Polar Playmat Series - Playmat, Igloo & Storage Bag

 This week I am releasing the actual playmat pattern for the Polar Playmat Series.    Included as part of this is the igloo pattern and also the storage bag to store it all in.   Everything in this playmat is made from Paintbox Simply Aran Yarn* (my favourite at the moment) which I purchased from Love Crochet.

The actual playmat is constructed in two different stitches.   A wave stitch for the sea and then a leaping stripes stitch for the ice.   One thing I wanted to do with this playmat is give it some texture, so I purposefully looked for stitches that would do that.   Most of the sea is constructed in a Royal Blue colour, but as you get closer to the ice, I introduced the seafoam blue to give the effect of the tide.   This eventually turns into the ice, which uses champagne white.   I wanted to create a little bit of a rise in the tidal area and so I make use of all the loops in a crochet stitch to create this effect.   At the edge of the water is a row to level up the wave stitch before beginning the leaping stripes.   I love the textured effect this stitch gives, but I have never actually worked it up in one colour only.   I am glad I chose this though as I really like the bumpiness which I am sure you would find in the ice and snow of a polar region.   The playmat is finished with a simple border in the midnight blue just to tidy up the edges.

All of the animals in the polar region are fish eaters (At least in this polar region they don't eat each other!) and so I needed to add some fish to the playmat.   I made 5 fish motifs in slate grey although you could easy add as many as you wanted to.  The fish work up quickly in one piece and then sewn into the sea.

No polar region would be complete without an igloo and so one was created.   I had originally thought I would make the igloo so the animals could use it, but the size that would have needed to be would have meant it would have covered the whole icy area, so in the end it is just decoration.   I made my igloo in the blanket yarn, but holding 2 strands of the aran together would work too.  The igloo is worked in 2 parts, the main circular area and then the porch is worked separately and added on.   I then used the misty grey to give the brick outlines.

Finally having created all the creatures, playmat and igloo I knew it needed somewhere to be stored.   My kids seem to be going through a phase of putting stuff all over the place and so I wanted to be able to keep it all nicely together.   This also means it can be taken out and about more easily too.   I wanted the bag to have some stretch, but still be a closed stitch, so I chose the Tunisian knit stitch, which is fast becoming one of my favourites.  The bag is worked as one big rectangle and then a flap is sewn at the top to allow the cord to go through.   Then I just sewed up 2 sides and threaded a long Romanian Point Lace cord through the top and tied the ends together.   The bag actually looks quite small but actually I was able to store the playmat, igloo and 2 of each toy in and it still closes easily.

If you would like to create your own Polar Playmat, Igloo and storage bag then  you can find the FREE pattern here.   If you would prefer to get the ad free, printable PDF version then it is available for a small fee in my Etsy Store here.

I hope that you have enjoyed this week's blog post on the Polar Playmat, Igloo and Storage Bag and as usual I would love to see pictures of your creations on the blog.   See you next time for the release of Sally the Seal.

Vicky x

Polar Playmat & bag

 1.  Materials and Resources

Below is a list of everything you will need to make the playmat & Bag

·        Paintbox Simply Aran Yarn (although any aran/worsted weight will work) – 100g balls in the following colours

o   Champagne White (202) x 3 balls

o   Seafoam Blue (231)

o   Royal Blue (240) x 3 balls

o   Slate Grey (205)

o   Misty Grey (203)

o   Midnight Blue (237)

·        4.5mm hook/3mm hook/ 5mm hook/ 5mm Tunisian hook

·        Tapestry needle

 

2.  Stitch List

Below is a list of all the stitches (and their abbreviations) featured in this series of patterns.  All terms used are American.

·        Wave Stitch –3 dc, (dc dec) x 2, 3 dc, (dc inc) x 2

·        f/l – front loops       

·        Block Stitch – (2 dc, ch 2) repeat

·        Sc – single crochet

·        Dc – double crochet

·        Hdc – half double crochet

·        Trc – treble crochet

·        Tunisian crochet knit stitch

·        Romanian point lace cord

·        Sc stack – instead of ch3 work a sc in first stitch and then put a sc on top of it to create a stack

 

3.  Notes

Here are a few handy tips to help you with the pattern.

·        There is no specific for the playmat or bag however, the playmat is approximately 21” x 39” and the  bag is 13” x 12” when used.

·        It is worth counting your stitches across every few rows to make sure you are not increasing or decreasing by accident

·        Try to make the stitches as tight as possible for the igloo to avoid any stuffing coming out.

