My younger daughter Susie is going to be bridesmaid to her best friend Tasha in June. She has been arranging all things Hen Party for the past months and has asked me to make a throw for Tasha and Greg with their names on it. This will be part of my present to them, as I have been invited to share their special day with them too.

We have known Tasha since the girls started school at the age of 5, so nearly 20 years and she is a larger than life girl, always there for Susie, they have a special friendship.

I decided to do the lettering vertically with popcorn stitches. I usually make my popcorns with dc and stick with the 4 mm hook (I use d.k. instead of worsted weight usually for my throws), but for the hearts and lettering I used hdc and a 3.5 hook instead.

I set out the lettering and hearts on graph paper first. It helped that I have already made a heart throw in the same size for my sister Ann, so it was easy to work out from the number of stitches I used for her blanket.

I will include a photo of how I set-out my graph.

You can find my previous aran throws here, they are mounting up!

Stats:-

225 ch = (224 sc)
74 cables
55/56 bobbles
55 arrows

Heart panel, I used 3.50 hook and did hdc instead of sc for popcorns only

Diamond panel, I used 3.75 hook

I always start with a couple of rows of sc, followed by low ridge for the edging, then another couple of rows of sc and then start the pattern of low ridge and cable. I sew the extra rows in as a hem, folding along the low ridge, I find this is a nice edging.

For a few tips see below:-

Popcorn - 4 + 1 over 4 rows (I always use dc instead of sc for the popcorns with sc in between and don’t change hook size as recommended, (I make my Popcorns with 4 dc ch1 sc ch1 4dc popcorn).

Cable = 3 + 1 over 2 rows

Arrow = 4 + 2 over 2 rows

Celtic Weave = 4 + 2 over 4 rows (I would use a size larger hook for this one as it does nip in at the edges)

Basket-weave = 6 + 1 over 6 rows (I always use a size smaller hook for this pattern) I used 3.50 hook.

For tutorials of how to do the stitches in Bonnies patterns, see her YouTube videos here

All done with a week to spare:)