Block 40 of the Block a Week CAL (hosted by Kimberly Slifer) is April Moreland’s Spring Fling Square. This square was a lot of fun to make and it works up surprisingly quickly (even with a dodgy finger).
If you are using the same hook and yarn for all your squares, they will not all come out the same size. I have now added a post outlining the extra rounds I added to each square to get them to the size of Block 1, which was the biggest. You can find that here.
Spring Fling Square
{Pattern © 2013 April Moreland. Photo tutorial done with kind permission}
Pattern
- Free Ravelry Download
- On April’s Site, The Left Side of Crochet
Suggested Materials
- 5.5 mm Clover Amour Crochet Hook (US I/9 UK 5)
- Worsted weight yarn
Size
- Using the hook and yarn specified, your square should be a nice even 12″ when you are done.
- Using a 4 mm crochet hook (US G/6 UK 8) and double knit yarn, as I have done, your finished square will be about 8″ big.
My Yarn and Colour Choices
I am using Stylecraft Special DK.
- Saffron (Rounds 1, 2, and 11)
- Meadow (Round 3)
- Turquoise (Rounds 4 and 5, and Optional Round 12)
- Sherbet (Round 6)
- Magenta (Rounds 7 and 8)
- Pomegranate (Rounds 9 and 10)
Notes
- US Crochet Terminology used. (See this comparative chart if you need help transcribing from US to UK)
Special Stitches
V-stitch: (Dc, ch 1, dc) in the same stitch/space
Corrections
Round 7: Stitch count reads: (64 dc, 28 sc). It should read: 64 dc’s, 8 hdc’s, and 28 sc’s.
Round 8: Stitch count reads: (80 dc, 20 sc) . It should read: 80 dc’s, 16 hdc’s, and 20 sc’s.
Spring Fling Square Photo Tutorial
This photo-walkthrough is NOT the actual pattern and should not be used instead of the pattern, but rather in conjunction with it.
Thank you very much to April Moreland for giving us permission to do this photo-tutorial for her Spring Fling Square. And a special thank you to Kimberly Slifer for letting me do these tutorials and for obtaining the necessary permission.
Round 1
You can start this round with a magic ring instead of the initial ch-4.
Magic Ring Instructions for Round 1
Into a magic ring: ch 3 (this counts as the first dc). Dc x 15 into the ring and pull the ring tight. Join to the top of the beginning ch-3 with a sl st.
If you feel like practising the invisible join I talked about last week, feel free to use it instead of the sl st join. Make sure that you understand which stitch to join to if you do use it!
If you are not familiar with working into a magic ring, this video tutorial from Moogly is clear and easy to follow.
Please remember, when working into a magic ring you HAVE to work away your initial tail very well. If you just cut it, your whole square might unravel!
Stitch count: 16 dc’s
Round 2
As written.
If you are going to use a new colour, start with a (standing double crochet, ch-1) instead of the beginning ch-4.
You want to end up with 8 V-st’s (one in every second dc around).
Stitch count: 8 V-st’s {16 dc’s and 8 ch-1 spaces}
Round 3
As written.
If you are using a new colour, start with a standing double crochet (instead of the initial ch-3) in any ch-1 space around.
You will only be working into the 8 ch-1 spaces in this round. You want to end up with 5 dc’s in each ch-1 space.
Stitch count: 40 dc’s
Round 4
- If you are using the same colour, ch 3 (counts as your first dc).
- If you are using a new colour, join with a standing double crochet in the first dc of any 5-dc group (Photo 1).
Skip the next st. Make 3 dc’s in the next st, which will be the central dc of the 5-dc group (Photo 2). Skip the next st and dc in the last dc of the 5-dc group (Photo 3). Ch 2 (Photo 4).
*Dc in the next st, which will be the first dc of the next 5-dc group. Skip the next st. Make 3 dc’s in the next st, which will be the central dc of the 5-dc group. Skip the next st and dc in the last dc of the 5-dc group. Ch 2.*
Repeat from * to * six more times. Join to the top of the beginning ch-3 (or the standing double crochet) with a sl st.
Stitch count: 40 dc’s and 8 ch-2 spaces
Round 5
As written.
If you are using a new colour, start with a standing double crochet (instead of the beginning ch-3) in the central dc of any 3-dc group around.
You want to end up with a 9-dc petal in the central dc of each 3-dc group around (Photo 2), and a (sc, ch 3, sc) picot in each ch-2 space around (Photo 3).
If your flower wobbles a bit (like in Photo 5), don’t worry about it. It is easily flattened out and will stay flat once you’ve worked the next 2 rounds.
