Welcome to week 1 of the Wall Of Stitches Crochet Along!

Over the next 25 weeks, we are going to be making 48 different crochet stitches, each in a different piece of this brick work like blanket. We will be adding a border to each individual piece before joining the pieces together. We will be making 2 pieces each week, 1 small 1 large.

With this crochet along I feel like I’ve gone more back towards the style of my very first crochet along – The 50 Stitches. With regular predictable sized pieces that all fit together neatly in rows – sort of, I had to give it a bit of twist with the stacked edges.

But it time to get started, so lets get into it with the first two pieces.

This article contains affiliate links, I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Wall Of Stitches is a completely free crochet along. Each week the next piece of the pattern will be published on my blog, but if you want the concise and ad free pdf delivered to you each week that will remain in your Ravelry library, you can purchase that for just £5 here. This is a one off payment that covers the entirety of this CAL.

If you want to prep ahead, you can find out how much yarn you need for each week here as well as the layout and where each piece will fit.

For this pattern I chose to use LoveCrafts own brand yarn PaintBox 100% Cotton Aran. I love how vibrant the colours are in this range and how many different shades there are to choose from – 63 at last count! The cotton is unmercerised meaning that you can see the individual strands of cotton and it can split when using it. But as far as cottons go it is lovely to use and I didn’t find splitting too much of an issue.

But if you’re looking for a yarn to use that has lots of colours to choose from and doesn’t split, there is PaintBox simply aran, a 100% acrylic yarn that has the same 63 shades as the cotton range. Other yarn ranges that would suit are Caron Simply Soft and Stylecraft Special Aran. But you can use any Aran or Worsted Weight yarn for the Wall Of Stitches.

I also used a 4.5 mm hook for the whole pattern – I recommend using Clover Amour hooks. A cost effective hook that is comfortable in your hands thanks to their ergonomic design, so doesn’t make your hands tired when crocheting for long periods of time. I love my Clover hooks and although I own several different hook brands, I inevitably end up going back and using my trusty Clovers.

Got questions or want to join the chat? Then come over to our Facebook group here and join the rest of the Froggy community.

Week 1 Of The Wall Of Stitches Crochet Along

Lets talk tension

Before we get started I want to give you a warning about tension.

Because we are using so many different crochet stitches, tension is going to be an issue. Typically we crochet tighter when making single crochet stitches than when we make any other stitches. 

So our first two pieces of the Wall Of Stitches CAL are going to help us judge our tension and hook size needs for the rest of the CAL. Piece 1 is a single crochet based stitch which tends to get made up tightly and the 2nd piece is double crochet based which we tend to crochet looser.

This entire CAL calls for you to use a 4.5 mm hook, but this depends on you keeping your tension consistent. Not everyone finds this easy, so the other way you can keep your pieces the same size is to change hook size. So I would stick with the 4mm hook for piece 2, and go up a size for piece 1 if you tend to make your single crochet’s tighter than your doubles.

So why didn’t I start with piece 2 if it makes more sense to make this first if you need to play about with your hook sizes? Because I wanted a sturdier stitch for the corner piece and piece 2 is much more flexible and stretchy. There are construction considerations in a design like this so the pieces had to be swapped.

Don’t worry if your pieces don’t work out with identical sizing. You will find that there is some variation between pieces and that’s just fine. We will be adding a single crochet border to every piece, so this will pull your pieces into shape and keep things fairly even. As long as each of your pieces is made with a similar tension then I’ve found that everything evens out in the end and I’ve built in enough loose stitches to compensate for pieces that naturally tend to work up a bit tighter than is ideal. So you will come out with a blanket that lies flat and looks fabulous.

Piece 1 – Flying Birds

Our first piece for week one of the Wall Of Stitches Crochet Along is made using the Flying Birds stitch. This is a single crochet based stitch that uses pairs of diagonal spike stitches to create the look of birds flying on the front of your fabric.

I used the shade Blood Orange (620) from the Paintbox 100% Cotton Aran range from LoveCrafts for this piece. If you haven’t read the not about tension above, this is where it is going to apply. So if you tend to make your single crochet stitches really tight compared to your double crochets, you may want to go up a hook size or concentrate on keeping your tension loose.

Click here for the left hand video

You will need a total of 55 meters (60 yards) of yarn for this piece if you are sticking to my gauge of 15dc in 10cm and 9 rows of dc in 10cm using a 4.5mm hook

Abbreviations

• Ch = Chain
• St = Stitch
• Sk = Skip
• Sp = Space
• Sc = Single Crochet

Start by making a foundation chain of 66

Row 1. In the 3rd ch from your hook make a sc (the turning ch counts as your first st of the row). Make a sc in each st across – 65st

Row 2. Turn and ch1. Make a sc in each of the first 4 st. Ch1, sk the next st. *Make a sc in each of the next 7st. Ch1, skip the next st.* Repeat between *and* (7 repeats). Make a sc in each of the last 4 st – 65st / 8 chsp

Rows 3 and 4. Turn and ch1. Make a sc in the first st. Make a sc in each st across – 65st

Row 5. Turn and ch1. Make a sc in each of the first 2 st. *Make a spike st working into the next ch1 space 3 rows below. 

