Wintergreen Crochet Throw

Spring is here and this throw speaks spring! In fact, while creating this large heavy throw, it was impressed upon me that it was like a tug of war between opposing elements and characteristics. I made the afghan with two totally different style of stitches. The tiny cloud stitch creates a very dense fabric, while the Crossed Double crochet stitch creates a looser fabric. These colors also created a sense of opposition. The bright, vibrant greens are bold and lively, while the soft, creamy ivory is subtle and subdued. This Wintergreen crochet throw is full of lively, vibrant colors, and textures.

The STITCHES

I had an elderly friend ask me to make her an Afghan. She wanted a very large afghan with a dense look and feel. After showing her my stitch samples, she picked two different stitches, each with their own unique texture. The Tiny Cloud stitch creates the denser fabric she was looking for. In contrast, the crossed double crochet stitch creates a looser fabric with lots of texture, the other element requested for the afghan. To emphasize each stitch’s uniqueness, I chose different colors for each of them.

Spring into Green

My friends favorite color is green and of course she wanted it to be green. No problem! She really loves bright lime green, but I felt a large dense afghan in lime green would be a bit overwhelming. So to avoid an over powering green, I found a variegated yarn that had the lime green color as well as several other shades of green. She was thrilled with it!

After doing a swatch of the pattern in the green yarn, it become obvious that I needed a solid neutral color to off set the large amounts of green. Going with the ivory really created a calming feel to the pattern. It also helped the Crossed double crochet to stand out on its own, therefore giving the afghan even more interest.

CREATING CONTRAST AND INTEREST

Since I was using two different stitches, it made it easy to change colors and stitches at the same time. I wanted the green to be the more dominate color, so I used it for the denser stitch and then I used the ivory as an accent with the second stitch. Changing the number of rows for each stitch and color added even more interest to the pattern.

Two different stitches gave the afghan its unique texture. The Tiny cloud stitch in green made a dense but slightly textured fabric. It is made with a single crochet stitch in one stitch and two half double crochets in the next stitch. The change in height of the stitches and doubling the hdc in one stitch is what gave it its bumpy texture and density. I chose ivory for the crossed double crochet stitch, which is created when working one double crochet stitch behind the other. However, this creates a stitch with lots of texture.

There are many ways in which to create opposing elements and characteristics in your own creations. Using contrasting colors is one simple but useful techniques to create opposition. Looking at various textures or heights of stitches will also produce a similar effect. Do not be afraid to be creative when choosing colors, stitches, and textures for your next project.

THE CHAllenge

The different stitches chosen for this project used different multiples for the foundation chain. The challenging part of using these two different stitches was that the cloud stitch is made with a multiple of 3 and the double crochet crossed stitch uses a multiple of 2. This meant I had to find a common multiple of 2 and 3 to make the stitches work well with each other. There is always a first time for everything, and this was one of those times. I chose to use two different stitches with different multiples in the same pattern that I was creating. In other words I had to use a multiple of 6.

The FInished Throw

The finished size of this throw was a whopping 48″ x 70″! My friend wanted it big and that is what she got. You can easily adjust the pattern size by decreasing or increasing the foundation chain by multiples of 6.

Before we go on to the pattern, if you would rather have an ad free pattern, you may purchase a PDF version of this pattern here.

THE PATTERN For Wintergreen Crochet Throw

MATERIALS:

• 8 skeins (5 oz each) of Spring Green I Love This Yarn by Hobby Lobby approximately 2016 yds.
• 4 skeins ( 7 oz each) of Ivory I Love This Yarn by Hobby Lobby, approximately 1420 yds.
• Hook size G/6
• Tapestry needle

Finished size 48″ x 70″

STITCHES:

• sc-single crochet
• HDC- half double crochet
• CH- chain
• DC- double crochet
• Tiny Cloud Stitch: (1 sc in first st, 2 hdc in next stitch, skip 1 st.)
• Crossed DC Stitch: (Sk 1 st, 1 dc in next st, working behind dc just made, work 1 dc in the skipped st) repeat

Wintergreen Crochet Throw Pattern

Foundation Chain: ch 193 or multiple of 6 + 1 (192 +1)

ROW 1

Cloud Stitch: 2 hdc in the 2nd ch from hook. Sk 1 ch. *(1 sc in next st, 2 hdc in the next st) sk 1 ch.* repeat across to last 2 ch. Sk 1 ch, sc in the last ch. Ch 1 and turn.

ROW 2

2 hdc in the same st. *sk 1 hdc, sc in the next hdc. 2 hdc in the sc from the previous row. Repeat across to last 2 st. Sk 1 st, sc in the last st. Ch 1 turn. (Always work 2 hdc into the sc of the previous row.)

ROWS 3-10:

Repeat row 2 Change color to ivory in the last step of the final stitch of row 10. Change 3 and turn.

ROW 11

With ivory, *sk 1 st, work 1 dc in next st. Working behind the dc just made, dc in the st just skipped.* Repeat across to last st. Dc in the top of the turning chain of the previous row. Ch 3 and turn.

ROW 12

*sk 1 dc, dc in the next st. Working behind the dc just made, dc in the skipped stitch.* across to last st. Dc in the last st. Change to green in the las step of the dc. ch 1 and turn.

ROW 13

2 hdc in the same st. *ske 1 dc, sc in the next dc. 2 hdc in the next dc.* Repeat across to last 2 st. sk 1 st, sc in the last st. Ch 1 and turn.

Rows 14-17 repeat rows 2

Rows 18-19: repeat rows 11-12

Rows 20-22: repeat rows 13 and row 2 two times

Rows 23-25: repeat rows 11-12 (Repeat row 12 two times)

Rows 26-28: Repeat rows 13 then row 2 two more times

Rows 29-30: repeat rows 11-12

Rows 31-35: Repeat row 13 then row 2 four times

Rows 36-37: Repeat rows 11-12

Rows 38-47: Repeat row 13, then row 2 nine more times.

Rows 48-49: Repeat rows 1`1-12

Repeat above row pattern 3 more times ending with 10 rows of the cloud stitch in green.

Wintergreen Crochet Throw

This pattern challenged me to think outside my box. I used two new stitches that I had not used before and put them together to design a new look. The varying number of rows of each color and stitch added more interest to the project. Overall, I liked how the textures and colors came together to create an very unique throw.

Thanks for stopping by DulceBella Designs! Sit, relax, and stay a while and always glorify God by creating beautiful crochet art! I would love to hear from you and to see how you use this pattern. Please leave a comment and be willing to share your versions of this pattern with me.