The Midnight Garden Afghan is inspired by the dark floral fabrics that have been popular for moody, bohemian home decor. Dark blue sets the tone and frames large and small scale flowers, making them pop. Green leaves and vines give some foliage. Simple border and crochet pom pom trim finishes off the edges, adding a fun detail to the Afghan.

Time: 1 Week Project

Skill Level: Intermediate

Size: 41” x 60”

Gauge: Gauge is not essential for this project.

Materials

Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash (100% superwash wool; 220 yards [200 meters]/100 grams): 1924 Midnight Heather (A,  8 balls), 1910 Summer Sky Heather (B, 2 balls), 910A Winter White (C, 2 balls), 312 Avocado (D, 1 ball), 0827 Coral (E, 2 balls), 1941 Salmon (F, 1 ball)

Hook: US size H/8 (5.0 mm)

Notions: Tapestry needle, tape measure, scissors.

Abbreviations

htr – half treble crochet

Special Stitches

Puff Stitch (PS) – *Yo, insert hook in indicated st, yo, pull up lp, keeping the yarn lps long; rep from * another 4 times, yo and draw through all lps on the hook.

Pattern Notes

The Afghan is made up of 4 different styles of blocks that gradually progress in difficulty. Starting with Block A and working through each set of blocks will build your skills and make the process quick and enjoyable. To help with finishing up, crochet over any loose ends whenever possible. After the blocks are joined, surface crochet vines are added along the A Blocks. Finally, a border and a crochet PomPom trim finishes off the edges.

Pattern

Block A (make 12)

Row 1: With A, ch 4, (dc, ch 3, 2 dc) into first ch, turn.

Row 2: Ch 3, sk first dc, dc in next dc, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in ch-3 sp, dc in next dc, dc in third ch of tch, turn.

Row 3: Ch 3, sk first dc, dc in each dc to ch-3 sp, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in ch-3 sp, dc in each dc to tch, dc in third ch of tch, turn.

Rep last row 9 more times. Fasten off.

Block B (make 12)

With B, ch 4, sl st to first ch to form ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 12 sc into the ch-4 ring, sl st to first sc.

Rnd 2: (Sc, ch 4, sc) in FL of first and each sc around. (12 ch-4 petals)

Rnd 3: (Sc, ch 6, sc) in BL of first and each sc of Rnd 1, sl st to first sc. (12 ch-6 petals)

Rnd 4: Working behind the petals, *ch 2, sk first sc, sc in next sc; rep from * around, sl st to first sc. (12 ch-2 sps) Cut yarn.

Join A to any ch-2 sp.

Rnd 5: Ch 3, 3 dc in first ch-2 sp, *(2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next ch-2 sp, 3 dc in next 2 ch-2 sps; rep from * another 2 times, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next ch-2 sp, 3 dc in next ch-2 sp, sl st to top of first dc.

Rnds 6-8: Ch 3, *dc in first and each dc across to ch-3 sp, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in ch-3 sp; rep from * another 3 times, dc in each dc to end, sl st to top of first dc.

Rnd 9: Ch 1, *sc in first and each dc across to ch-3 sp, 3 sc in ch-3 sp; rep from * another 3 times, sc in each dc to end, sl st to top of first sc. Fasten off.

Block C (make 12)

Rnd 1: With C, ch 2, 5 sc into first ch, sl st to first ch.

Rnd 2: (Ch 1, hdc, dc, hdc, ch 1, sl st) in FL of first and each sc around. (5 petals)

Rnd 3: 2 sc in each BL of the ch from Rnd 1, sl st to FL of first sc. (10 sc)

Rnd 4: *(Ch 1, 3 dc) in FL of first sc of Rnd 3, (3 dc, ch 1, sl st) in FL of second sc of Rnd 3; rep from * around, sl st to first ch 1. Cut yarn. (5 large petals)

Join D to the first BL of sc from Rnd 3.

Rnd 5: Ch 1, (sc, ch 1) in first and each BL of each sc from Rnd 3, sl st to first sc. (10 ch-1 sps)

Rnd 6: Sc in first ch-1 sp, *ch 5, sk one ch-1 sps, sc in next ch-1 sp; rep from * 4 more times, sl st to first sc. (5 ch-5 sps)

Rnd 7: (Sl st, ch 1, hdc, dc, htr, tr, ch 2, tr, htr, dc, hdc, ch 1, sl st) in each ch-5 sp, sl st to first sl st. (5 leaves)

Rnd 8: Working behind the leaves, *ch 3, sc into the middle of ch-5 sp from Rnd 6 between two tr, ch 3, sc into the back of the sc from Rnd 6; rep from * another 4 times. (10 ch-3 sps) Cut yarn.

