DON'T LOSE HEART, THE NEXT ROW WILL BE MUCH EASIER!

• When you get to the end of your foundation row, working in the same yarn, chain 1 to create your turning chain for the next row (remember, it's a single chain because you are working in double crochet). Now turn your work and place your first double crochet stitch into the last double crochet stitch of the previous row, ignoring the turning chain. • Work the rest of the row in double crochet, remembering to keep an eye on your tension, and making sure you place a double crochet stitch in every stitch of the last row. If you make a mistake, it's really easy to unravel your work and do it again. If you spot the mistake early on, this is definitely worth doing, but if you're half way down your work, I'd chalk it down to experience and carry on. • When you're ready to move on to your next stripe, select your new yarn. • To make a perfect stripe, you join your new colour yarn on the last stitch of the previous row in the old colour. Work your last double crochet as normal for that row, but when you get to the final two loops on the hook, switch to the new yarn. • Make your single turning chain in the new yarn and then turn your work and double crochet as before, ignoring the turning chain and putting your first stitch in the last stitch from the previous row. • Experiment with different stripe depths and different colour combinations. Aim to keep the stripes the same width by adjusting your tension so that the blanket stays the same width without increasing or decreasing stitches. • If you want a square blanket, keep going for 1m. Mine ended up being about 1.5m long. • When it's the required length, fasten off the last yarn. • Select a yarn for finishing the edges. I used a combination of a single line of white double crochet to create a neat edge to work from, and then a shell edge in red as decoration. • You'll need to work in all the yarn ends from the stripes. You can do this individually for each yarn which obviously gives the neatest result, or you can cheat a bit and work your double crochet edge over the ends so that they are effectively wrapped in your edging. • By the time you come to do the edging, you will be a double crochet expert, which will help you get this bit right. When you're doing the edges, there isn't a nice neat and tidy line of stitches to work from the last row. You will need to use your judgement and a bit of trial and error to create an edge that is straight and flat. If you pick up too many stitches, it will start to look more like a ruffle than an edge; too few stitches and your work will look puckered. I recommend keeping your work reasonably flat so that you can keep an eye on what you're doing. (If you can manage to make the number of stitches on each side divisible by 6 with one over, that will help you with the decorative shell edge.) • Once you've been all the way around the edge and reached your starting point, join your last stitch to your first with a simple slip stitch and fasten off. • For the decorative edging, I chose a shell edge. • Have a look at your work and decide if you think there is a right side. Then with right side facing, join the yarn for your edging into the fastened off slip stitch you've just made. • To create the shell edge, you will work each individual shell pattern over 6 stitches. Ideally, you will have been able to create sides with stitches divisible by 6 with 1 over. If you're a little out, don't worry too much, you'll be able to add in an extra stitch or two as you go - use your judgement here. Only you will know that you've fudged the pattern a bit to make it work! • So, with right side facing and your yarn joined in the slip stitch for the last row, miss 2 stitches, then work 5 treble crochets in the next stitch, then miss 2 stitches and finally slip stitch into the next stitch. To create the next shell, you do exactly the same thing: miss 2 stitches, work 5 treble crochets in the next stitch, miss 2 stitches and slip stitch into the next stitch. You should be able to see how that works out over 6 of your stitches from the last row each time. Properly written in pattern terminology, the shell pattern looks like this: *miss 2sts, 5tr in next st, miss 2 sts, 1ss in next st, rep from * to end. • When you get back to where you started, slip stitch into the first stitch of the edging and fasten off.