 

4.  Pattern

 Playmat - Starting with the sea in Royal Blue in 4.5mm hook

Row	Instruction	Stitches
	Ch 75
1	Working wave stitch, skip first 3 stitches to create ch 3 and dc in 4th ch from hook, then work repeating sequence (3 dc, dc dec, dc dec, 3 dc, dc inc, dc inc) to last 11 stitches then work 3 dc, dc dec, dc dec, 3 dc and end with dc inc, turn	72
2	Ch3, dc in same st as ch 3, then work sequence (3 dc, dc dec, dc dec, 3 dc, dc inc, dc inc) to last 11 stitches then work 3 dc, dc dec, dc dec, 3 dc and end with dc inc, turn	72
3-23	Repeat row 2	72
24	Change to seafoam and repeat row 2	72
25	Change to royal blue and repeat row 2 in f/l	72
26-27	Repeat rows 24-25	72
28	Change to seafoam and repeat rows 24-25	72
29	Change to white and work 1 row	72
30	In white 4 sc, (2 hdc,2 dc,2 hdc, 6 sc) to end (last repeat will only have 4 sc)	72
31	Sc stack, (2 dc, ch 2, sk 2) repeat to last stitch and end with hdc	34 dc, 34 ch 2, 1 hdc, 1 sc stack
32	Sc stack, 2 dc working over the c2 and into the row below, ch 2, sk 2) repeat to last stitch and end with hdc
33-67	Repeat row 32	34 dc, 34 ch 2, 1 hdc, 1 sc stack
68	3 sc, (2 dc, 2 sc) repeat to last stitch and end with sc	34 dc, 36 sc
69	Change to midnight – sc across top row, sc, ch 2, sc in corner stitch and then work 1 sc in each hdc or sc stack and 2 sc in each dc, then work sc, ch 2 , sc in the next corner.   Then along the wave side, work 1 sc in each stitch, then sc, ch 2 sc, in the third corner, finally up the other side work 2 sc in each dc and 1 sc in each sc stack or hdc, finish the final corner as sc, ch 2, sc	97 stitches on long sides and 72 stitches on short sides plus 4 corners
70	Work hdc, ch 2 hdc, in each corner, hdc in each stitch on long sides and short white side.   On wave side work corner then hdc, (2 x hdc dec, 8 hdc) to last stitch and finish with hdc and corner.	99 stitches on long ends, and 74 stitches on short white end 75 stitches on wave side plus corners
	Cast off and sew in ends

 Fish – Make 5 in slate grey in 3mm hook

Row	Instruction	Stitches
1	6 sc in magic circle	6
2	(sc inc) x 6	12
3	Stitches between commas should be worked in same stitch of previous round, sc hdc, hdc dc, trc trc, trc trc, dc hdc, hdc sc, sc, sc hdc, hdc dc, dc dc, dc hdc, hdc sc	23
4	Sl st, ch 5, sk first ch and work sc, hdc, dc, trc down chain, sk stitch in round 3 and sl st to next stitch.	Forms 1 fin
	7 sl st then ch 5, sk first ch and work sc, hdc, dc, trc down chain, sk stitch in round 3 and sl st to next stitch.	Forms 2nd fin
	4 sl st, 2 sc, turn (start of tail)	2
	Sc inc, sc inc, turn	4
	Sc inc, 2 sc, sc inc, turn	6
	Sc inc, 4 sc, sc inc, turn	8
	Sc inc, 6 sc, sc inc (finishes tail)	10
	Cast off and sew fishes to playmat randomly

 Igloo – in white Holding 2 strands together with 5mm hook

Row	Instruction	Stitches
1	6 sc in magic circle	6
2	(sc inc) x 6	12
3	(sc, sc inc) x 6	18
4	(2 sc, sc inc) x 6	24
5	(3 sc, sc inc) x 6	30
6	(4 sc, sc inc) x 6	36
7	(5 sc, sc inc) x 6	42
8-12	Sc around	42
13	(5 sc, sc dec) x 6 in b/l	36
14	(4 sc, sc dec) x 6	30
15	(3 sc, sc dec) x 6	24
16	(2 sc, sc dec) x 6	18
17	(sc, sc dec) x 6	12
	Stuff igloo
18	(sc dec) x 6	6
	Sl st and cast off and sew shut

 

Igloo door – in white Holding 2 strands together with 5mm hook

Row	Instruction	Stitches
1	6 sc in magic circle – do not join, turn	6
2	2 sc, (sc inc) x 2, 2 sc, turn	8
3	2 sc in next stitch, hdc dc in next stitch, dc trc in next stitch, trc dc in next stitch, dc hdc in next stitch, 2 sc in next stitch	16
4	Sc around in f/l	16
5-6	Sc around	16
	Sl st cast off and sew to front of igloo and then stuff

 

Door base – in white Holding 2 strands together with 5mmhook

Row	Instruction	Stitches
1	Ch 4, sk stitch closest to hook and sc across	3
2-6	Sc across	3
	Cast off and sew to base of igloo door

 

Sew brick pattern to igloo in misty grey

 

Playmat Bag– starting in royal blue with 5mm Tunisian hook

Row	Instruction	Stitches
1	Chain 85	85
2-45	Work in Tunisian knit stitch	85
46-50	Work in Tunisian knit stitch in seafoam blue	85
51-65	Work in Tunisian knit stitch in white	85
	Cast off

 

·        Fold the white stripe down so 5 rows are facing the back of the crochet panel and sew shut, this will create a channel to add the drawstring to later.

·        Fold the bag in half with right sides facing and sew shut using whip stitch. (do not sew channel shut!)  Then turn right way out.

·        Create a cord using Romanian Point Lace Cord technique long enough to go through the channel with a bit extra.   Cast off and thread through channel, knot the cord together.

·        Your playmat, igloo and animals can now be stored in the bag.

 

© All patterns on this page belong to www.cosycrochet.co.uk You may not sell this pattern. Please feel free to sell the items you make using this pattern, however please acknowledge me in your listing.