Help with rainbow pattern

[Robin Fenn]

I'm trying to crochet a rainbow blanket pattern. I started with a chain of about 45, double crochet to the end, 6 dcs in the last chain and double chain back down the chain. Row 2 dcs in each stitch to the end and put 2 dcs in each of the 6 dcs at the end of the chain for 12 dcs to turn, then dcs to the end.

It worked beautifully. My question is how to proceed. Do I keep adding 6 stitches for each new row? Does this work when I'm on row 20 when the work is much wider? 

I tried to add stitches as they felt necessary and ended up with more of a mushroom shape than an arc. Clearly, I added too many stitches. 

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Robin

[Granny Square]

That is lovely, but I do see the pucker.

You are on the right track for the number of increases, but are missing one detail - spacing them differently each round.

I'm going to talk 'circle recipes' for a minute, bear with me.  To make a flat circle, sc=6, dc=12.  Those 'ingredients' are the number of stitches you initially start with, and how many stitches you increase each round.  You have that part right, as you are making a half circle in DC, so 6 is the right number to add.  You didn't add too many stitches, you just didn't put them quite in the right place

The step you are missing is the method of increasing as the circle grows.  I'll go back to describing half a circle.  What you should have done at the curve is:

First round 6 stitches together - this part is OK. 

rnd 2 - 2 stitches into each stitch, total=12 -- that's OK too.

rnd 3 - 2 stitches into the first stitch, 1 stitch into the next 1 stitch, repeat- this is where you started to go wrong, you need to spread them out

rnd 4 - 2 stitches into the first stitch, 1 stitch into each of the next 2 stitches, repeat

rnd 5 - 2 stitches into the first stitch, 1 stitch into each of the next 3 stitches, repeat

Now, this is going  to totally mess up your puff or popcorn motif, but it will keep your center flat.  If you hadn't added stitches, you would have ended up with a giant tote bag (if it had been an oval, not a half oval).  On the raised stitches, you can't have the circle get wider and keep the bumps spaced the same.  The way I've seen patterns (round lace doilies for example) handle this, is to let the original set of bumps spread out until there are 2x the space between them than they started with, and add bumps between them so they are spaced the same again except twice as many, then let those bumps spread out, add another set of bumps between them when they are 2x apart, and so on--sort of spouting organically.

[Granny Square]

This sort of illustrates what I was trying to say, at least the general point of 'you're going to need more bumps' and the 'adding between' part.  4 leaves become 8, and one could expand this pattern to get 16 and so on.

[Robin Fenn]

Thank you so much. I started to experiment a little and added the stitches in much the way you reference. It seems to be working.

I started the bobble stitch on row 5 where I have 120 stitches and put them in every 12th stitch. On row 6, I started the bobble on the 6th stitch and then carried on with a bobble every 12th stitch. Back to starting on stitch 12 for row 7, etc. It seems to be working out, but the pattern will not be perfectly symmetrical.

I do cheat on the extra stitch if it happens to line up with a spot I should do 2 stitches. I just move the 2 stitches to before or after the bobble but it is still in the same group.

Thanks, stay safe.

r

[Granny Square]

You're welcome!  psssst....don't tell anyone this, but I cheat like you described as well.  Sometimes my stitch height tension versus a designers' means I have to sneak-tweak now and then to keep something like a doily flat.