Since covid and lock down here in the UK I decided to keep busy. Theknittingnetwork.com has some great kits which include the yarn and pattern sent to you. I chose The Batik Flower Blanket. There are a few different versions in different colors for you to choose from. This is by far the most beautiful crochet Afghan I have ever seen. It says the pattern is intermediate level but I think it is a tad harder than that to be honest. There were many times I had to read and reread and unravel to get the pattern right.
After all that crochet mayhem when I was 2/3 done with it I realized that it is an English pattern and they use different stitches that are like one up than American. The US single crochet is a UK double, US double is a UK treble… etc etc…. But I am happy to say that this diffence in my blanket is only that it came out bigger than the pattern says.
My Batik Flower Blanket is 57 x 57 inches or about 145 x 145 cm… Whereas it was supposed to be 90 x 90 cm or 40 x 40 inches. But I think I prefer the blanket this size otherwise its a bit of a small throw or lap blanket. I did have to order another set of yarn though but that ok. If you do it right like I didn’t do you will have all you need to make it without having to order more yarn. 🧶 LOL
While I was making the granny squares, each one was a mystery to me and I didn’t really know right away from the pattern very easily what each square was supposed to look like. I will share them here for you to see but remember my stitches were all one size bigger. But otherwise this is what they look like.
You will now notice that there is no square #3. On the Woman’s Weekly pattern they get square numbers and steps confused. Steps 1 and 2 are squares 1 and 2. Then Step 3 is putting the middle of the blanket together, then steps 4 and 5 are squares 4 and 5. Step 5 is also putting together the outer rim of squares and the final edging. I must say that reading the pattern was confusing at times but the printout they sent me with the kit is high quality thick glossy and full colour. So I am happy about that except for the fact that I wore mine out and spilled coffee all over it and also creased it up real bad folding it in half and reading it the whole time. It’s worn out. I am tempted to buy a new one because of being a sloppy mess while giving myself brain fry and smoking at the ears.
Without getting into trouble on copyright laws I am sharing part of the pattern here that shows a diagram with no square #3. See what I mean? The pattern also has a colour chart that translates the colours from the original Portuguese Tile Blanket into the Batik Flower Blanket colours. So…… you can feel free later on to crochet this blanket as many times as you want to in all the different colours you want to.
I have searched the internet for people making this blanket who would be showing their work so I could have some examples to see but no one is sharing. I found a woman on Facebook making them in different colors but she was not talking about them at all just sharing pictures. So I thought since I love to blog I will blog it even though I crocheted it American style by accident 😂
The pattern was very confusing for square #5. The green rounds were hard to interpret. But I did it and want to share with you to make it easier. From the 6th round you will see there are 4 V stitches, one on each side. At first I did not read it that was and had to unravel. On the 6th round you will see that from the corners there are 5 V stitches between the four corners. You also see that there is a V stitch right above each V stitch from round 6.
This is a very rewarding pattern to crochet and I have been told on Facebook that it is the MOST beautiful crochet blanket one has ever seen. I personally love the Mardi Gras colours so much I want to make another. I think I just might…. This one is going to my mom for Mother’s Day.
Happy crochet and knitting for those that knit. I never have gotten the hang of knitting yet. Go get yours at The Knitting Network!!
The Batik Flower Blanket at The Knitting Network!
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