Sunflowers Afghan Petal Help

[MommaJu]

Hello, I am writing for my grandmother who is having some trouble with the petal section of a vintage sunflower afghan pattern.  I think this pattern is called Field of Sunflowers.  I will link a picture to an etsy site that sells it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/589846207/vintage-crochet-sunflowers-afghan?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sunflower%20afghan&ref=sr_gallery-1-3

 She is experienced with all stitches, but I think she is starting to slip a bit and is having trouble.  She is 83, and this is her only hobby, poor dear.

The part of the pattern that she is having trouble with says,

Quote

Rnd 5: For petals, join lt. gold with sc in any st,  *[for base st, sc in next st; ch 3 yo, insert hook in base st, yo, pull through st, yo, pull through one loop on hook (ch 1 made), complete as dc, yo, insert hook in last ch1 made, yo pull through, yo, pull through on loop on hook (ch 1 made),  complete as dc, yo insert hook in last ch 1 made, yo pull through, yo pull through one loop on hook (ch 1 made), complete as hdc, insert hook in last ch1 made, yo pull through, yo pull through one loop on hook (ch 1 made), complete as sc, ch 3 sc in last ch 1 made; working on opposite side of chs just made, sc in each of next 3 ch, sl st in base st], sc in next st on rnd 4; repeat from * around to last st; repeat between [ ] , join.  Fasten off.

 

From watching her, I think it is one of potentially three problems.  First, she is wondering how to go from the first bit to "complete as dc" .  Secondly, I think maybe she is having trouble with the bit that says "insert into last ch 1 made".  Which ch 1 and where?  Finally, the last bit says "working on opposite side" but I don't think she knows which side this is. 

When she is making the petal, it looks a bit like a long twisted string of chains and then a bit at the end that looks like a petal, but that's it, and the pattern requires her to hook this bit back to the base.  If she were to do that it looks like a loop beside a sideways petal -- not right at all.

If anyone can help on this pattern, I would be greatly appreciative.  Thanks.

--Meg

 

[Granny Square]

I've been crocheting for nearly 50 years, but the last couple of decades have been a boon to discover new stitches and ways of doing things on the internet.  The part that you gave includes a stitch that I'd never heard of before the internet- the foundation stitch, which is a stitch with an extra step that makes a chain as part of the stitch that can be used as a spot to put the next stitch into.  

Speaking of the internet, it might help to find her a video or 2 on foundation stitches to help her see the general concept.  

Let me try to siimplify/clarify, in red--If I say OK, it means I think (hope) it's clear as is:

Rnd 5: For petals, join lt. gold with sc in any st,  OK

*[for base st, sc in next st; sc in next st should be clear; the first petal is going to spring from this one "base stitch" which is the stitch this sc was made into

ch 3 yo, insert hook in base st, yo, pull through st, yo, pull through one loop on hook (ch 1 made), complete as dc, you are going to chain 3 and make a foundation DC (into the same stitch the above SC was made into).   The part that I underlined is the 'foundation' part of the DC.  A normal DC is yo, pull thru 2 loops, yo, pull thru 2 loops.  Foundation DC is yo, pull thru 1 loop, yo, pull thru 2 loops, yo, pull thru 2 loops--the underlined part again is the foundation part.

yo, insert hook in last ch1 made, the underlined part above.  Be sure to insert the hook in both loops of that "chain"--really, the front and back bottom left loops of the DC

yo pull through, yo, pull through onE loop on hook (ch 1 made),  complete as dc, Not sure if the typo was yours or the pattern, on versus one; you are making another foundation DC into the 'foundation' of the first foundation DC

yo insert hook in last ch 1 made, yo pull through, yo pull through one loop on hook (ch 1 made), complete as hdc, this is like before, except you are making a foundation HDC into the last foundation DC 

insert hook in last ch1 made, yo pull through, yo pull through one loop on hook (ch 1 made), complete as sc, now you are making a foundation sc in the foundation HDC

ch 3 sc in last ch 1 made; chain 3, regular sc into the side of the foundation sc

working on opposite side of chs just made, sc in each of next 3 ch, sl st in base st], sc into the 3 chains you made above; the idea is to work your way back down to the level of the base stitch round

sc in next st on rnd 4; repeat from * around to last st; repeat between [ ] , join.  Fasten off. OK

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now after translating all that, let me suggest something simpler that would make a petal in a more traditional way if she finds the foundation stitch too confusing and difficult.  This will look like a petal, but maybe slightly less 'beefy' than the above version, and your Gram will probably have  run into something similar if she's made flowers before .  

Join the gold in any stitch.  Chain 3 (to attain height, and stand in for a stitch), make 1 treble stitch, or a 2 or 3 treble stitch cluster in the same stitch as the join, chain 3 (to decrease height and stand in for a stitch); move to the next stitch of the flower center, repeat (subsequent petals start with slst rather than a join).  The way the original pattern did the petals, it put bulk above, not into, the base stitch; what I'm suggesting puts more bulk into the base stitch, which is why I used a slip stitch (not sc) at beginning and not the end of the petal, and am suggesting a trial of how many triples to put in there - 1 triple would still be a 3-stitch petal, because the chains on either side count as a stitch.  

Good luck!!

[Granny Square]

It just occurred to me that she might have to get creative after the petals, on where to stitch the green round(s) into, if she goes with my suggestion of a way to do the petals.

Edited to add another thought - if she has ever done filet crochet doilies that are shaped, the foundation DC is a way to work 'into the air', to add stitches at the end of a row.  There is another way to add stitches to the end of a row, and is the way I initially learned to do this on a vintage pattern.  It involves a triple crochet, and doesn't look as nice as the foundation DC (IMO) because it doesn't quite look as much like a DC as all the other DCs in a filet doily. But...

If she's familiar with using the triple for an increase beyond a row, this might be easier/more familiar for her.  It's a regular triple, but you hook into lower loops of the triple on the left side to use it as the base of the next (DC) stitch - very similar to the way you use the extra 'chain' of the foundation DC.  It sort of drags down/shortens the triple to more or less DC height as you add the next stitch to its side.  The difference is the triple's lower loops are looser than the extra chain on the foundation DC, so it looks a little different...but probably  wouldn't matter as much for a flower petal, since the petal is different looking to start with and no one would think it a  'mismatched' stitch.  If she went this way, she'd probably also want to sub DC for the foundation HDC, and HDC for the foundation SC.

I hope this all make sense to your Gram!