Join A in any ch-3 sp.

Rnd 9: Ch 3, 3 dc in same ch-3 sp, *(2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next ch-3 sp, 3 dc in next 2 ch-3 sps, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next ch-3 sp*, 6 dc in next ch-3 sp, rep from * to* once more, 3 dc in first ch-3 sp, sl st to first dc.

Rnds 10-12: Ch 3, *dc in first and each dc to ch-3 sp, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in ch-3 sp; rep from * another 3 times, dc in each dc to end, sl st to top of first dc. Fasten off.

Block D (make 12)

Rnd 1: With C, ch 2, 6 sc into first ch, sl st to first sc.

Rnd 2: Working in the FL only, (sl st, ch 1, sc, ch 1, sl st) in each sc around, sl st to first sc. (6 petals)

Rnd 3: Working behind the petals, into the BL of the sc from Rnd 1, 2 sc in each sc around. (12 sc)

Rnd 4: Ch 1, (sc, ch 1) in each sc around. Cut yarn.

Join E in any ch-1 sp.

Rnd 5: Ch 3, (PS, ch 1) in each ch-1 sp, sl st to top of first PS. (12 PSs)

Rnd 6: Sl st to first ch-1 sp, ch 3, *PS in ch-1 sp, (PS, ch 1, PS) in next ch-1 sp; rep from * around, sl st to top of first PS. Cut yarn.

Join F in any ch-1 sp.

Rnd 7: Ch 3, (2 PS, ch 1) in each ch-1 sp around, sl st to top of first PS.

Rnd 8: Sl st to first ch-1 sp, working into FL only, *sk 2 PS, 7 dc in next ch-1 sp, sk 2 PS, sl st in next ch-1 sp; rep from * around, sl st to first sl st. (9 petals)

Rnd 9: Working behind the petals, sl st to BL of first ch-1 sp from Rnd 7. Working in BL only, *sk 2 PS, 9 htr in next ch-1 sp, sk 2 PS, sl st to next ch-1 sp; rep from * around, sl st to first sl st. (9 petals) Cut yarn.

Working behind the petals into the BL only, join A at the top of any PS from Rnd 7.

Rnd 10: Ch 1, sc in same PS, *ch 3, sk 2 PS, sc in top of next PS; rep from * around, sl st to first sc. (12 ch-3 sps)

Rnd 11: Sl st to first ch-3 sp, ch 3, *[5 dc in next ch-3 sp] 3 times, ch 3; rep from * another 3 times, sl st to top of first dc.

Rnd 12: Ch 3, *dc in first and each dc across to ch-3 sp, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in ch-3 sp; rep from * another 3 times, sl st to top of first dc. Fasten off.

Assembling

Arrange the blocks according to the Block Placement Diagram. Using a preferred method, join the blocks together, making sure to match the corners of each block.

Vine Foliage

With RS facing, join D in the outside corner of any Block A, joining at the ch-3 sp.

Foundation Ch: Working diagonally along the ch-3 sps, moving from one Block A to the next, *ch 2, sl st to next ch-3 sp; rep from * to end, turn.

Next Row: Sl st to first ch-2 sp, *(ch 2, dc3tog, ch 2, sl st) in same ch-2 sp, sl st to next ch-2 sp 3 times; rep from * to end. Fasten off.

Rep this process for every Block A.

Finishing

Border

Join A in any dc,

Set-Up Rnd: Ch 3, dc in same dc, *working dc in each dc, and 2 dc in each ch-2 sp, work to corner, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) into the corner dc or ch-3 sp; rep from * another 3 times, work dc in each dc, and 2 dc in each ch-2 sp around, sl st to top of first dc.

Rnd 1: Ch 3, dc in same dc, *dc in each dc to ch-3 sp, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in ch-3 sp; rep from * another 3 times, dc in each dc around, sl st to top of first dc.

Rep Rnd 1 once more. Cut yarn. Change to B and rep Rnd 1 once. Cut yarn.

PomPom Trim

Join C in any dc.

Next Rnd: Ch 1, *sc in next 6 dc, ch 6, 5 dctog into the 2nd ch from the hook, sl st into the same ch, sl st into each of the next 3 ch; rep from * around, sl st to first sc. Fasten off.

Weave in all ends.