Make a sc in each of the next 3 st. Then make a spike st in the same ch1sp as your last spike st

To make a Spike st, insert your hook into the chsp then YO and pull up a loop. Pull the loop all the way up to the height of the previous stitch in the row. Then YO and pull through both loops on your hook.

Make a sc in each of the next 3st* repeat between *and* when you have 2 st left, sc in both st. – 8 Flying Birds / 65st

Rows 6 – 13. Repeat rows 2-5

Row 14. Turn and ch1. Make a sc in the first st. Make a sc in each st across – 65st 

Once you’ve finished row 14 you can cut off and weave in your ends.

Now we need to add a border around your piece. 

For the left hand border video click here

Round 1. Using your background colour, make a standing single crochet into any stitch. Make a single crochet in each stitch across the top and bottom, and into each row down the sides. When you get to the corners add an extra stitch into the corner – you will have 14 sc down each side and 65 across the top, plus 1 extra sc in each corner.

When you get back to your 1st st, slst into it – 162 sc in total

Rounds 2 and 3. Ch1 and make a sc into the first st of the previous round. Make a sc in each st around. When you get to the extra corner stitch, make 3 sc in that st. When you get back to the 1st st of the round, slst into it.

When you finish round 3, cut off and weave in your ends. Round 3 should have 186 sc in total, with 18 sc down each short side, plus that extra sc in each corner

Now you’ve finished your first piece, lets move onto the 2nd piece of Week 1 Of The Wall Of Stitches Crochet Along.

Piece 2 – Bead

Our second piece for week one of the Wall Of Stitches Crochet Along is made using the Bead stitch. This stitch is made using double and half double crochet stitches with the Bead being made by wrapping a puff stitch around the double crochet stitches.

I used the shade Lime Green (629) from the Paintbox 100% Cotton Aran range from LoveCrafts for this piece.

Click here for the left hand video

You will need a total of 33 meters (36 yards) of yarn for this piece if you are sticking to my gauge of 15dc in 10cm and 9 rows of dc in 10cm using a 4.5mm hook

Abbreviations

• Ch = Chain
• St = Stitch
• Sk = Skip
• YO = Yarn Over
• Hdc = Half Double Crochet
• Dc = Double Crochet

Start by making a foundation ch of 32

Row 1. In the 4th ch from your hook make a hdc (your turning ch counts as the first st of your row). Make a hdc in each st across – 30st

Row 2. Turn and ch1. Make a dc turn ch in the first st. *Make a Bead stitch in the next st

To make a bead stitch – Make a dc and then working around the post of the dc you just made, 

YO and pull up a loop. Do this 3 times until you have 7 loops on your hook. 

Then yarn over and pull through all 7 loops.

Sk the next st* repeat between *and* Make a dc in the last st of the row – 14 beads

Row 3. Turn and ch 1. Make a hdc in the first st and then make a hdc in each st across – 30 st

Rows 4-8. Repeat rows 2 and 3

Now we need to add a border around your piece. 

For the left hand border video click here

For the right hand border video click here

Round 1. Using your background colour, make a standing single crochet into any stitch. Make a single crochet in each stitch across the top and bottom. Make 2 sc into the side of every bead row, and rows 1 and 5. Make 1 sc into the sides of rows 3 and 7. When you get to the corners add an extra stitch into the corner – you will have 14 sc down each side and 65 across the top, plus 1 extra sc in each corner.

When you get back to your 1st st, slst into it – 102st

Rounds 2 and 3. Ch1 and make a sc into the first st of the previous round. Make a sc in each st around. When you get to the extra corner stitch, make 3 sc in that st. When you get back to the 1st st of the round, slst into it.

When you finish round 3, cut off and weave in your ends. Round 3 should have 126st in total, with 18 sc down each short side, plus that extra sc in each corner

Now you need to join the left hand edge of the Bead piece to the right hand edge of the Flying Birds stitch using the flat braid method. You can see how to do this in this post here.

That is then week 1 of the Wall Of Stitches crochet along complete!

Your first 2 pieces make up the bottom left hand corner of your blanket and the first half of the first row. Next week we will complete the first row of your Wall Of Stitches.

In the meantime, why not come and join our Facebook group – Froggity Frog’s Ribbit And Stitch and show us your completed pieces. Our super friendly community where you can ask all of your crochet questions, share your latest make and make new crochet friends. Come join us now right here and join in the conversation.

Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about new stitch guides and new crochet pattern releases. You can sign up here and be the first to see what I’ve got cooking behind the scenes here at Froggity Frog.