Skein Passion

Luscious 'fioro' hand died merino-silk yarn skeins from The Yarn Bowl in the shades sepia rose, abalone and plum purple As Valentines day approaches sprinklings of pink hearts and cutesy romance sayings start popping up all over the place. Yarn sales are overflowing with red and pink colourways and patterns are dotted with love knots.  But I want to talk about Passion. That deep intense desire you experience when you touch that divine squishy yarn skein, you know the one I'm talking about, that skein that makes your heart sing. It's a magic colour, squishing it is like touching a cloud with the lustre of angels. The yarn of your dreams. Where were you when you had that experience the first time? In a specialty yarn store looking at the silk-alpaca blends? I'm willing to bet it wasn't, more likely it was at the discount store passing the bargain aisle and this little ball of fluff caught your eye and you sighed and squished it and wished you had the skill to turn

Back-loop Chevron Crochet Throw

Large chevron crochet throw working into the back-loop to give a great textural effect.

Some of you may remember that in September I started working a back loop crochet project using this yummy yarn.

Yummy yarn makes for yummy finished crochet projects.

In some shots the yarn looks shiny (which it is) and others' it doesn't. 

This throw-rug has been finished for few weeks now but I couldn't show you until after I'd gifted it to the person it was intended for or it would have ruined the surprise. 


Pattern


I adapted this corner stripe square pattern to make my rug. Working 4 rows of each colour, I crocheted into the back loops instead of the front and just kept going until the square was the width I wanted.

An easy crochet chevron design that can be made as big as you like.

Once the rug was the right width I simply increased the length by slip stitching across 2 stitches, crochet the row as before and stopping 2 stitches from the end, turn and repeat.

A very 'fly by the seat of your pants' (or rather 'crochet by the seat of your pants' ) project I just kept going until I thought it was long enough.

Border / Edging


I could have just called it done at this point but I felt the rug needed a border to give a more finished feel. 

edging in SC or DC, HDC & SC as needed.

For each end of the rug where the edges were flat I simply single crocheted into each stitch of the previous row. (see left of above image)

The long edges along the length of the rug were not so flat from dropping off those 2 stitches on each row. I used DC, HDC and a SC into each post space to address this (see right of above image).

When I reached the other side I had to do those stitches in reverse. SC, HDC, DC.

After working all the way around I continued with 4 rows of HDC - into both loops for a flat effect (in contrast to the texture of the back-loop work) - using colour 1, and then another 4 rows using colour 2. To finish I did one more row of HDC in colour 1 and then another in colour 2.

border; 4 rows HDC in brown, 4 rows HDC in red, 1 row HDC in brown, 1 row HDC in red

I think I accidentally added in a few extra stitches somewhere along the way causing a bit of ripplyness to the edging which got exponentially worse the further out I got.

My attempts to make the rug lay flat for photos were continually foiled by the little tortoiseshell terror that kept running across it. Perhaps Ada thought it was a landing strip.

Ada-cat planning her next landing


Yarn


I purchased 5 balls (8 ply acrylic) of each colour but only used 4 of each. This is a wonderfully big throw that will easily cover your lap or wrap around your shoulders for snugly warmth on a cold night.

Making up this throw was an absolute pleasure, stitching in the few ends that couldn't be crocheted over didn't take long and it was great to not have any joins to make.

The chevron design has lots of scope for variation just by changing how many rows of each colour you use. I would totally crochet another throw using this chevron design.

Back-loop Chevron Crochet Throw Rug