In Part 20 of Sophie’s Universe, I am going to tell you how to make the optional border. Before I do that, though, I am quickly going to talk about “growing” your Sophie if she isn’t big enough for you yet.
Update: I have had a few queries about the border. You do not have to add the squares in Part 19 to be able to make this border. Below Materials you will see bullet points that tell you how to adapt the border if you have added the squares.
“Growing Sophie”
If you would like to make your Sophie even bigger, I suggest purchasing a copy of Jean Holzman’s Stitch Sampler pattern (available HERE as an electronic download).
I wanted this pattern so badly that I purchased the book it was originally published in, Afghans for All Seasons, from Amazon. I paid quite a bit of money for it too, especially considering that it still had a $5 sale sticker on it when I received it Wednesday morning! Literally 3 hours after I purchased it, Leisure Arts announced that they had released it as a stand-alone e-pattern “due to popular demand”. I have now bought that as well. The pattern costs $6.99, and I think it is a valuable investment for anyone wanting to grow future projects.
Stitch Sampler has 81 glorious rounds, 62 of which are usable as growing options (because the first 19 rounds are used to create a square and won’t work on an existing square if that makes sense).
This blanket contains many stitches we have already used (Crossed Doubles, Popcorn Stitches, Clusters, V-stitches) as well as some we never got to use, making it perfect to continue your “learning journey”.
If you DO want to grow Sophie using the Stitch Sampler pattern, I suggest starting with Round 31. To make Round 31, you will need a multiple of 6 stitches in the last round of Sophie, and it just so happens that you do! If you have added squares to two sides of Sophie, you will need to add two stitches to these “short sides” somewhere to get back to a stitch count of 216 (not including corner spaces), as the squares have a stitch count of 214 (not including corner spaces).
If you want to start with any other round, I suggest that you “fudge” the first round you choose to make it work with the last round of Sophie. Once you have “made” the first round work, the rest will be fine.
Sophie’s Universe Part 20 – Betty’s Beautiful Border (BBB)
©Betty Byers 2014. All Rights Reserved. Tutorial for BBB ©Dedri Uys 2014.
Resources
- Add this CAL to your Ravelry Queue
- Sophie’s Universe CAL 2015 Information
- Use the Print-friendly button at the bottom (right) of this post to print/save this tutorial. Don’t know how? Find out HERE.
- **Betty’s Beautiful Border Video Tutorial** by Esther Dijkstra from It’s All in a Nutshell
Translations
- Dutch Translation by Dianne Baan
- German Translation by Maja Heidingsfelder
- Spanish Translation by Lynda Hernandez
- French Translation by Sandra Larvin (with Video Tutorials by Géraldine Cymer)
- Danish Translation by Tina Poulsen
- Russian Translation (with Video) by Natalie V. Alimpieva
- Swedish CAL Information by Emma Vingqvist, Agnetha Magnusson, Åza Karlsson, and Ulrika Larsson
Materials
For the purposes of this tutorial I am using Scheepjeswol Cotton 8 (available from Deramores) and a 3.25 mm Clover Amour Crochet Hook
- I have supplied estimates for the yardages you will need to complete Betty’s Beautiful Border. These estimates are only applicable if you are going to use BBB with the optional squares. If you would like to grow your Sophie some more before adding the border, you are going to have to play it by ear.
- To be able to make the first Round of BBB, you will need a multiple of 3 + 1 stitches along every side (not counting corner ch-2 spaces). The last round of Sophie’s Universe has a multiple of 3 stitches (216). You can either add a double-crochet base round, which will add 4 stitches to this stitch count, or you can skip Rounds 1 and 2 of the border completely (they are both just dc rounds anyway) and start with Round 3.
- If you have added squares to two sides of Sophie, the “short sides” will no longer be a multiple of 3, but rather a multiple of 3 + 1. {214 stitches (not including corner spaces) = 3*71 + 1}. You will need to skip 1 extra stitch somewhere along the short sides to make the stitch count for the border work out. Esther has done this by skipping 2 st’s at the end of each short side in Round 3 of the border, rather than one.
