Freebie Friday- Pattern – Mom’s Crochet

It’s always such a nice surprise to discover something my mother made that I had never seen before. Inevitably, I want to figure out how to make it, even if I never plan to, you know, actually make it. I go about this by looking at the piece to see if I can figure it out myself, and when I fail at that, I look it up online. That has various success rates. Sometimes, I’m lucky and I find a pattern, but most of the time I don’t. This is because I’m looking up the pattern based on how the item looks to me. The pattern might be out there in cyberspace but I don’t have the right search words to find it.

True story (mostly, it depends on who you ask)

Sibling rivalry is real. It is alive and thriving with my siblings. Whilst visiting my sister, she regaled me with a story about how she discovered a bag underneath her bed. A bag that had been there for so long, she didn’t even know how long. For one reason or another, she pulled it out wondering what was in there. That’s when she found a blanket that my mother gave her that she hadn’t looked at in years. Turns out, it was double-sided and very thick and pretty. She had made it for one of this sister’s kids.

The picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s heavy and  stretchy and prettier than it looks.

Mom had made this very same sister other double-sided blankets for her kids. I immediately snitched (complained, whined) to my other sis about it. My other sis pointed out that mom seemed to make all the fancy blankets for this sister’s kids. Hmmm, that seemed to be true.

“Mom must have loved you best,” we accused. “Yep, looks like,” she said all nonchalantly. Hmmm…meanwhile, other sis and I were thinking up ways to steal it. We probably won’t, but I make no promises. However, I searched online for a similar blanket but came up short.

Later, I examined the blanket to see if I could figure out the pattern myself.

I never claimed I had this talent, but every now and then, I surprise myself. Mom had this magical talent. She could look at any crocheted piece and copy it. That was her way of following a pattern. So I stared and stared at the blanket. My sisters were very confident I could figure it out. I wasn’t sure I could measure up to their expectations but I was certainly going to try.

After some time, I thought I figured it out. Mom used a very thin yarn and I only had thick yarn. I made a swatch and am pretty  sure it’s the same but my sis wasn’t sure. It’s hard to compare when it’s a completely different yarn in color, weight, and content. None-the-less, I liked the stitch I came up with whether it’s exactly the same or not.

Regardless of whether I cracked the code or not, other sis and I are keeping an eye out for when my sister isn’t home… There might be a snatch and grab in the future.

My Interpretation of Moms Work

The first thing I had to figure out was whether it was double sided because of post stitches or because the blanket had two live rows going at the same time. This one seemed to be made with post stitches. That was good because I don’t think I could have figured it out if it was otherwise. My next problem was figuring out how to start each row. I tried different things until I found a solution I liked. I’m pretty sure it’s not the same as moms but I found a solution that works for me. I’m not so worried about the edge as long as the middle looks the same.

Pattern and video

I made a chain with increments of four and then three more. I made three double crochets in the third chain from the hook. I skipped three chains and did four double crochets in the same stitch. I repeated to the end.

I chained three and turned. The next part is a little harder to explain. I made four double crochets in the front post of the fourth double crochet of the previous round. When all four were done, In the next set of four double crochets of the previous, I made another four double crochets in the front post of the fourth double crochet. If this sounds a little confusing, I made a video showing what I did. It’s not the greatest video as I’m still learning how to do it, but it clearly shows what I’m talking about here.

I have no idea if this stitch has a name or not but if you recognize it, by all means, let me know. For now, it shall be named Reversible, double-sided, stretchy, double crochet mystery stitch. It’s a bit long but I like it!