How to expand a pattern

[Nancy Jean]

Hi. I’m a beginner and I have a pattern for a blanket that calls for 106 chain stitches to start with the rest of the rows being 105 stitches. I want to make the blanket bigger (the pattern is for a baby blanket and I want to make one for an adult).  What number do I use for as a multiple in order to make the bigger blanket work out for the total number of stitches?

Thanks!

Nancy from SD. 

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville Nancy!

Good news and bad news.  Bad news is sometimes it's not easy to figure out a stitch multiple for a stitch pattern, if the pattern doesn't tell you (example, making something up, a multiple of 6, plus 2).  Also,  can't answer your question because I don't enough information - the answer is 'it depends on the stitch pattern'.

Good news, you can easily 'fudge' a solution (and no math!) when starting with a chain.  You can make a chain longer than you think you'll need, turn, and work back until the first row looks about the width you want the blanket to be, then turn and work back and forth to finish your blanket, getting as many pattern repeats as you can across that chain. At the point you can't get another pattern repeat across, turn and finish your blanket.

Later on, you can pick out the excess chains, and weave the end in, it will not unravel from the knot end.  If the stitch pattern repeat is a lot of stitches, throw a few more chains in there.  Be sure to leave plenty long ends to weave in.

If I'm working on something where the pattern says to make a long chain, I always throw in a few extra in case I mis-count, I'd rather pick out some chains than come up short.

[Nancy Jean]

The main pattern is this:

Sl st, chain 3, dc in next stitch

(*ch 2, 2 dc CL in next sc, ch 2, dc in middle of next CL), ending with ch 2, dc in last two sts.

Does that help?  Thanks for answering.

 

[Granny Square]

Hi Nancy, when I said earlier "sometimes it's not easy to figure out a stitch multiple", I should have said "I'm OK with most basic math in crochet (like dealing with a tension swatch) but stitch multiples usually defeat me for one reason or another which is why I make a slightly longer chain instead".  Really, a longer chain does the job and much less of a nuisance than making a math error and starting over.  I always 'over-chain' when the chain is over 50 or so.  Vintage patterns often didn't tell you the number of chains, but rather the distance ("make a chain 4' long..")

When you say blanket, do you mean for a bed? Or a throw for a sofa?  Sofa throw patterns are typically about 4'x5', but bed blankets are a LOT bigger.  Link to blanket sizes.

Speaking of throws, 'throwing" this out there -- One 'math thing' that I've seen some new crocheters not realize, is that if they have a pattern for a 36"x48" baby blanket, and decide to make it 'twice as big' at 72"x 96" (a little bigger than twin size), that is actually FOUR times the size of 36"x48".  (in your head, lay out 2 baby blankets next to each other, and 2 more in a row below them).  And 4x the yarn.