Well, at the end of the first week of summer vacation (i.e, kid home, but I'm still working) has gone swimmingly. Ian's school is out today, so next week the wise craft house is officially "summering".
Bring it, summer. We're waiting for you.
I was studying what we've crocheted so far and what we need. We need a big square. We need to accentuate some wonkiness here. A sampler needs wonky, wouldn't you agree? So this week I wrote a variation of one of the squares in the original sampler. I'm calling it a sunburst variation. I love the way this one shows just little bits of color used in rows 3 and 5.We'll make two versions of this granny square this week.
In this week's square we are using a stitch some of you new crocheters may have not used yet, the half double crochet (hdc) stitch. This is a simple stitch, I found a video to demonstrate it here.
We are going to be getting more detailed in our granny square patterning. While we won't get totally crazy, there will be a little bit of craziness in the coming weeks. I'll walk you through it all.
Take a look at the Flickr group to see how everyone's squares are coming together (and on instgram #grannysquaresampler). Thank you to everyone who is sharing pictures.
Design tips this week:
- In both squares, each row is a different color after the first 2 rounds.
- Pick high contrast colors for the first 5 rounds to really show the center "sunburst variation" pattern.
- If you are using a "ground" color or a color that you like to border your squares with, you may not want to use it for the larger square's last round, only because I like that a contrast color accentuates its larger size. The choice is yours.
Sunburst Variation Square- Make 1 version with 10 rounds, and 1 version with 6 rounds.
Ch 4 stitches, sl st to beg. chain to form a circle.
Rnd 1- Ch 1 (equals 1 sc), 5 sc stitches into center of ring, do not switch colors. Do not end off.
Rnd 2- Ch 2 (equals 1 hdc), 1 hdc in same space, 2 hdc on top of each sc all the way around (12 hdc), join with sl st to beg ch 2, end off.
Rnd 3 (2nd color)- Attach bet any dc st from previous round, ch 2 (equals 1 sc and ch 1), 1 sc in top of next hdc stitch, *ch 1, 1 sc in top of next hdc stitch*, repeat from * all the way around, join with sl st to beg ch, end off.
Rnd 4 (3rd color)- Attach in any ch 1 space, ch 3 (equals 1 dc), 2 more dc in same space, *3 dc in next ch 1 sp*, repeat from * all the way around, join with sl st to beg, end off.
Rnd 5 (4th color)- Attach between any dc group, ch 1 (equals 1 sc), ch 3, *1 sc between next group of dc, ch 3*, repeat from * all the way around, join with sl st to beg, end off.
Rnd 6- (5th color)- Attach in any chain 3 space, (ch 3 (equals 1 dc) 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in same space to make a corner, *3 dc in next 2 ch 3 spaces, (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in next ch 3 sp*, repeat from * all the way around, join with sl st to beg, end off.
**At this point you are finished with the smaller version, continue on for the larger version.
Rnd 7- (6th color) Attach at any corner sp, (ch 3 (equals 1 dc) 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in same space, 3 dc in between next 3 sets of dc stitches, *(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) all in same space, 3 dc in next 3 sets of dc stitches*, repeat from * all the way around, join with a sl-st to beg, end off.
Rnd 8- (7th color) Attach at any corner sp, (ch 3 (equals 1 dc) 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in same space, 3 dc in between next 4 sets of dc stitches, *(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) all in same space, 3 dc in next 4 sets of dc stitches*, repeat from * all the way around, join with a sl-st to beg, end off.
Rnd 9- (8th color) Attach at any corner sp, (ch 3 (equals 1 dc) 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in same space, 3 dc in between next 5 sets of dc stitches, *(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) all in same space, 3 dc in next 5 sets of dc stitches*, repeat from * all the way around, join with a sl-st to beg, end off.
Rnd 10- (9th color) Attach at any corner sp, (ch 3 (equals 1 dc) 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in same space, 3 dc in between next 6 sets of dc stitches, *(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) all in same space, 3 dc in next 6 sets of dc stitches*, repeat from * all the way around, join with a sl-st to beg, end off.
