Irish Blossoms Baby Blanket

FINISHED MEASUREMENT

30 inches square

MATERIALS • Premier Yarns Ever Soft Solids medium (worsted) weight acrylic yarn (3 oz/ 158 yds/85g per ball): 3 balls each #0021 turquoise, #0012 rosey, #0010 raspberry, #0024 Celtic and #0036 white • Sizes H/8/5mm and I/9/5.5mm crochet hooks or size needed to obtain gauge • Tapestry needle • Straight pins • Pinning board • Water spray bottle

GAUGE

Size H hook: 14 Squares = 4 inches

PATTERN NOTES Weave in loose ends as work progresses. Join with slip stitch as indicated unless otherwise stated. Chain-3 at beginning of round counts as first double crochet unless otherwise stated.

SPECIAL STITCHES

Yarn join: Insert hook in sp, yo, draw up a lp, insert hook in same sp, yo, draw up lp, yo, draw through all 3 lps on hook.

Picot: Ch 3, sl st in top of last st.

BLANKET

SQUARE

Center

Color speci cations: Make 16 each color except white. Rnd 1 (RS): With size H hook, ch 4, dc in 4th ch from hook (3 sk

chs do not count as a st), 15 dc in same st, join (see Pattern Notes) in first dc. (16 dc) Rnd 2 (RS): Working in back

lp (see Stitch Guide), [sl st in next dc, sk next dc, 5 dc in next dc, sk next dc] 4 times, join in same st as beg sl st. Fasten off.

(20 dc, 4 sl sts)

Irish Blossom Make 64.

Rnd 3 (RS): With size H hook and white, work yarn join (see Special Stitches) in sp below sl st, *ch 2, bpdc (see Stitch Guide) around each of next 5 dc, ch 2**, sc in sp below sl st, rep from * around, ending last rep at **.

Rnd 4: [(Sc, ch 3, sc) in center of previous rnd sc, ch 5, working in back lp, (sc, ch 3, sc) in 3rd dc of 5-dc group, ch 5] around, join in beg sc. Fasten off. (8 ch-3 sps,

8 ch-5 sps) Block each Irish Blossom by pushing back post ridge of st

backward (rnd 2), opening blossom to expose white back post

lps (rnd 3) inserting straight pin at each center corner dc of rnd 2, spray with water and let dry.

Framing Block

Rnd 5 (WS): With size I hook, pick up a colored yarn different than Center color, join yarn on WS catching a single strand of rnd 2 corner dc at back, sc in same lp, *ch 1, catching a single strand, sc in single strand of sl st of rnd 2 on side edge, ch 1**, sc in single strand of dc of rnd 2 corner, rep from * around, ending last rep at **, join in beg sc.

Note: It may help to use a smaller hook to insert under lps; Square does not have to be perfect.

Rnd 6 (WS): Ch 3 (see Pattern

Notes), 2 dc in same st, [3 dc in ch-1 lp, dc in sc, 3 dc in ch-1 lp, 3 dc in corner sc] around, ending with join in 3rd ch of beg ch-3, turn. (40 dc)

Rnd 7 (RS): Ch 3, dc in each dc around, working 3 dc in each center corner dc, join in beg ch-3. (48 dc)

Rnd 8 (RS): Working in back lps only, ch 3, dc in each dc around, working at each center corner dc, (dc in center dc of rnd 7, dc in ch-3 sp of rnd 4 of Irish Blossom, dc) in center dc of rnd 7, join in beg ch-3, fasten off first Square only, turn rem Squares for joining. (56 dc)

JOINING SQUARES

Getting started: Squares are joined in 8 rows of 8 Squares each. To strengthen Squares when joining, insert hook in back lp and in back bar of dc

(see illustration).

With WS facing, sl st to center corner dc of rnd 8 (dc worked in ch-3 sp of rnd 4 of Irish

Blossom). Pick up differentcolor Framing Block, with RS tog, working in back lp of both Squares, sc in each st across

Continued on page 60

edge (15 sts), ending with center corner st. Fasten off. If joining across 2 sides of Squares, do not fasten off until 2nd edge is joined in same manner to adjoining Square.

EDGING

Rnd 1: Join raspberry in any center corner dc, ch 1 loosely, hdc in each st around outer edge, working 3 hdc in each rem center corner dc, join in beg hdc. Fasten off.

FINISHING

Block Blanket.