Welcome to Week 12 of the Mélange Blanket mystery crochet along with Underground Crafter! This week’s pattern is the Mainstays Square by Stitch & Hustle.
This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation (at no added cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. Materials for this project were generously provided by King Cole and Denise Interchangeables.
Join the Mélange Blanket Mystery Crochet Along!
- Learn more about the CAL (and enter the giveaway for your chance to win a one of five great prizes from babé crochet co., Denise Interchangeables, GlassEyesOnline, King Cole, and Knitter’s Relief Balm by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on December 22, 2023) in this blog post.
- You can join in by crocheting along with each square of this blanket as you have time.
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- If you’d like to chat with other crocheters, join the Underground Crafters Facebook group or follow Mélange Blanket CAL thread the Underground Crafter Ravelry group.
- By the end of the CAL, you’ll have 48 beautiful squares you can put together into a beautiful blanket.
- Use the button below on your Ravelry project pages or elsewhere on social media. Right click (on desktop) or tap and hold (on mobile) to save.
Mélange Blanket Square 12: Mainstays Square
Our twelfth square pattern is the Mainstays Square by Stitch & Hustle. You can find Michele online at Etsy | Facebook | Instagram | Ravelry
Michele’s version of the Mainstays Square is made with three colors.
For my version, I used King Cole Big Value Aran, which is available through your local yarn shop or online at LoveCrafts or Wool Warehouse UK, and my Denise US Size J-10/6 mm crochet hook. Using the same hook and yarn throughout this project helps me keep consistent gauge across all my squares. I started with a foundation chain of 13 in Nougat (because I’m one of those rare crocheters who don’t prefer foundation single crochet) and then skipped the first chain and continued to single crochet in the next 12 chains. I continued onto Rows 2 & 3 in the pattern, changing to Berry in the last yarn over of the final stitch of Row 3 (see video below).
(If you can’t see the video above demonstrating how to change colors in single crochet, click HERE to watch it on Facebook.) I then completed Rows 4-6 in Berry, changing back to Nougat in the last yarn of the final stitch of Row 6. I continued with Rows 7-8. My stitches are much smaller than Michele’s, so after Row 8, I worked another repeat of Row 3 and changed to Berry in the last yarn of the final stitch. I did 2 more repeats of Row 3 until this piece was almost square (see video below), and then completed Row 9 in Berry, changing to Ocean in the last yarn of the final stitch of Row 9.
(If you can’t see the video above for with tips on crocheting a square flat in rows, click HERE to see it on Instagram.) I did the entire Trim in Ocean, which meant that I changed the section that starts at Color C slightly. I did a chain 1 and single crochet in the first stitch, then single crochet into each single crochet around, working (2 single crochet, chain 2, 2 single crochet) in each corner chain-2 space. At this point, my square was only 5″ (13 cm), so I worked another round of single crochet into each single crochet around, and (chain 2, skip chain-2 space) in each corner to keep the stitch count the same. I then spray blocked my square. (If you’re new to blocking, check out Blocking Basics for Crocheters and Knitters.)
Head over to Stitch & Hustle and get the free crochet pattern for the Mainstays Square here. Don’t forget to share your version online using #undergroundcrafter and #melangeblanketcal as hashtags.Tag me as Underground Crafter on Facebook, or as @ucrafter on Instagram when you’re sharing project pictures, or share your pictures in the Underground Crafters Facebook group or in the Mélange Blanket CAL thread the Underground Crafter Ravelry group.