I saw this Paint Splatter Square in the Official CCC Social Group on Facebook a while ago.  I fell in love with both its simplicity and it and its stash-busting potential.  Here, finally, is a project that will help me use up the teeniest of scraps.  You know, the ones that are so short you can barely roll them into a little ball?

I immediately contacted Suzi Lock, who had posted the squares.  To my delight, she agreed to send me her pattern and photos so that I could share them here with you.  As an added bonus, she even popped one of the squares in the mail for me.

So before I dish the dirt on the pattern, I would like to say a huge “Thank You!” to Suzi for sharing her pattern so freely, and for being such a joy to correspond with.

On a different note, my sister arrived this morning for a 3 week visit.  As I’m typing this, she’s sittin here regaling me with tales of our youth and insights into past associations.  Have I mentioned, yet, that she got an A for her thesis?  And that she’s now a Mrs?  I am in my happy place :)

Paint Splatter Square

  © Suzi Lock 2014.  All Rights Reserved.

“This is a great way of using up small pieces of left-over yarn.  I used a DK yarn and a size 4mm hook, this achieved a square 6 ¼”. Depending on tension you may need to adjust.”

Abbreviations

UK Terminology used.  See this comparative chart for abbreviations, or if you need any clarification.  This square uses the UK Htr (half-treble crochet), which is the equivalent of a US Hdc (half-double crochet).

Notes

The initial ch st’s in each row count as a stitch.  The last stitch of every row should fall in the top of the ch-2 at the beginning of the previous row.

Materials and Gauge

As mentioned above, Suzi made her square using double knit yarn and a 4 mm hook.  I used Deborah Norville Everyday Solid Yarn-Mist (worsted weight) and a 5 mm hook.  I have included size, material, and gauge information for both below.

6 1/4 ” Square

 

Materials

• Double Knit Yarn  (40 yards/36 meters)
• 4 mm Crochet Hook (US G/6  UK 8)
• Yarn Needle
• Scrap Yarn (about 1 yard/1 meter of each colour)

Gauge

10 rows and 15 stitches in a 4″ (10 cm) square

8 ” Square

 

Materials

• Worsted Weight Yarn  (50 yards/45 meters)
• 5 mm Crochet Hook (US H/8  UK 6)
• Yarn Needle
• Scrap Yarn (about 1 yard/1 meter of each colour)

Gauge

12 rows and 18 stitches in a 4″ (10 cm) square

Instructions

“This is a very easy square to do, very effective for beginners.”

Foundation Chain

Using base colour, ch 32.

Row 1

Working into the top loop only of the foundation chain:  htr in the 4^th chain from the hook.  Htr in the top loop only of each chain stitch to the end.  You should end up with the initial ch-3, which counts as your first htr, and an additional 29 htr’s.  Turn.  {30 htr}

Row 2

Ch2 (this counts as your first htr).   Htr in each st to the end, working into the top of the ch-2 at the end.  Turn.  {30 htr}

Rows 3 – 20

Repeat Row 2 another 18 times, or until desired size is reached.  Please see the Note about Creating Holes below before continuing with the next 18 rows.

To Create the Holes for the Paint Splatters

“I recommend 5 or 6 per square”

When you reach the desired place, work 2 ch st’s and skip the next 2 htr’s.  Then continue the rest of the row by making a htr in each st to the end.   On the next row, when you get to the ch-2 space, make 2 htr’s into the ch-2 space, and continue making a htr in each st across.  Repeat this randomly over the square.   When you have made all 20 rows, or you have reached the desired size, fasten off the base colour and work away your tails of yarn.

To Make the Paint Splatters

Take your coloured scrap yarn.  Using a yarn needle, sew it all the way around the holes, using long and short stitches.  Make sure that you cover the base colour around the hole.

After a bit of trial and error, I found this way to be the most effective: Work all the way around the hole using short stitches (Photo 2).  Go around the hole again, this time filling in any gaps and making longer stitches at random intervals (Photo 3).  If you can still see some base colour peeking through (as in Photo 3), go around the hole again, filling any remaining gaps with some more short stitches (Photo 4). This is my finished square, made using Suzi’s pattern above.  I used Deborah Norville Everyday Yarn (worsted weight).  I am loving this yarn so much!  So very much, in fact, that I bought another 25 skeins and had it shipped all the way from America.  What a pity they don’t sell it in the UK!

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Happy Hooking!

The photos in this post were edited using PicMonkey.

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