Happy April Fool’s Day to everyone!
Yes, I’m actually celebrating this fun little occasion. Not because of all the pranks and hoaxes that are involved (although that’s reason enough in itself), but because it’s my 16th wedding anniversary. Woohoo!!!
How in the world did this happen you say? Why would anyone get married on such a day? It’s no joke. We met on April 1, 2002 and tied the knot exactly one year later – to the day. No jokes. No hoaxes. No funny business. Just a beautiful outdoor garden wedding, and lovely classical guitar music.
This year, I celebrate in my own special way – and that, of course, involves yarn and hook. So when I had the opportunity to design an afghan block for Julie Yeager’s Block-a-Week CAL, I grabbed this date right away. It’s about time that I dedicate something special to my very own April Fool. After all, he is my biggest fan/critic/enabler. Craig cautiously went along with my plan, and even chose colors – teal is his favorite.
So – Happy Anniversary to us! I present to you an afghan block fit for a king – or at least the court jester. 🙂
*This design has been hubby approved.
My April Fool
12” Afghan Block
Designed by: Melinda Miller
Ravelry: Melinda Miller Designs
Facebook: Crochet Time with Melinda Miller Designs
Email: mocrochet@yahoo.com
© 2019 Melinda Miller – All rights reserved
MATERIALS:
ANY WORSTED WEIGHT YARN
I USED HOBBY LOBBY I LOVE THIS YARN
A: Mint Lace
B: Linen
C: Teal
CROCHET HOOK SIZE I / 5.5 mm
TAPESTRY NEEDLE
SIZE: 12” X 12”
ABBREVIATIONS:
Bef = before
Beg = beginning
BL = back loop
Ch/s = chain/s
Cont = continue
Dc= double crochet
Foll = following
Hdc = half double crochet
Hk = hook
Lp/s = loop/s
Prev = previous
Rep = repeat
Rnd = round
Sc = single crochet
Sk = skip/skipped
Sl St = slip stitch
Sp/s = space/s
St/s = stitch/es
Tr = treble crochet
Yo = yarn over
SPECIAL STITCHES:
Begpc (Beginning Popcorn): Ch 3, 4 dc in same st, drop lp from hk, insert hk from front to back through 3rd ch of beg ch-3, place dropped lp on hk and pull through.
Bpsc (back post single crochet): Insert hk from back to front and to back again around post of st indicated, yo and pull up a lp, complete as regular sc.
Dc2tog: Yo, insert hk in next st, yo and pull up lp, yo and draw through 2 lps, (2 lps on hk), rep into next st until 3 lps on hk, yo and draw through all lps on hk. Count as 1 dc.
Fpdc (front post double crochet): Yo and insert hk from front to back and to front again around post of st indicated, yo and pull up a lp, complete as regular dc.
Fphdc (front post half double crochet ): Yo and insert hk from front to back and to front again around post of st indicated, yo and pull up a lp, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hk.
Fpsc (front post single crochet): Insert hk from front to back and to front again around post of st indicated, yo and pull up a lp, complete as regular sc.
Pc (Popcorn): Work 5 dc in same st, drop lp from hk, insert hk from front to back through top of first st made, place dropped lp on hk and pull through st.
NOTES:
1. If you stitch with loose tension, you may want to go down a hook size.
2. When ending Rnds, always join with a sl st to top of beg ch or to beg st.
3. When joining a new color to the prev Rnd, either join in the exact location indicated or to a mirror stitch.
4. Ch-3 at beg of round only counts as a dc when indicated. Feel free to replace the beg ch-3/ch-2 with the dc/hdc of choice.
INSTRUCTIONS
With A make a magic ring, or ch 5 and join into a ring.
Rnd 1: Ch 3 (count as dc), 11 dc in ring, join. (12 dc)
Rnd 2: Ch 3 (count as dc), 3 dc in next st, dc in next st, ch 4, (dc in next st, 3 dc in next st, dc in next st, ch 4) 3 times, join. Finish off. (20 dc, 4 ch-4)
Rnd 3: Join B with sl st to 3rd dc of any 5-dc group, [ch 3, 9 dc in next ch-4 sp, ch 3, sl st in 3rd dc of next 5-dc group] 4 times placing last sl st in same dc as first. Finish off.
(36 dc, 4 sl st, 8 ch-3)
Rnd 4: Join C with sl st in same dc as any Rnd 3 sl st, begpc in same st, [ch 2, bpsc in next 9 dc, ch 2, pc in same dc as next sl st] around omitting last pc, join. Finish off.
(4 pc, 36 bpsc, 8 ch-2)
Rnd 5: Join A with sc in ch-2 sp foll any pc, [hdc in next 3 bpsc, dc in next bpsc,
(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next bpsc, dc in next bpsc, hdc in next 3 bpsc, sc in next ch-2 sp,
ch 1, sk next pc, sc in next ch-2 sp] around omitting last sc, join. Finish off.
