafter (100% acrylic, 100g/300m), 1 ball of each:

Block 1 Kortrijk (2009), Tilburg (1083)

Block 2 Eindhoven (1114), Gouda (1081)

■ A 4mm (US G/6) hook

MEASUREMENTS

Shell Block measures 16x32cm (6 x12 in)

TENSION

3 Shells and 10 rows measure 10x10cm (4x4in) over pattern using a 4mm hook

ABBREVIATIONS

For a full list, see page 92

NOTES

All even rows are worked on the RS. The instructions for the Colour Crafter blanket are shown in brackets.

SHELL BLOCK

Using a 5.5mm (4mm) hook and Malachite (Kortrijk: Eindhoven), ch59.

Row 1 (RS) Dc in second ch from hook, *skip 2 next ch, 5tr in next ch, skip next 2 ch, dc in next ch; repeat from * across to last 3 sts, 3tr in last st, turn, fasten off. [9 shells]

Row 2 (WS) Join Peridot (Tilburg: Gouda) in first st, ch1 (does not count as st), dc in same st, *skip next 2 tr, 5tr in next dc, skip

next 2 tr, dc in next tr; repeat from * across to last 3 sts, skip next 2 tr, 3tr in last dc, turn, fasten off. [9 shells]

Row 3 (RS) Join Malachite (Kortrijk:

Eindhoven) in first st, ch1 (does not count as st), dc in same st, *skip next 2 tr, 5tr in next dc, skip next 2 tr, dc in next tr; repeat from * across to last 3 sts, skip next 2 tr, 3tr in last dc, turn, fasten off. [9 shells] Rows 2-3 set pattern.

Rows 4-17 (15: 15) Repeat Rows 2-3 seven times more or until Block measures 19.5 (15.5)cm.

Next row Join Peridot (Tilburg: Gouda) in first st, ch1 (does not count as st), dc in same st, *htr in each of next 2 tr, tr in next dc, htr in each of next 2 tr, dc in next tr; repeat from * across to last 3 sts, htr in each of next 2 tr, tr in last dc, turn. [58 sts] Fasten off.

This version of the blanket is made in Scheepjes Stone Washed XL. The shell stitch square is the third stitch you’ll learn in our Simply Crochet Hook ‘n’ Learn. There are nine more stitches to learn, which we’ll take you through step-by-step, making this a perfect project for a beginner.

Top: the Shell stitch square, worked in Stone Washed XL in Malachite and Peridot; Middle: worked in rich Colour Crafter Kortrijk and Tilburg; Bottom: worked in warm Colour Crafter Eindhoven and Gouda; Right: Colour Crafter creates a distinctively bright blanket.