this blanket is for my 5yo daughter. each color is 4 shell stitches in length. i worked through half a color sequence (20 shells across and a k hook). it comes out to 40” wide if you follow my instructions and hook size.

this length makes a great width for a child blanket. to widen, make the first row 40 shells wide. this will also go through the entire color sequence and make a criss cross pattern. that would put it at 80” long if you follow my instructions and hook size.

the border was made in two rows of double crochet.

finished size was 40” x 56”

inspired by brenda-leigh’s post- game day lap blanket.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/game-day-lap-blanket

i didn’t count starting chains. it’s more about the number of stitches in each color. this one in particular is 4 shell stitches in each color. it would also be considered zig zag, as it is only a half of a color sequence wide. a full sequence long would be considered a criss cross pattern.

tips:
1) don’t think of it as 5 colors plus black- it’s more like 10 sections of different colors in one color sequence. for example, my first row (odd row) had 4 shells each of black, green, black, blue, black, and my second row (even row) had 4 shells each of purple, black, pink, black, orange and ending with 3dc in black.
note: even numbered rows will start and end with 3dc in the top of the sc from the row before. this 3d counts as one shell.
2) i didn’t use different size hooks. i used a k hook throughout, but i changed my tension the entire time making sure that i tightened and loosened tension to ensure there were four shells in each color. this is especially useful on the odd rows. i crocheted the beginning 4 and the last 4 very loose because of the 3dc shell.
3) row 1 should be full shells.
row 2 will have half shells (3dc) on the ends.

PPWC facebook posts here:

https://facebook.com/groups/1585936391710370?view=permali...

https://facebook.com/groups/1585936391710370?view=permali...

https://facebook.com/groups/1585936391710370?view=permali...

6/2017
in preparation for entering this piece into the Marin County Fair, i decided to fix it up a bit by correcting the starting chain and changing the border.

this shows the importance of using a separate chain (not the pooling yarn) for the starting chain in order to have a clean start to your pooling project.

here’s a blanket i made in november. the bright pink that’s circled is showing the starting chain. i felt like this was too sloppy and wanted to fix it so that the pink wasn’t showing through.

i ended up removing the border rows, crocheted through the stitches on the first row of shells, carefully unraveled the original starting chain, and wove in the ends.

you could avoid this headache by making a separate starting chain in the very beginning of your project. this could be done with any planned pooling project, from single sequence to multiple sequences, and with projects done in any stitch. this is especially usefully for larger projects such as blankets. there are many ways to do this.

https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=188861536804610...

i then redid the border in different colors than the original. i added a row of double crochet in each of the following colors:
caron simply soft in grape
caron simply soft in blue mint
red heart super saver in shocking pink
i love this yarn in metallic black

new dimensions: 62” x 45”

7/5/17
finished blanket was entered into 2017 Marin County Fair (June 30-July 4) and earned a
Second Place Ribbon
in the category of:
21 Clothing and Textiles (Adult)
73 Crocheting
3 Shell pattern afghan