crochet sampler square blanket

Another Friday, another square in my Sampler Blanket! I hope you’re enjoying stitching the squares along with me.

I’ve moved on from spring green for today’s square (remember, I’m using up scraps of yarn for this project), and I’ve made my Filet Shells square in teal. This yarn is Mainstays Basic (the Walmart brand) that I’ve had in my box for a long time. (My yarn stash is confined to boxes in my closet because our home isn’t big enough for me to have a “yarn room” like so many others. Someday! In the meantime, at least my boxes are pretty.)

So… Filet Shells. This stitch is the longest row repeat of the blanket so far (future blocks will get shorter again), but it’s one of the easiest. I hope you enjoy stitching it up with me!

Filet Stitch

Shell Stitch: (2DC, ch 1, 2DC) in same stitch

Using a J hook, ch 37. Switch to the I hook for the remainder of the square.

Row 1: DC in 4th ch from hook and in each ch across. Ch 3 (counts as DC). Turn.

Row 2: *Sk 2 DC, shell in next st, sk 2 DC, SC* Repeat across. Chain 5 (counts as DC+ch2), turn.

Row 3: *SC in ch1 space of next shell, ch 2, DC in next SC, ch 2* Repeat across, ending with DC in the last SC. Ch 5, turn.

Row 4: *DC in next SC, ch 2, DC in next DC, ch 2* Repeat across, ending with DC in 3rd ch of turning chain. Ch 5, turn.

Row 5: DC in next DC. *ch 2, DC in next DC* Repeat across. Ch 1, turn.

Row 6: SC in first DC. *Shell in next DC, SC in next DC* Repeat across, ending with a SC in 3rd ch of turning chain.

Repeat rows 3-6 three more times, for a total of 4 repeats.

Border: Join your border color into one corner with a slip stitch. Ch 1, then SC, ch 2, SC into that same corner space. Single crochet around the square making sure you end up with 36 total stitches between the ch-2’s of the corners. On the raw edges (sides), this will be 2 SCs for every DC on the edge.

And that’s it! It seems complex because there are so many rows in the repeat, but just take it one stitch and row at a time, and you’ll be fine. Next week’s pattern is a lot simpler, and if you read my post on my Blazers Blanket, it will be very familiar!

Blessings,

Welcome back to my Crochet Sampler Square blanket project! Did you make Square 1 with me? If not, you can find it here.

Today I have the pattern for the second square for you. It’s called Diamond Blocks, and is quite pretty. You might begin to notice a pattern with today’s square – all of the blocks will begin with a chain of 37 and have a single crochet border of 36 stitches on every side. This will make it easier to sew them all together at the end.

But without further ado, here is the pattern for Diamond Blocks.

Diamond Blocks

SC=single crochet

DC=double crochet

ch=chain

sk=skip

st=stitch

Shell=(DC, ch 5, DC) in specified st or ch. Shell made.

~*~*~

With a size J hook, ch 37. Switch to a size I hook for the remainder of the square.

Row 1: DC in 4th ch from the hook and in next 3 chs. *sk 2 chs, shell in next ch, sk 2 chs, dc in next 5 chs* repeat across. Ch 3, turn. (ch 3 counts as first DC of following row)

Row 2: DC in next 4 DCs (remember to skip the first one because the ch 3 accounted for it). *ch 2, SC in 3rd ch of shell, ch 2, DC in next 5 sts* Repeat across, ch 3 (counts as DC), turn.

Row 3: Sk next DC. *Shell in next st (the middle one of the 5), sk 2, 2 DC in ch-2 sp, DC in SC, 2 DC in ch-2 sp, sk next 2.* Repeat until you have 5 sts left (including the turning ch). In the final 5, sk 2, shell in next, sk 1, DC in top of turning ch. Ch 4 (counts as DC+ch 1), turn.

Row 4: *SC in 3rd ch of shell, ch 2, DC in next 5, ch 2* Repeat until the last shell. In the last shell, SC in 3rd ch, ch 1, DC in top of turning ch. Ch 3 (counts as DC), turn.

Row 5: DC in next ch 1-sp and in next next SC, 2 DC in ch-2 sp. *sk 2 DC, shell in next DC (the middle one), sk 2, 2 DC in ch-2 sp, DC in SC, 2 DC in ch-2 sp* Repeat until you get to the last ch-2 sp. At that point, 2 DC into the space, DC in SC, DC into each of the top 2 turning chains.

Repeat Rows 2-5 3 more times, then end on Row 2 (18 total rows).

Border: Join your border color into one corner with a slip stitch. Ch 1, then SC, ch 2, SC into that same corner space. Single crochet around the square making sure you end up with 36 total stitches between the ch-2’s of the corners. On the raw edges (sides), this will be 2 SCs for every DC on the edge.

See you next week for Square 3!

Blessings,

Over the next few weeks, I am going to be making a crochet blanket using a series of different stitch patterns, each stitched up into a square. When all of the squares are done (I’m not sure how many yet; probably 24 or 30), I’ll sew them together to make a blanket. I will be sharing my squares, along with their patterns, here. My goal is to release either 1 or 2 patterns per week. I would be delighted to have you stitch along with me! I will be using a variety of 4-weight acrylic yarns (using up what I have on hand, mostly) and a size I crochet hook, but you can use whatever you like. Keep in mind that yarn weight and hook size can change up the size of your squares considerably, so you might want more or fewer depending on how big they turn out. Mine are about 10 inches.

Keep in mind a few things if you decide to crochet with me. First, whatever yarn weight you decide to use at the beginning, keep with that same yarn weight throughout the project. This will help keep your squares fairly uniform. Additionally, use the same hook sizes throughout for the same reason. And finally, use the same yarn fiber throughout. You could probably get away with mixing fibers with similar washing instructions, but it’s best to keep things cohesive just in case. You wouldn’t want to mix acrylic and wool, for example, and forget that you’ve used wool, machine wash the blanket, and end up with severe puckering because the wool has felted while the acrylic did not.

Here is the first square of the series, Lattice.

Lattice Square Pattern (American crochet terms)

DC=double crochet

SC=single crochet

ch=chain

sk=skip

Using a size J hook, chain 37. Switch to size I hook for the remainder of the square.

Row 1: DC in 4th ch from hook, SC in same ch. *ch 2, sk next 2 chs, work (DC, SC) in next ch* Repeat all the way across the row. Ch 3, turn.

Row 2: In only the DCs, work (DC, SC, ch 2) all the way across. Skip all SCs and ch 2 spaces.

Repeat Row 2 16 more times (total of 18 rows).

BORDER: Join new color yarn in any corner. Ch 1, SC, ch 2, SC in same corner space. SC to get 36 total stitches (including the corner stitches) on each side. In every corner, work SC, ch 2, SC. When you get to the last side, remember that you’ve already worked the final SC; it was the first SC of the border at the beginning. Join to this stitch with a slip stitch.

That’s it for the Lattice Square! I hope you’ll join me next time for Square 2!

Blessings,