Betty’s Beautiful Border |
||||||
| Yardage supplied supposes that you have made the optional squares from Part 19. | ||||||
| Small | Medium | Large | ||||
| Base Round | Moors | 62 | Cyclamen | 85 | Moonstone | 95 |
| Round 1 | Light Purple | 65 | Violet | 90 | Moonstone | 100 |
| Round 2 | Light Turquoise* | 68 | Light Blue | 95 | Moonstone | 105 |
| Round 3 | Light Green | 45 | Olive | 65 | Lemon Quartz | 72 |
| Round 4 | Canary | 88 | Canary | 125 | Corrundum Ruby | 135 |
| Round 5 | Light Turquoise | 38 | Light Blue | 50 | Moonstone | 60 |
| Round 6 | Turquoise | 75 | Dark Turquoise | 105 | Deep Amathyst | 110 |
| Round 7 | Light Turquoise** | 78 | Light Blue | 110 | Moonstone | 118 |
| Round 8 | Light Green*** | 80 | Olive | 115 | Canada Jade | 125 |
| Total meters | 599 | 840 | 920 | |||
I have had to substitute some colours due to user error. The user being me, and the error being not ordering my Light Turquoise on time. I have had to use shades of pink to make up for the fact that I couldn’t use Light Turquoise, but as soon as my Light Turquoise arrives, I will be frogging and redoing with the above colours. You can see the colours I used below.
- *Violet
- **Light Pink
- ***Fuchsia
Tutorial for Betty’s Beautiful Border
Once you have decided which approach you are going to take, head over to the tutorial for Betty’s Beautiful Border, which you can find HERE.
Esther has once again let me use one of her photos so that you can see the blanket completed with the squares and the border.
Next week I will go over the optional surface crochet and anything else that might still need chatting about. I hope to see you back here for the farewell party!
This blog post contains affiliate links. I only link to products I personally use or would use. All opinions are my own.
Raf says
Thank you so much for this amazing pattern. I hadn’t crochet anything for 30 years!! but when I saw this pattern I just fell in love with it! Every round is different giving us new challenges and – eventually – the great feeling of accomplishment. I am absolutely delighted with my (very nearly finished 2 rounds to go) blanket and just had to tell you how much pleasure this has given me. Again, thank you sooooooo much! You are truly talented for having designed this gorgeous blanket.
Dedri Uys says
Hi Raf.
I am so pleased that you have almost completed Sophie. Have you shared some photos somewhere? I would love to see them :)
Betty Parker says
I have finished part 20 and trying to decide about the border. Sophie looks very good on my king size bed without the border.
Like everyone else I want to thank you for this wonderful trip. I have learned so much and am so proud of myself. When I look at Sophie I just smile and can’t believe I did it. I have looked online for other CALs and there are none to compare with yours.
Thanks again for the gift you have given us.
Dedri Uys says
Thank you, Betty! I am so pleased that you feel proud about your accomplishment!
Angela Catania says
Dedri – I have loved making Sophie & it is the one I am keeping for myself – I find it amazing that you can design such a beautiful work of art – Thank you so much for this challenge!
I haven’t decided about the squares but if I do them I would like to do it all the way around – can you help with that? Would it change the border or will it not matter? Again my heartfelt thanks!
Dedri Uys says
Hi Angela. By putting squares all the way around the blanket you will end up with a final round stitch count of 262 stitches per side, and 4 ch-2 corner spaces. The 262 stitches include all the corner spaces of the small squares, except the very corner ones, which will count as corners.
262 is a multiple of 3 + 1.
Your best option in this case is to skip the base round and start with Round 1 of Betty’s border immediately after the squares.
I hope that helps!
Dedri
Shirla Ghadaki says
I personally think this is one of the prettiest afghans around. No matter what color combination, it remains beautiful. Thank you for walking us through the process of making it.
Dedri Uys says
Thank you, Shirla x
Maggie Lewin says
Dedri I cannot say enough to thank you for this wonderful wonderful crochet journey. Sophie has helped me in so many ways and I now have a stunning masterpiece (and at least 2 more coming). Thank you thank you a billion times.
Debbie says
Dear Dedri,
I can’t thank you enough for this beautiful project. I found you late so am only up to part 8 but boy what a fantastic time I’m having. The instructions and tutorials are so easy to follow and considering I only started crocheting last year I don’t think I’m doing too bad thank you once again for your generosity and kindness in making this pattern available. Take care
Vicki Garnick says
I love this CAL so much! I’m only on part 8, but everyone who sees it is just in awe! Thank you so much for this beautiful pattern!!
Jan says
Hi Dedri! I have been exploring all about Sophie and wanted to thank you for all your efforts, time and dedication in the undertaking that this massive CAL has required. I have never seen such attention to detail which I adore. I want you to know how appreciated you and your talents along with all others involved in teaching and sharing. I’m sure at times it was a bit overwhelming which brings me to my question. I have not started Sophie myself as I have yet to acquire the yarn and recently found your patterns for it. My question is this: is it possible to acquire the whole pattern now that you are upon completion? I just would like to print the whole pattern out and then go back and complete each section with the videos on my own. Is this possible? I wish I had been aware of this CAL from the beginning as I’m feeling excited about it but left out too! Lol. But, this just means I will find SOMEBODY to have my own CAL with it! Lol. I want to make sure I’m well informed of your next one! :-) Anyway, thanks again. Please let me know reply.
