Sprouting Hues Crochet Swap Squares

Hooray!  The first part of the swap is over for me.  Today I finished my twelfth and final square that I’m making for the Sprouting Hues crochet swap.  Pretty soon these squares will be in the mail on their way to their new homes.  And I’ll be sitting back and waiting for my squares to come.  But that’s just the half of it; after I receive all the swap squares coming my way, I have more big plans for them, stay tuned!

But while I wait for that, I wanted to finish up by sharing the remaining patterns that I made.  I already posted about the first half the squares here and here.  And below are the final six:

 This one seems to be everyone’s favorite.  I wasn’t exactly sure how I’d work this when I looked up this pattern, but I had it open on my computer for a good week before I figured that if I could make them the correct size, I could fit them into a 12×12 square.  I ran into a lot of difficulties, though!  First, I didn’t realize that the pattern is in UK terms and not US, so I made a bunch rounds of dc instead of sc.  And then after I finally finished my first one up, I realized that with the H hook I’d been using, each flower measured over the 4″ mark.  It wasn’t by much, maybe just a quarter inch over, but it was enough that three in a row would go over the 12″ requirement for the swap.  So I took out the petal rounds.  I really didn’t want to have to do the centers over yet another time!  So I keep the centers with an H hook and did the rest of the flower with a G hook.  The finished measurements turned out to be right on the dot. 

Hawaiian Flowers

 Then when the measurements worked out, I stitched them together in their petals at the largest points, the petal edges.  It worked, the square came out well.  I wondered then, if this would be an okay swap square, because I suppose technically it isn’t a square.  I tried to check with the moderator, but I finally decided to message the recipient to see if she’d prefer an edging around it or not. I would have put an edging around it, but I think it would have detracted somewhat.  Luckily for me, she loves the square as is and is looking forward to receiving it, so it worked out well all around.

This square is Sarah London’s “Hawaiian Flowers”, and it can be found for free here.  My Ravelry project page is here. This really is a lovely pattern.  I wouldn’t mind one day making an afghan of these, put together with a lightweight yarn.  It would make a perfect summer throw. 

The next two patterns came out of the book that I mentioned in the previous blog entry, The Big Book of Granny Squares: 365 Crochet Motifs.  I ended up buying the Kindle version to finish up these two squares.  It was really refreshing to make these, because their construction and composition are lines instead of circles.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a beautiful center motif, but after crocheting square after square of a center flower or circle, it’s nice to make a square that’s different!  These two definitely filled those shoes.  The first square below, Deck Squares, is actually written to be a bit smaller, I think.  I had to restart after my squares weren’t quite coming up to size.  Each of these squares are made with 13 scs arcross, put together piece by piece and then surrounded with a few border rounds.  Yes, I will tell you that there were a LOT of ends to weave in with this one.  I had originally wanted this to be a 4×4 square, but the idea of giving someone a square with all the woven edges didn’t sit well with me.  I blocked this square twice.  First, by blocking each smaller square individually, and then finally again at the end.  I do like how it turned out in the end, and the borders helped it keep its shape.  My Ravelry project page for this one is here. 

Deck Chairs

The Big Book of Granny Squares: 365 Crochet Motifs had another square that I fell in love with because of its unique construction and layout.  This is called “Tartan” and it’s made by interlocking the four colors and then putting  surface crochet stitch along it.  I love it!  I think that in a sampler blanket, such as what we end up with during swaps, something with solid blocks, yet with detail can make a huge impact.  I’m thinking that I’ll eventually end up making another of these for another sampler.  Not only did this turn out to be visually appealing, but it was so refreshingly easy to make: easy rows with a change of color here and there.  It worked up fast and lovely.  There was a request in the group for more masculine looking squares, and I think this one does the trick.  My Tartan Square Ravelry page is here.  

Tartan Square

 I thought I had written about this Flight Square before, but it seems I haven’t.   This is the final square I made from the book.  Another one with unique construction but a visual feast in the end!  The trick here was to line up the lighter and darker colors appropriately in order to give it the “stepping” effect that it has.  This square also had a ton of ends to weave in, and it took longer than most of the other squares, but in the end, I think the extra effort shows.  This is such a fun square.  My project page for this square is here.  Right now it’s the only version in the Ravelry database, but I’m hoping to see more soon!  I keep thinking of all the different color combinations that this could be created with. 

Flight Square

 This next one is the last square I made for the swap.   The center flower is absolutely gorgeous.  I think that anyone looking for just a flower pattern would love the result of the first few rounds of this square.  I got distracted a little bit along the way though (Season 3 of House of Cards; it’s keeping my attention divided!).  The first round of puff hearts that I made were actually plain puff stitches and I didn’t even realize it until that round was done and over and I was starting the next round.  So I frogged it back and finally got it right.  Actually, once I got the hang of the puff hearts, it was incredibly easy.  It was in these final rounds that I just thought that this is probably one of the most beautiful squares I’ve made.  I love everything about it.  I love how the lattice looks like a white wooden trellis with shades of spring peeking in.  I love the hearts, I love the alternating greens, I love everything about it.  Best part is that the pattern is free, too!  The pattern can be found here.  It took me a bit of poking around to see the whole pattern – they’re under different tabs.  But it’s worth the search.  My project page is here.

Starburst Flower Mandala Square

Finally, I saved this square for last.  This square is a continuation of the pattern I’ve been working on for the past few weeks (see here), except with a few more stitches added on the top to bring it up to 12″.  The tapestry stitches really give it a dynamic feel!  I have the pattern in my Ravelry page listed as a “personal pattern” that is “not available”, but that will be changing soon.  It’s not that exciting trying to get all the details into a pattern in a way that’s easy for everyone to read.; especially because the patterns I write to myself are incredibly basic (like: Row 3, hdc)., lol.   Anyway, I will get around to finishing up the finer details and it will be released soon as a free pattern, so that others can have as much fun with it as I am.  

my little sampler square

 And there we are!  Twelve happy squares on their way out across the nation to eight different homes.  I can’t wait to see how they’re used in everyone else’s final piece, and I can’t wait to see what’s in coming in the mail for me, too!

For more detailed information on the squares and links, you can check out my gallery on Ravelry for this swap here. 

~Mellie ★