I have pulled this out of the archives because it suddenly just appealed to me, and guess what, I did this at the exact same time, namely right after Succot, three years ago! So no wonder it appealed to me, though still quite surprised! Friends, I have not had the time to crochet lately as painting and sketchbook practices have really taken over, but I spent years loving crochet, and I highly recommend it! Okay, here's that post that I dusted off to share with you once again:
The Jewish holiday season is over and the first thing I just had to do (after 8 days of holidays and no crafting) was pick up some colorful t-shirt yarn and make something! Truthfully I needed to crochet a swatch to photograph for application on a product, and this arcade stitch just seemed so very perfect! The edges of the piece were photo-shopped a bit, meaning I took out the bulge of the turning chain, so do keep that in mind, otherwise, you can expect gorgeous results like this, especially if you choose to crochet in bulky yarn, or t-shirt yarn, which is just too fun for words.
Arcade stitch is perfect for crocheted trim, pillow covers, blankets, rugs, table runners, scarves, and of course garments so give this stitch a try! I was just thinking that a chunky baby blanket in pastel colors using the arcade stitch would be just dreamy and so simple to whip up!
Foundation Chain: A multiple of 6 chain stitches, plus 1 extra chain stitch.
Foundation Row: Using foundation chain of desired length:
Ch 1 (turning chain), 2sc, ch3, sk3, sc3. *Ch3, sk3, sc3 Continue along length of chain from * until 5 stitches remain.Ch3, sk3, sc2.
Row 1: Ch1, (turn) 7dc into chain space. *Sk1, sc1, sk1, 7dc into chain space. Continue from * until one stitch remains. Sc1 in last stitch.
Row 2: Ch4 (turn) Sk3, sc3, *ch3, sk5, sc3. Continue from * until 2 stitches remain: Ch1, sk1, dc1.
Row 3: Ch3 (turn) dc3 into chain space. *Sk1,sc1, sk1, dc7 into chain space. Continue from * until 3 stitches and one chain space remain. Sk1, sc1, sk1, dc4 into last chain.
Row 4: Ch1 (turn) sc2, ch3, sk5. *Ch3, sk5, sc3. Continue from * until 6 stitches remain. Ch3, sk5, sc1.
Continue repeating rows 1-4.
Note 1: This swatch was photo-shopped and I took out the bulge of the turn chain that you may or may not see in your work depending on the yarn choice. Some patterns specify crocheting into the turn chain to avoid this problem, but this pattern does not. If the bulge on the edge bothers you, so try altering the pattern and see what happens!
Note 2: There are several versions of arcade stitch that produce similar results. I have also seen a pattern that calls for 9dc and a ch5, with a foundation chain that is multiples of 8, so do look into that if you'd like a larger arch.
Happy crocheting!
