Bernat makes yarn that has loops in it so that you don't need knitting needles or a crochet hook to use it, you just hook the loops together. It's called Bernat Alize Blanket EZ Yarn.
(How cute is this baby!)
I'll be honest. I didn't think a lot about this yarn, but when I went to Joann's with my daughter I had to buy some because she saw it and wanted the Country Blue colored one.
I thought it would be fun for her to play with since she's not quite 4 and she can't really knit or crochet yet. She played with it for a day and then I wound up stealing it from her so I could mess with it!
I started wondering what you could do with it besides just the obvious one loop through another loop. After messing around with it for awhile I decided that I needed other colors so I could see what my fantastic creations would look like. Because they ARE fantastic, right? :}
A few days later here we are with a pretty snazzy baby blanket, or as I'm using it, a throw. I put twists in the loops, left to right and right to left, that make kind of a chevron pattern. The pattern is below but you can also download an ad free pdf version from my Ravelry Store.
First, the yarn! I really like these two variegated colors together. They are Slate Grays and Seaport Teals. It reminds me of waves in the ocean, so I'm calling it Ocean Twist.
While using this yarn I discovered the joy of dropping a 'stitch', which I'm not accustomed to doing. But you'll usually notice quite quickly if you're making a pattern with it.
The other thing the I'm not use to is missing a loop of yarn from the working yarn. But what's nice is that if you do this and you don't discover it until many rows later, you can go back and fix it if you want to...or you can actually cut the loop at the bottom (it's pulled together by a string), which becomes a straight piece of yarn, and then cut that to tie the two pieces together and weave it in like usual.
My biggest complaint about this yarn would be that we need more colors! I'm thinking some orange, yellow, and more red shades and I'm always ok with any kind of variegated yarn so we can always have more of those!
I do think this yarn would also be perfect for Kindergarten and up until they can handle knitting needles or a crochet hook. Perhaps around 9 years old. I believe that's when I learned, but I may have been younger.
Now, my pattern!
It's very simple and fun and works up really quick. So, if you're in a pinch but you'd really like to make a baby sized blanket or even a house warming gift for someone fast, this is the ticket.
The finished blanket is 29" wide by 39" high, so if you want a larger one you will need more of the secondary color.
You will need:
Main color - Seaport Teals (About 1 and 1/4 skeins)
Secondary color - Slate Grays - (Exactly 1 skein)
Scissors
Might need tapestry needle to work in ends
That's it. No knitting needles!
Foundation:
To make the bottom look like the top I made a foundation row first. It's not necessary for actually holding the fabric together.
I started out with 40 loops for the foundation by joining those loops together.
This picture has some loops already connected so you can see the chain that it makes. Working right to left, take the working loop and insert it into the prior loop.
Pull working loop through.
Repeat this until you have 40 loops, the last one won't be connected to anything yet.
Row 1: (Note: You never turn the work with this yarn.) Going from left to right, pull a loop through the back loop only of the foundation row until you have 40 loops.
Row 2: (Note: In each row we will be twisting the loop either to the right or the left. Twist right working to the right, twist left working to the left.) Working from right to left, Take the loop in the prior row and twist to the left (since we'll be working to the left). Insert the working loop and pull it through. Do this for 40 loops (all the way across)
Row 3: Same as Row 2, only difference is that you twist the prior loop to the right, since we're going right.
Row 4: Change to secondary color. To add a color you simply start connecting with the first loop from that color. It's that easy! This row is the same as Row 1. Start on the left side and twist to the right since we're going right.
Repeat until you have the length you want.
For the last rows at the top you will use the main color for 3 rows. The last row is then "chained" together to look like the foundation row.
When you switch back to the first color, skip two of the loops, and start the new row with the 3rd loop. So, the right side will have 2 "free" loops hanging on the side for every color change. At the end of the project I connected these loops, like the foundation row.
If you want both of the sides to look exactly the same then you can leave two free loops on the left side also. However, I don't think you can even see that there's a slight different in the side unless you're looking for it.
However you decide to do it, once you're finished adding rows, chain the top loops and the side loops all at once for a nice uniform look around the edges. Cut the last loop at the top and tie the ends together.
I tried cutting a loop so it would be straight yarn going up the side that you could hide, but it was too long to do that. If you change the color every 3 rows it would probably work.
You can see in this picture above the nice little wave back and forth. If you rub it from side to side it helps it stand out.
I also experimented with edging but it seemed like too much work and yarn for the results.
Right now I'm enjoying looking at it on my couch and thinking of what else I'd like to make with it. We shall see!
What will you crochet today? (or finger knit!)
Comments