Testing the latest pattern form Helen Shrimpton. This one is a rectangle rather than square. I used worsted weight yarn, and it fits my queen size bed wonderfully. I love a thick warm blanket!
I started this one several times. My colors just didn’t seem right and because the center square has a combination of ruffle stitch and tr popcorn stitch’s my thicker yarn was giving me a problem. In the big scheme of things it worked out just fine. I guess I’m saying not to stress over this section. There is a lot of more solid sections ahead, and it will be tamed down.
I found variegated worked. Doesn’t always in a lot of patterns.

The center starts out thick… very thick. It can be a bit tight to work on, but the center really stands up because of it. Be sure to use the stitch markers in round 10. They are a big help next round. The ruffle stitches round 18 are a real slow go. Remember the popcorns in round 19 are made with tr and not dc. I keep for forgetting that!
I admit I had a really hard time picking colors for Rounds 23-26. They just didn’t seem to flow. Just know that these will really come together as you get a bit farther out. I look back and think I really like that. Didn’t while I was working them. The small squares work up fast and easy. Take a look at the tutorials Helen has to find the one right for you. I used the Zig-zag join.
Be sure to often count and watch out for the hidden stitch. Several rounds have hdc, and they are really hard to see the hidden stitch.
The puff stitches of rounds 55 and 64 are very time-consuming but adds beautiful texture.
This is a fun and different pattern and my
fellow testers have come up with some wonderful color combo!

COLOR SEQUENCE
Round 1 Spring Brook Round 2 Lemon Ice
Round 3 Spring Brook Round 4-7 Lemon Ice Round 8 Buttercup Round 9-11 Lemon Ice Round 12-13 Spring Brook Round 14 Light Blue Round 15 Mid Blue Round 16-18 Royal Round 19 Spring Brook Round 20-21 Light Blue Round 22 Deep Lake (green) Round 23 Spring Brook Round 24 Lemon Ice
Round 25 Spring Brook Round 26-29 Lemon Ice Round 30-33 Buttercup

Small Squares are to be worked now
I made all 8 squares the same

Round 1-3 Spring Brook Round 4-5 Lemon Ice Round 6 Spring Brook Round 7-8 Lemon Ice Round 9 Buttercup

The squares were joined using Spring Brook using the zig-zag join

Round 34-35 Spring Brook Round 36 Buttercup Round 37 Light Blue Round 38 Med Blue Round 39 Royal Round 40-43 Lemon Ice Round 44 Light Blue Round 45-46 Med Blue Round 47 Royal Round 48 Deep Lake (green) Round 49 Royal Round 50-51 Leon Ice Round 52-53 Buttercup Round 54 Light Blue Round 55 Med Blue
Round 56-58 Light Blue Round 59-60 Med Blue Round 61-62 Royal Round 63 Buttercup Round 64 Lemon Ice Round 65-67 Buttercup Round 68-69 Light Blue Round 70-71 Med Blue Round 72 Royal Round 73 Buttercup Round 74 Royal Round 75 Buttercup Round 76-77 Lemon Ice Round 78 Buttercup Round 79 Lemon Ice Round 80 Buttercup Round 81 Spring Brook Round 82 Buttercup Round 83-84 Spring Brook Round 85-86 Lemon Ice
Round 87-88 Spring Brook.