Crochet Lace Edging for a Baby Blanket

Instructions

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1. 1Preparing the edgeOn a fabric blanket, mark a dot with chalk every 1 cm, 1 cm in from the edge. Thread the same yarn on the sharp yarn needle and work blanket stitch through these marks all the way around; each stitch leaves a small loop along the edge. On a knitted blanket you can skip this step and crochet straight into the edge stitches.
2. 2Round 1: single crochetJoin yarn in the loop after a corner. Work 2 sc in each blanket-stitch loop and 5 sc in the corner loops (mark the middle of the 5 corner sc as the corner stitch). Join with sl st. A 75 cm side has about 150 sc and a 90 cm side about 180 sc.
3. 3Adjusting the countFor the shell pattern, the number of sc between two corner stitches on each side must be one less than a multiple of 6 (for example 149 or 179). If needed, work 1 sc or 3 sc into one or two loops in the middle of the side during round 1 to reach the right count. Without this adjustment the shells at the corners will sit crookedly.
4. 4Round 2: shellsSl st to the corner stitch, ch 3 (counts as first dc), 6 dc in the same corner stitch (corner shell: 7 dc). Repeat *skip 2 sts, sc in next, skip 2 sts, 5 dc in next* along the side; on the last repeat of the side, instead of 5 dc, skip 2 sts and work 7 dc in the next corner stitch. Continue the same way around all corners and join with sl st to the 3rd ch.
5. 5Round 3: picotsOn every 5-dc shell: sc in each of the first 2 dc, (sc, picot) in the center dc, sc in each of the last 2 dc; sl st in the sc between shells. On the corner shells (7 dc): sc in each of the first 3 dc, (sc, picot) in the center dc, sc in each of the last 3 dc. Join with sl st and fasten off.
6. 6FinishingWeave the ends at least 5 cm into the edging. Wash the blanket, open out the lace with your fingers while damp and dry flat; if you like, iron under a cloth on the cotton setting.