Stitch count: 8 petals and 8 picots {72 dc’s, 16 sc’s, and 8 ch-3 picots}
Round 6
- If you are using the same colour, sl st into the next st, which will be the second dc of the 9-dc petal. Ch 4 (this counts as your first dc, ch-1)
- If you are using a new colour, join with a standing double crochet in the second dc of any 9-dc petal around (see this tutorial if you need help identifying which loops belong to which stitch). Ch 1
(Dc in next st, ch 1) five times. Dc in the next st, which will be the second to last dc of the 9-dc petal (photo top left).
*Working into the next 9-dc petal: Dc in the second dc of the petal. (Ch 1, dc in the next dc) six times. The last dc should fall in the second to last dc of the petal.*
Repeat from * to * 6 more times. Join to the top of the beginning ch-3 (or the standing double crochet) with a sl st.
Stitch count: 56 dc’s and 48 ch-1 spaces {8 petals}
Round 7
- If you are going to use the same colour, sl st into the next ch-1 space. Ch 3(this counts as your first dc).
- If you are going to use a new colour, start with a standing double crochet in the first ch-1 space of any petal around (Photo 1).
*(Dc in the next st, dc in the next ch-1 space) twice (Photo 2). (2dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in the next st (Photo 3). This is your first corner made. Dc in the next ch-1 space. (Dc in the next st, dc in the next ch-1 space) twice (Photo 4). Skip the next 2 st’s (which will be the last dc of the current petal and the first dc of the next petal). Dc in the first ch-1 space of the next petal (Photo 5). Hdc in the next st. Sc in the next ch-1 space (Photo 6). (Sc in the next st, sc in the next ch-1 space) three times (Photo 7). Hdc in the next st, which will be the second to last dc of the petal. Dc in the last ch-1 space of the petal. Skip the next 2 st’s (which will be the last dc of the current petal and the first dc of the next petal). Dc in the first ch-1 space of the next petal (Photo 8).*
Repeat from * to * 3 more times, omitting the last dc on the last repeat. Join to the top of the beginning ch-3 (or the standing double crochet) with a sl st.
Stitch count: 64 dc’s, 8 hdc’s, and 28 sc’s {16 dc’s, 2 hdc’s, and 7 sc’s per side}
Round 8
As written.
If you are going to use a new colour, start with a standing double crochet in the same stitch as the sl st join.
Be careful not to accidentally skip the first stitch after the corner. See this tutorial if you need help identifying the first stitch to work into.
Hint: the dc’s in this round will fall in the dc’s from the previous round.
Shock, horror, I don’t have a photo of this round. I have no idea how that happened, but there’s a perfectly blurry photo of the floor where this photo should have been :( If you scroll down to the photo of the completed Round 9, you might be able to get an idea of what you are aiming for. At the end of Round 8 your square should be a proper square shape.
Stitch count: 80 dc’s, 16 hdc’s, and 20 sc’s {20 dc’s, 4 hdc’s, and 5 sc’s per side}
Round 9
As written.
Stitch count: 44 sc’s and 44 ch-2 spaces – including corner ch-2 spaces {11 sc’s and 10 ch-2 spaces per side – not including corner ch-2 spaces}
Round 10
As written.
You will be working into the ch-2 spaces from the previous round.
Stitch count: 48 sc’s and 48 ch-2 spaces – including corner ch-2 spaces {12 sc’s and 11 ch-2 spaces per side – not including corner ch-2 spaces}
Round 11
As written.
Stitch count: 148 st’s and 4 ch-2 corner spaces {37 dc’s per side}
Optional Additional Round 12
I’ve added an optional additional Round 12 to get my square to the same size and final-round stitch count as the first square, which was the biggest.
You can find the instructions for doing that HERE.
Join the Block a Week CAL
If you would like to be part of the Block a week CAL on Facebook, please join the Official CCC Social Group (you must be logged into Facebook to do so) so that you can access and utilize the support and encouragement of all the lovely ladies on there.
You can also join the Block a Week CAL Flickr Group so that you can inspire others and be inspired yourself.
For those of you who do not like Facebook, you can always follow along with me here. I will be posting the blocks every week.
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More Blogs Following the CAL
- San from Loopsan – using Stylecraft in sophisticated Parchment, Denim, Mocha and Meadow
- Lou Mander from Tea, Crochet and Me – using Stylecraft in White, Mocha and Raspberry
- Wendy from Little Wendy Crochet (Dutch photo tutorials)
Happy Hooking!
