And finally, the squares before the last square (for now)

Darn! I already posted a snapshot of the Blue Chrysanthemum. Surely it's lovely enough to look at twice ;o). Don't remember if I mentioned here or in my notebook that I never imagined working a decrease upside down to make upside down triangles, as the purple ones around the border. (At least that's how I recall it; looking back at notebook it was a 3hdc cluster...) And my crochet experience is fairly limited.

Besides the patchwork (last square) this is another square I'd consider making enough of to make an afghan, or maybe just a lapghan. That I'd consider it at all is very complimentary indeed! (Perhaps the illusion star blanket as well...)

Kinda camouflaged, which had run out of sage green earlier, is done now.  The pattern is a sample block #4 from Melinda Miller's Sensational Sampler Afghan/Lapghan. (Sorry, Ravelry link is the only one I have for that.) Find it on her blog as well. It reminds me of the dip stitch knitting patterns, only in crochet. Makes for a double-sided design, or at least I have trouble telling the front from the back.  Actually, that's a theme for me lately, but understandable considering some of the pieces I was referring to.

Above is sample block #1 from the same Sensational Sampler. It kind of reminds me of atari game backgrounds. I think it would work equally well turned on it's side, too, so it seemed like a good idea to take a second sideways picture of it.

This is the Hugs N Kisses 12" square by Aurora Suominen. I really enjoyed crocheting this, learning the popcorn stitch, back cross stitch, and front post dc and fptc. Those sure add dimension! I don't understand why this photo appears so much closer to the true color in my photo program than when uploaded and viewed in the browser. It is a lovely and sophisticated blue and not the faded dishwater version it appears to be wherever I post it online. 


For that matter, the light blue in the atari blocks (a single square) above is really a dusty/country blue, not a clear and icy cyan. The lighter purple in that square always looks sickly; it's as anti-photogenic as I am!


Oooh - next are the checkerboards, one blue/green and the other berry colored (violets, or technically orchids).

This design works equally well right side up and upside down, or rather the illusion is viewable from both directions. I didn't want to guess or change the pattern and thought it would be easiest to just put a border on it to bring it up to 12" square. I thought the border could be more interesting if it were placed only along two edges, allowing for a wider border. I did miscalculate and picked up as many stitches as rows when picking up stitches to make the green square in the corner. 


The pattern, Checkerboard Illusion Tutorial by Susan Mrenna, works just fine, but if I were to do it again, I think I would enlarge the design. It seems it would be amazing with bigger squares. Actually her pattern is exceptionally well written and thoroughly enjoyable to follow, not just telling you what to do, but why and pointing out how and when you can first really see the illusion.  I do not mean to sound unenthusiastic about it. I think it's the nature of squares. They are not the most dynamic of shapes, compared to say stars or tulips. I should have recalculated it to make bigger squares in the checkerboard. In the 8" square that the pattern makes the checks seem appropriately sized.


And so the berry colored version, right side up and upside down:

 With this square I crocheted the border, mostly for expediency. Crochet is just so much faster under many circumstances. Hmmm, only now realizing up til these all the squares on this page were crocheted!