Pattern * popcorn blanket

Hello there,

Apologies for my absence. I have been travelling through a very crochet minded country... I will post about that soon. Meanwhile I have not been answering comments and emails, but I will get back to you!

But first this: a bit later then anticipated (and promised) the written pattern of my popcorn blanket is finally ready. I tested it, and it should be okay, but please let me know if I made any mistakes.

Which makes me wonder: has any of you experiences with a computer program to write crochet patterns and charts? Like this one by Stitch Works? Or another one?

I'd like to publish more patterns and make charts for my doilies, but it's rather time consuming – and I'm not very good at drawing a neat chart I'm afraid. Love to hear from you about this.

Some notes beforehand...
– I use American terminology.
– As the first dc of each new round, I chain 2. I know 3 chains is more common as an alternative for a dc, but I think 2 ch gives a neater result.
– If the pattern calls for a 3dctog, the first 3dctog of a new round will be [chain 2 + 2 dc].
– A popcorn is made of 5 completed double crochets in 1 one stitch, they are then joined.
– It is a classic square and there exist a lot of very similar patterns. I adapted one of those for this blanket (e.g. I wanted the popcorn stitches really to pop, so I made them bigger).
– I made 20 squares for this plaid, then I ran out of yarn. Ha! I used a 5 mm hook. Each individual square measures 26x26 cm.

– For those of you who prefer a crochet chart, I'm making one for this pattern, I just need a bit more time...

The square
To begin: ch 8, close with a sl st to first sc.

Round 1
[dc3tog, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3] 3 times, dc3tog, ch 2 dc3tog, chain 1, 1 dc (this is to close the round in the top stitch of the first 3dctog of this round. This way you begin your next round just on the right spot and you don't have to cut your yarn!)

Round 2

dc3tog, *ch 2, 3 dc in ch 2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3, dc3tog in same space to make a corner, repeat from * 2 times, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 1, 1 dc (to close the round)

Round 3
dc3tog, *ch 2, 2 dc in ch 2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 3 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3, dc3tog in same space to make a corner, repeat from * 2 times, chain 2, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 3 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 1, 1 dc (to close the round)

Round 4
dc3tog, *ch 2, 2 dc in ch 2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 7 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3, dc3tog in same space to make a corner, repeat from * 2 times, chain 2, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 7 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 1, 1 dc (to close the round)

Round 5 This is the round where the popcorn fun starts!
dc3tog, *ch 2, 2 dc in ch 2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, popcorn in next stitch of the previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3, dc3tog in same space to make a corner, repeat from * 2 times, chain 2, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, popcorn, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 1, 1 dc (to close the round)

Round 6
dc3tog, *ch 2, 2 dc in ch 2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, popcorn in next st of the previous round, 3 dc in each next st of the previous round, popcorn, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3, dc3tog in same space to make a corner, repeat from * 2 times, chain 2, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, popcorn in next st of the previous round, 3 dc in each next st of the previous round, popcorn, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 1, 1 dc (to close the round)

Round 7
dc3tog, *ch 2, 2 dc in ch 2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, popcorn in next st of the previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 3 stitches of the previous round, popcorn, 1 dc in of the next 3 next stitches of previous round, popcorn,1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 3, dc3tog in same space to make a corner, repeat from * 2 times, ch 2, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 5 dc of previous round, popcorn in next st of the previous round, 1 dc in each of the next 3 st of the previous round, popcorn, 1 dc in the next 3 stitches, popcorn, 1 dc in each of the next 5 st of previous round, 2 dc in ch2 space of previous round, ch 2, dc3tog, ch 1, 1 dc (to close the round)

Round 8, 9 and 10 are the same as round 7, except that you increase every round with one popcorn following the same increasing scheme as the previous rounds. Which leads to 6 popcorns on each side of your square in round 10.
Of course you could make more of less rows, according to your taste (and your amount of yarn!).

Joining the squares
I single crocheted the backs of the squares together with the same colour yarn.

The border
Borders really are the cherry - or icing, if you prefer sugar ;-) - on the cake, and I do like a big border. However, I felt that this one needed a simple border, so I restrained myself.
Using a contrasting colour I simply single crocheted one row along the squares. In each corner I made 3 sc.
The 2nd row of the border is also made of single crochets, alternating with popcorns. The pictures below shows where I made the popcorns.

In case you give it a try: I hope you like this pattern as much as I do! I'd love to see the result.

I hope to be back here soon with some delicious crochet work (not mine) and new yarn (mine!).
Thanks for dropping by & all the best.
♦♦♦