patterns

It must be the extremely wet and mild weather. The garden is madly green and sprouting and leafy, and my crochet flowers are blooming. I'm getting into a pattern of making, and  can recognise that familiar, slightly obsessive desire to make sure I get to the end of each square before leaving my crochet (it happens with knitting, too) so that I can see how the whole thing looks.

I can also begin to visualise how the pattern will work as a whole, when I have joined the edges and made the squares squarer. And, of course, I can't wait to sew in all those ends. Not.

I am flattered to be asked for the stitch pattern. As I mentioned in the post of 11 June, I made this one up after I saw the effect I wanted to achieve when I browsed crocheted blankets on the internet, but couldn't find the exact pattern anywhere. I am not a crochet pattern writer by any stretch of the imagination and, at the moment, would rather see whether or not it works before leading others up the garden path with iffy instructions. But I can recommend 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton as a brilliant resource for square patterns, and I spent a long time looking at this before working out how to make mine.

In fact, I think I'm pushing it by calling these 'squares' when they bear a distinct resemblance the tallest and best stack of (circular) pancakes I have ever eaten, courtesy of Lou Mitchell's in Chicago. (Almost twenty years ago, but the 'memory lingers on', as Frank Sinatra would say.)

Comments

[dancingleaffarm.blogspot.com]

I don't crochet except for a picot or single chain edge to enhance my knitting, but I can see you are quite accomplished and have somewhat of a 'green' thumb. They are blooming right before our eyes. The afghan will be of great comfort on cold winter nights and will remind you of the long blooming time of June. Crochet on! Dalis

[Carey]

I'm no expert at crochet, and have almost NO experience with granny squares, so take this with a huge grain of salt...

At the end of using one color, can't you lay the yarn end over the edge and crochet over it with the new color? That way, you'd only have to weave in the border ends only, instead of 4 ends per square.

[Lucy]

I crotchet but not much (mostly knit or sew). Your squares have really caught my eye as they're uniquely beautiful. I love the way they're blooming as you say and am sure the final result will be stunning!

Enjoy your project!

[Lacy]

I can see the crocheted garden is growing. And it is beautiful. Summer will be colorful inside and out this year.

[ML]

Your blocks are an inspiration! I sat right down and closely stared at them, and then looked through the net for similar patterns. Your heading "Flowerburst" was a clue. This pattern appears to be called "Sunburst". I love it and added two new stitches to my limited crochet repetoire since I've whipped up a couple of them. I adore the beautiful way you photograph for your blog. Checking on your site is part of my morning routine.

[AJ]

I can barely crochet (I'm a knitter myself) but your lovely colors make me want to pick up a needle and try again!

I had to comment after seeing your comment about Lou Mitchell's... I came across them on accident and now have to eat there every time I'm in Chicago... I don't know how the pancakes were 20 years ago, but I can assure you they're still delicious today!

[AJ]

Gorgeous!I love all the vibrant colors!

[lekki]

Hi Jane, I crochet all the time, I hope you don't mind if I make a couple of suggestions. Firstly, somebody suggested croceting over the threads rather than sewing them in--this works for me. However I found that a blanket I made many years ago started to come unravelled at the colour change, now I am more careful to secure the end properly before starting the next colour,(it is a very difficult repair to make on a finished blanket). Secondly if you want you squares to be "squarer" you could add an extra chain stitch on each corner. I love the stitch you have created, and want to give it a go, maybe with a black edging the flowers would look like jewels. Or if all the flowers had yellow centres on a green background they would look like a field of daisies. I have just started another chevron mohair blanket for one of my daughters, she has selected all bright colours, I'll have to think hard about how to put them together. Have a good day.

[minnie]

i think my favorite part about making squares for an afghan is wondering how they'll all come together. i tend to make scrappy ones with no apparent rhyme or reason. the last one (2 years ago!) was a lap afghan i made for my MIL for her birthday/mother's day (she displays it on the sofa, she loves it so much!) where it was single crochet (i'm not sure what that is in british terms, double?) with two different colors that sp iraled around each other. picking colors that either contrasted or coordinated was a blast! the rough part was joining. i HATE joining, which is why i don't make these very often. i tend to join them with slip stitch, and do it so that even though i don't have all my squares joined together, i still get one piece before i'm done. i do all the horizontals first, then the verticals. whee! i also tend to work my ends into the joining, so i don't have to weave them in, lol.

[Jenny]

Absolutely gorgeous! The flowers just POP in each square. I love it!

[janna]

Your talent is not so much in the pattern, but in the colors you choose. You make me want to crochet again - something I haven't done in over 20 years, except for the occasional chain or single-crochet edge.

[Kathy]

I love your contemporary interpretation of the granny square with your signature colors, what a fun experiment playing with your favorite colors in a new medium, crochet! It seems like a much nicer way to make an afghan out of yarn rather than knitting and I'm sure it will be nice to stay warm under when the cold weather sets in with memories of warmer days.

[wren]

Crocheting over the loose ends has been mentioned a couple of times, I am using this technique on my ripple blanket, it works well.

[sulu-design]

I loved the squares (or pancakes, whichever) in your last post, and I like seeing them here, grouped together. The colors are just fabulous.

[catherine]

Definitely crocheting in the ends as you go is the way to go. I also crocheted my squares together in lines(instructions in Jan Eaton's book) which does give a ridge either back or front (depending on which sides you join) but I'm sure it must be a lot quicker than stitching!

[linda]

There most be something in the air. I also had bought the Eaton book and took it on vacation with me last week with tons of malabrigo i had laying around. I've been fiddling with the three dimensional flowers and am just loving it. I hope that you leave your "squares" a bit round. I think that they will create an interesting effect when you put them together. More like a field of flowers than tight orderly farm rows. I have been wrestling with my ends too. I have started crocheting them in as I go and since we are both using wool i believe they will felt together. I wonder if the comment above about the coming apart was done with a wool or a blend that didn't felt slightly. I LOVE your blog and look forward to each entry. Thanks

[Abi]

Hello there

I'm a massive fan of your site and work, so I've written about you on my own blog, crafty crafty. You can see the post here: http://www.craftycrafty.tv/2007/07/go_crazy_for_yarnstorms_croche.html

Hope you're ok with us including you!

Abi

[mikki]

Absolutely beautiful. The colors just spring out at you.

You are truly an inspiration. Would you mind sharing the pattern? I just can't wait to begin.

Thank you so much.

Mikki

[linda]

i am looking for someone to help me make sqs for charity its for homeless kids