Dedri Uys says
Hi Jan. The pattern is currently only available as tutorials, but I am working on making a full pdf of the whole pattern, which will be released in due course.
TESSA says
THANK YOU….LOVE IT !!!!!!!!
Georgina Bird says
Thank you so much, for sharing your amazing talent and passion with us, I lost all my mojo but due to you and your beautiful universe I now have it back, so with all my heart and soul I say thank you
Shelagh says
Thanks for the heads up on the stitch sampler pattern. I also bought the book – and was lucky enough to find a cheap second-hand copy on Amazon – but I prefer to work from an ePattern as I can load it onto my iPad :)
Dedri Uys says
Lucky you! Mine cost an arm and a leg!
Jody Brookshier says
Hi Dedri, I didn’t do the squares but thought this would be a lovely finish to the Sophie. I haven’t done the math yet- thought you might know if we can start right up with BBB on Sophie minus the squares? Thank you for this beautiful pattern! I have loved the journey. I did mine in size 10 crochet thread!
Dedri Uys says
Jody, the border can be applied with (or without) the squares. If you do it straight after Round 113 of Sophie, you will have a multiple of 3 stitches per side (not including ch-2 corner spaces). You will need to add a double crochet base round (which will give you a multiple of 3 + 1 stitches). This will enable you to start BBB. Alternatively you can start from Round 3 of BBB (as indicated in the notes below “Materials”.
Dedri
Jody Brookshier says
Thank you! I still haven’t had time to check so thank you for that answer!
Vickie says
I’m curious, Judy, using cotton thread 10, how big did your Sohie turn out ? Is she a nice pillow size ? Thanks so much !
Laurie says
I think I would like to do BBB on the sophie without the squares. Does anyone else think it may look nice?? I just love this cal and once again thank Dedri and everyone involved for their absolute dedication.
Cathleen says
Thank you so much, Dedri for this amazing journey. I also looked every where for the Stitch Sampler pattern, but I was not willing to pay over $50. for one pattern. Thank goodness they came out so quickly with the renewed pattern. So sorry you had to buy a ‘vintage copy’ that was so costly.
I really appreciate all the work you put into photoing all the phases of Sophie. I discovered your blog just shortly before this CAL was put up and have loved every minute. Thank you!
chocolategirl64 says
I’ve made several of that sampler blanket from the book:
it’s a beautiful pattern indeed although I never liked the centre ~ might have to start with a Sophie middle ;-)
Sheila says
What a wonderful journey this has been, Dedri! Thank you ever so much for sharing your amazing vision of Sophie’s Universe!
Jody Gohr says
I think that I must be missing something. Where is the pattern for BBB? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Dedri Uys says
Jody, if you scroll down a bit, past the bits that are important to read if you want to use BBB, you will find a heading that says Betty’s Beautiful Border Tutorial. Below that there is a sentence that tells you you can find the tutorial HERE. if you click on the word “HERE”, it will take you to BBB.
I hope that helps,
Dedri
Barbara Hawkins says
Dedri,
Thank you so much for this incredibly beautiful project! I am not on this step yet, but I have downloaded all the .pdf’s and saved them to Google Drive so that I may access them from where ever I am on any device. Not only is this a fabulous project, your directions and photos make it seem more simple than it looks. Your organizational and technical skills have made this so easy to access and save. I can’t even imagine how many hours you have spent putting this all together with all the details and colors for three different fibers to boot. What a gift you have given to the world. I am making mine for my yet to be conceived grandchild. I can’t imagine anything more special. Thank you again.
Dedri Uys says
Thank you for your wonderful comment, Barbara. Your appreciation means a lot x
sue says
I love Sophie! I have saved and printed all patterns for a winter project (too much warmth in my lap right now). I will be using up my yarn stash but then I also love the ones done in one color or 2 colors. Humm, hard decision. I can’t wait to see what is next.
Dedri Uys says
Sue, hi. I hope you enjoy it. If you get stuck, try the videos. Esther has done a brilliant job with them.
Pam Beeching says
Absolutely love the finished border in Esther’s example and think I might follow you. The squares, border and Sophie are all drawn into the design beautifully and I don’t think I could improve on it.
(Mind you, the temptation of the book is far too much for me after cleaning the windows and door panels to remove dog paw and nose prints and it sounds just the thing to reward me for all my hard work!
Dedri Uys says
Pam, I think you deserve a treat! Hehe.