Stitch challenge 11 - overlay mosaic crochet
Welcome to my 11th self-imposed stitch challenge. This week I am tackling overlay mosaic crochet. However, this technique is not just a single stitch or single stitch pattern like all the other stitch challenges that I have done to date. As I said in my blog post last week, overlay mosaic crochet uses 2 main stitches - back loop single crochet (blsc) and mosaic double crochet (mdc) to form patterns over several rows using a new colour for each row/round and working on the RS only of your work. For this little stitch challenge I am going to use my condensed version of the apache tears pattern - ie "mdc in the first st, blsc in the next 3 sts" but, like in some of my previous stitch pattern challenges, I am going to build up to that pattern in some rows/rounds where I do not have enough stitches to complete the pattern. I will change colour at the end of each row/round as this allows the design to stand out.
Simple overlay mosaic crochet square in the round
First up is the square worked in rounds. At the end of each round I joined to the back loop only of the first stitch of the round. I also didn’t do any of the single crochet stitches in both loops that were used in the square made in rows.
With Colour A make a magic ring
Rnd 1 4 Sc into the magic ring. Join to the BLO of the first st with a sl st. Fasten off Colour A. (4 sc)
Rnd 2 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, working in BLO, make a standing blsc in any st around, 2 blsc into the same st, 3 blsc in each st around. Join to the BLO of the first st with a sl st. Fasten off Colour B. (12 blsc)
Rnd 3 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, working in BLO, make a standing blsc in the middle blsc of any group of 3 blsc, 2 more blsc in the same st. *mdc in the next st from Rnd 1, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, 3 blsc in the next st* 2 times, mdc in the next st from Rnd 1, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, join to the BLO of the first st. Fasten off Colour A. (16 blsc, 4 mdc)
Rnd 4 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, working in BLO, make a standing blsc in the middle blsc of any group of 3 blsc, 2 more blsc in the same st. *blsc in the next 2 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 2, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, 3 blsc in the next st* 2 times, blsc in the next 2 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 2, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, join to the BLO of the first st. Fasten off Colour B. (24 blsc, 4 mdc)
Rnd 5 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, working in BLO, make a standing blsc in the middle blsc of any group of 3 blsc, 2 more blsc in the same st. *mdc in the next st from Rnd 3, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 3, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, 3 blsc in the next st* 2 times, mdc in the next st from Rnd 3, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 3, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, join to the BLO of the first st. Fasten off Colour A. (28 blsc, 8 mdc)
Rnd 6 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, working in BLO, make a standing blsc in the middle blsc of any group of 3 blsc, 3 more blsc in the same st. *blsc in the next 2 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 4, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 4, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, 4 blsc in the next st* 2 times, blsc in the next 2 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 4, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st from Rnd 4, {sk st behind st just made}, blsc in the next st, join to the BLO of the first st. Fasten off Colour B. (40 blsc, 8 mdc)
Overlay mosaic crochet worked from corner to corner
With Colour A, ch 2
Row 1 Sc in the 2nd ch from hook. Fasten off Colour A. (1 sc)
Row 2 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, working in BLO, make a standing blsc in the first st, 2 blsc in the same st. Fasten off Colour B. (3 blsc)
Row 3 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, make a standing sc in the first st, blsc in the same st, mdc in the next st, (blsc, sc) in the last st. Fasten off Colour A. (2 sc, 2 blsc, 1 mdc)
Row 4 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, make a standing sc in the first st, blsc in the same st, blsc in the next 2 sts, mdc in the next st, (blsc, sc) in the next st. Fasten off Colour B. (4 blsc, 1 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 5 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, make a standing sc in the first st, mdc in the same st {2 rows below – Note: you are not skipping a st behind this mdc}, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st, (blsc, sc) in the last st. Fasten off Colour A. (4 blsc, 2 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 6 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, make a standing sc in the first st, blsc in the same st, blsc in the next st, mdc in the next st, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st, (blsc, sc) in the last st. Fasten off Colour B. (6 blsc, 2 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 7 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, make a standing sc in the first st, mdc in the next st {2 rows down – Note: you are not skipping a st behind this mdc}, *bslc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st,* 2 times, (blsc, sc) in the last st. Fasten off Colour A. (7 blsc, 3 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 8 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, make a standing sc in the first st, blsc in the next st, *mdc in the next st, blsc in the next 3 sts* 2 times, mdc in the next st, sc in the last st. Fasten off Colour B. (7 blsc, 3 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 9 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, make a standing sc2tog {the second part of the sc2tog should be done in BLO}, blsc in the next st, *mdc in the next st, blsc in the next 3 sts* 2 times, blsc in the next 2 sts, sc2tog {making the first half of the sc2tog in BLO}. Fasten off Colour A. (9 blsc, 2 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 10 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, make a standing sc2tog {the second part of the sc2tog should be done in BLO}, blsc in the next st, mdc in the next st, blsc in the next 3 sts, mdc in the next st, sc2tog {making the first half of the sc2tog in BLO}. Fasten off Colour B. (4 blsc, 2 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 11 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, make a standing sc2tog {the second part of the sc2tog should be done in BLO}, blsc in the next st, mdc in the next st, blsc in the next 2 sts, sc2tog {making the first half of the sc2tog in BLO}. Fasten off Colour A. (3 blsc, 1 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 12 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, make a standing sc2tog {the second part of the sc2tog should be done in BLO}, blsc in the next st, mdc in the next st, sc2tog {making the first half of the sc2tog in BLO}. Fasten off Colour B. (1 blsc, 1 mdc, 2 sc)
Row 13 With a sl knot of Colour A yarn on your hook, make a standing sc2tog {the second part of the sc2tog should be done in BLO}, sc2tog {making the first half of the sc2tog in BLO}. Fasten off Colour A. (2 sc)
Row 14 With a sl knot of Colour B yarn on your hook, make a standing sc2tog. Fasten off Colour B. (1 sc)
When I first made the square in the round I thought it was my favourite square because I liked it more than the basic one made in rows. However, now that I have also made the square worked from corner to corner, I am not sure which of them is my favourite. I am kind of leaning towards the one created from corner to corner. The added bonus of this square is that it actually looks like it might be square, unlike some of my other squares that I worked from corner to corner which appear to be more diamond shaped.
The photo below shows all 3 samples together. I'm not sure exactly what I will create as a pattern with mosaic crochet (other than the design I did for a CAL that has not yet been announced) but I'm sure I can come up with something interesting.