Two colour slip stitch crochet grid pattern

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I have been working with this slip stitch crochet pattern for some time - in different variations. It is a sort of grid pattern in two colours, where one colour looks to be lying over the other.



I have made a pair of cuffs with it. I am sure you can use the pattern for anything else you want!

ch - chain
st, sts - stitch, stitches
ss - slip stitch
sc - single crochet
tch - turning chain, - one or more chains not counted in the row, but situated between the rows
working loop - the yarn on the hook
secure the working loop -  take the hook out of the working loop and secure it with a safety pin or similar
back bar of starting chain - see my illustration  here!
B - slip stitch in the back loop only
F - slip stitch in the front loop only
iB - inverse slip stitch in the back loop only

For different slip stitches - see my fact page on slip stitch crochet here!

Yarn - fingering weight. I used Drops Fabel colour 159 as the background and Regia Silk colour 005 for the grid, both about 200 meters per 50 grams. The finished pair of cuffs use about 25 grams of each color.

Hook 5,5 mm, with a pointy tip!

Size: The finished cuffs are about 18 cm long.

The pattern is based on a multiple of 6+5.



Pattern:

With red, Ch 41+1, turn.
R 1: Ss 41 in the back bar of the starting chain, tch 2, secure the working loop.
Change to white yarn, make a starting loop.
R 2: Start at the right side of your work and work in the same direction as the previous row: iB 41, tch, turn.
Note that the red and white starting ends come from different directions, one from the right and one from the left.
R 3: B41, ch 4, sc 1 in the third ch from hook, ch 1. These last sts form a point for edging, replacing tch. Secure the working loop. Put hook in the red loop left previously.
R 4: B 41, tch, turn.
R 5: iB 41, tch 2, secure the working loop, put hook in the white loop left previously.

R 6: iB 41, tch, turn.
R 7: B 2, *ss under the two white loops straight under next st, (see picture below!)  skip next st, B 5.* Repeat  *-*  until end of row, (only B 2 last time in the end), ch 4, sc in the third loop from hook, ch 1. Secure the working loop. Put hook in the red loop left previously.

R 8: B 41, tch, turn.
R 9: iB 41,tch 2, secure the working loop. Put hook in the white loop left previously.
R 10: iB 41, tch, turn.
R 11: B 5 *ss under the two white loops straight under next st - see picture above!  Skip next st, B 5.* Repeat  *-*  until end of row,  ch 4, sc in the third loop from hook, ch 1. Secure the working loop. Put hook in the red loop left previously.

Repeat rows 4-11  6 times, then rows 4-8 once.

There are really only four different rows to remember. Row 11 is similar to row 7, only the placement of the deep stitches is different.

There are now 16 white stripes (each stripe = two rows). This is enough to get around my wrist! If you need a wider circumference - add rows. If the circumference is too big - skip a few rows.

Cut the white yarn.
Sew the last row to the first with mattress stitch. (Pictures here, only with Swedish text so far...)

You can also sew on some white stitches to bring together the grid pattern over the final seam, "hiding" it:

Update 2017.09.21:
I have already got some feedback on this pattern! One point of uncertainty seems to be around when to turn work. You always work two rows of each colour, you have to turn between those two. But when you change to the other colour, you must work from the same side (right side, RS, or wrong side, WS) as the previous row. (It should come naturally, because you have to start where you left the yarn.)

In this picture RS means you work with right side facing, WS means you work with wrong side facing.