(Per side – 6 dc, 6 hdc, 2 sc, 1 ch-1, ch-2 for each corner)
Rnd 6: Join C with sc to first st fol any corner ch-2 sp, sc in next 6 sts,
[fpdc around top of next pc directly below, sc in next 7 sts, (sc, hdc, sc) in next ch-2 sp, sc in next 7 sts] around omitting last 7 sc, join. Finish off. (Per side – 16 sc, 1 fpdc, 1 hdc for each corner)
Rnd 7: Working in BL, join B with sc to any corner hdc, (hdc, sc) in same st, [sc in next 4 sts, sk next 4 sts, 11 tr in next st, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 4 sts, (sc, hdc, sc) in next st] around omitting last (sc, hdc, sc), join. Finish off. (Per side – 11 tr, 10 sc, 1 hdc for each corner)
Rnd 8: Working in BL, join C with sl st to any corner hdc, ch 2 (count as hdc), (hdc,
ch 1, 2 hdc) in same st, [hdc in next 5 sts, bpsc in next 11 tr, hdc in next 5 sts, (2 hdc, ch 1, 2 hdc) in next corner hdc] around omitting last (2 hdc, ch 1, 2 hdc) join. Finish off.
(Per side – 14 hdc, 11 bpsc, ch-1 for each corner)
Rnd 9: Working in BL, join A with sc to 5th st foll any corner ch-1, [ch 1, sk next
2 sts, (pc in next bpsc, ch 2, sk next bpsc) 5 times, pc in next bpsc, ch 2, sk next 2 sts, sc in next st, ch 5, sk next (4 hdc, ch-1, 4 hdc), sc in next st placing the ch-5 behind corner] around omitting last sc, join. Finish off. (Per side – 6 pc, 2 sc, 1 ch-5, 1 ch-1, 6 ch-2)
Rnd 10: Join B with sc to any ch-5 sp behind Rnd 8 corner, 4 sc in same sp, [sc in next sc, hdc in next ch-1 sp, fphdc around top of next pc, (dc in next ch-2 sp, fpdc around top of next pc) twice, (2 tr, ch 1, 2 tr) in next ch-2 sp, (fpdc around top of next pc, dc in next ch-2 sp) twice, fphdc around top of next pc, hdc in next ch-2 sp, sc in next sc, 5 sc in next ch-5 sp] around omitting last 5 sc, join. (Per side – 23 sts, ch-1 for each corner)
Rnd 11: Ch 3 (count as dc), dc in next 13 sts, [(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch-1 sp, dc in next 23 sts] around omitting last 14 dc, join. (Per side – 27 dc, ch-2 for each corner)
Rnd 12: [Ch 3, sk next st, pc in next st, ch 3, sk next st, sl st in next st, sc in next 11 sts, (sc, hdc, sc) in next ch-2 sp, sc in next 11 sts, sl st in next st] around placing last sl st in join. Finish off. (Per side – 24 sc, 2 sl st, 2 ch-3, 1 pc, 1 hdc for each corner)
Rnd 13:Join C with sc to the first sc foll any corner hdc, sc in next sc, [hdc in next sc, dc in next sc, tr in next sc, (2 tr in next sc) twice, (tr in next sc) twice, dc in next sc, hdc in next sc, sc in next sc, tr in Rnd 8 ch-1 sp directly below, sc in ch-3 sp bef next pc, fpsc around top of same pc, sc in ch-3 sp foll same pc, tr in same Rnd 8 ch-1 sp, sk next sl st, sc in next sc, hdc in next sc, dc in next sc, (tr in next sc) twice, (2 tr in next sc) twice, tr in next sc, dc in next sc, hdc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc, (sc, hdc, sc) in next corner hdc, sc in next 2 sc] around omitting last 2 sc, join. Finish off. (Per side – 35 sts, 1 hdc for each corner)
Rnd 14: Working in BL, join A with sl st to any fpsc above a pc, ch 3 (count as dc), dc in next 2 sts, [dc2tog, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next 5 sts, hdc in next st, dc2tog, tr in next 3 sts, (2 tr, ch 1, 2 tr) in next corner hdc, tr in next 3 sts, dc2tog, hdc in next st, sc in next 5 sts, hdc in next st, dc in next st, dc2tog, dc in next 5 sts (3rd dc is worked into the fpsc directly above the pc)] around omitting last 3 dc, join. (Per side – 35 sts, ch-1 for each corner)
Rnd 15: Ch 2 (count as hdc), hdc in next 17 sts, [(2 hdc, ch 2, 2 hdc) in next ch-1 sp, hdc in next 35 sts] around omitting last 18 hdc, join. Finish off. (Per side – 39 hdc, 1 ch-2 for each corner)
Stop here – or cont on for size/st count.
Rnd 16:Join C with sc to first hdc bef any ch-2 corner ch-2 sp, place 1 sc in each hdc around, and (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 sc) in each ch-2 sp , join with sl st or invisible join to beg sc. Finish off. (Per side – 41 sc, 1 hdc for each corner)
Weave in all ends, block.
© 2019 Melinda Miller – All rights reserved
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My April Fool – PDF Pattern
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Happy anniversary! My grandparents were also married on April Fool's Day, in 1946. They were happily married for over 71 years 🙂
Thank you for the pattern!
That's so sweet. I bet they were just the cutest couple. 🙂
Love this. Will make this Thank you
Love the colors! I have to make this.
Thank you this is beautiful
Love this! Thank you.
How many of each color to make Afghan?
For a nice size afghan, I would make 20 total squares. Join together with 5 rows of 4 squares each.