BB July 2020 Blooming Flower Hexagons Afghan

Blooming Flower Hexagons Afghan

Supplies: 

2 skeins of 5 colors of Hook Nook Main Squeeze

Size I Crochet Hook

Darning Needle or Hook Nook End Weaver

Skill Level: Intermediate

Dimensions: 

Blooming Flower Hexagon Dimension: 8 inches across

Expanded Hexagon Dimension: 11 inches across if doing 4 additional rounds

Full blanket dimensions are dependent upon the hexagon size selected but the final dimensions (with yarn provided) should be:

5 columns of 5 8” hexagons: About 32 inches by 39 inches without a border 

4 columns of 6 8” hexagons: About 24 inches by 45 inches without a border

Gauge: 

8 rows of 8 single crochet stitches = 2 by 2 inches

And/Or Blooming Flower Hexagon Dimension = 8 inches across

Overlay crocheting is a technique of creating a fabric of single crochet stitches in the back loop only and working additional stitches over the fabric in the front loop of below rows to create different designs. In this pattern, we are creating hexagons with a flower design blooming from the center utilizing the overlay crochet technique. Using five different colors, you have the option to make every single hexagon different with the color order (more on this in the Color Combination section). The border of the hexagons is up to you. You have the option to leave the Blooming Flower Hexagon pattern as designed and create solid hexagons for spacing between the Blooming Flower ones. Alternatively, you can add additional rounds to the main hexagon design (making the hexagon larger) and not make any solid hexagons at all. Lastly, depending on the layout of your blanket, make half hexagons to fill in the gaps at the top and bottom of the blanket. The sides will be rippled but with the half hexagons, the top/bottom will be flat. 

Stitches/Abbreviation Guide:

Yarn Over (yo); Space (sp); Stitch (st); Skip (sk); Loop (lp)

Magic Ring: an adjustable ring used at the center to help tighten the gap after crocheting the first round. 

Chain (ch): with one lp on hook, yo and pull through the lp on hook

Slip Stitch (sl st): insert hook into target sp, yo and pull through sp AND lp on hook

Single Crochet (sc): insert hook into target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through both lps on hook

Single Crochet Two Together (sc2tog): insert hook into first target sp, yo and pull through sp, insert hook into second target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through all lps on hook

Half Double Crochet (hdc): yo, insert hook into target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through all three lps on hook

Double Crochet (dc): yo, insert hook into target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook two times

Triple Crochet (tr): yo twice, insert hook into target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook three times

Double Triple Crochet (dt): yo three times, insert hook into target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook four times

Front Post Triple Crochet (fp tr): yo twice, pick up COLUMN by inserting from right to left and pulling the column towards you, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook three times

Front Post Double Triple Crochet (fp dt): yo three times, pick up COLUMN by inserting from right to left and pulling the column towards you, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook four times

Triple Crochet Two Together (tp2tog): yo twice, insert hook into FIRST target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook TWO times (2 lps remaining), yo twice, insert hook into SECOND target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook TWO times (3 lps remaining), yo and pull through all lps on hook

Double Triple Crochet Two Together (dt2tog): yo three times, insert hook into FIRST target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook THREE times (2 lps remaining), yo three times, insert hook into SECOND target sp, yo and pull through sp, yo and pull through two lps on hook THREE times (3 lps remaining), yo and pull through all lps on hook

Invisible Join: After making the last stitch of round, cut yarn (leaving a 4 inch or so tail) and pull through top of last stitch made. Using a needle, pull yarn tail from front to back through the 2 top loops of the 2nd stitch of the round. Then, pull tail from top to bottom through the center of the top 2 loops of the last stitch of the round. This creates a “false” stitch that you can crochet into in the following rounds. 

Color Combination Considerations

With five colors for this afghan, it is important to consider how you want the hexagons to look as a whole. Below are several options and how to go about it with each. 

SAME color order for all Blooming Flower Hexagons:

This means all the Blooming Flower Hexagons look the same throughout the blanket. This means some colors are used more than others within the hexagon. The colors with least usage in the hexagons would make more solid hexagons. To achieve this, pick a single color order and assign each color the letter to be used throughout the pattern/motifs (Color 1 is always Color A, etc). 

All color orders are different for Blooming Flower Hexagons

This means all the Blooming Flower Hexagons look different compared to each other. The easiest way to achieve this is to make 5 hexagons concurrently with all following the same color order BUT starting with a different color. For example: The color order is Color 1, Color 2, Color 3, Color 4, Color 5. 

Hexagon 1: Color 1 = Color A, Color 2 = Color B, Color 3 = Color C, Color 4 = Color D, Color 5 = Color E

Hexagon 2: Color 2 = Color A, Color 3 = Color B, Color 4 = Color C, Color 5 = Color D, Color 1 = Color E

Hexagon 3: Color 3 = Color A, Color 4 = Color B, Color 5 = Color C, Color 1 = Color D, Color 2 = Color E

Hexagon 4: Color 4 = Color A, Color 5 = Color B, Color 1 = Color C, Color 2 = Color D, Color 3 = Color E

Hexagon 5: Color 5 = Color A, Color 1 = Color B, Color 2 = Color C, Color 3 = Color D, Color 4 = Color E

With the next set of 5 hexagons, change the overall color order to a different order and follow the order for Hexagons 1-5. Effectively, the hexagon look changes with that. The yarn usage for each color would be the same and you would have the same amount of solid hexagons in each color (if doing smaller hexagons is the plan). 

Sets of the same Blooming Flower Hexagons

Follow the same color order for all sets of 5 hexagons so you use the same color order every time so that you have sets of hexagons that are the same AND the yarn usage is the same. This means you would make the same color order hexagon the desired number of times (3 of each Hexagon order from above example). 

Number of Hexagons Notes

With 10 skeins of yarn, you should be able to make 30 8 inches hexagons (solid or Blooming Flower) OR 15 11 inches hexagons. This would use up ALL the yarn most likely. It is recommended to make 24-25 of the 8 inches hexagons or about 10-12 11 inches hexagons. 

In addition, after making a few Blooming Flower Hexagons start to decide about the layout of the whole blanket so that you can plan for how you want it to eventually look. If the color order of the hexagons are changing to keep the yarn usage equal, aim for finishing the first skein of all the colors (maybe all your Blooming Flower Hexagons without the extra rounds) THEN start finalizing your design with what you have left.