Field Of Sunflowers Afghan Pattern Help

[LeapyearCynthia]

Good morning all-

Have any of you done this old pattern originally from Annie's catalog?  I managed through the first two parts (the center and the sunflower petals) but now I'm stuck on the final rounds.  Once the green is attached, not sure which SCs to work in - I can only presume it is the ones that are at the bottom of the petals, that it is working between the petals so to speak.  (The petals are so fluffy that it is hard to tell what they mean!)

{Join olive green with sl st in next SC, ch 3, sl st in any 2 strands at center back of next petal (2DC in next SC, sl st in any 2 strands at center back of next petal) around ending with DC in same stitch as first ch 3}

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!  😊

Edited March 30, 2021 by LeapyearCynthia
Add photo

[Granny Square]

I have not made this and can't seem to find a pattern with exactly that name on the 'net to see what it looks like.

However, I'd probably have guessed the same thing you did, working behind the petals, 'sort of' like Irish Roses but for those you create a round of chain loops between petal rounds, to work the next row of petals into.

This pattern reminds me of some very vintage patterns, which often didn't explain a lot but were very creative and unconventional as to where you might put your hook into to make a stitch.  Sorry, not very helpful; if it were me I'd pick an area that looked 'sturdy' to work into, and be consistent.

 

[LeapyearCynthia]

You are exactly right - it is definitely vintage and had it not been for you and a couple others from this forum I don't know if I would've figured the first two parts out!  I'm fairly savvy but the pattern instructions really stink!  I'm determined to get this though, I doubt it's as complicated as they are making it sound, or maybe it is just messing with my head!  Thanks for your help, don't know if the added picture will help either of us!

[Granny Square]

I thought I 'had it' but realized my brainstorm wouldn't work.  

The way I was interpreting it, rnd 6 would get you from bottom of petal to the petal's 'waist' level in the back (In a sort of /\/\/\ configuration, where each /\ was 1 petal), and rnd 7 in a similar way from the 'waist' to the petal tip, but the chain span lengths didn't make sense. (or I was missing something)

Having chain loops in a circle in the back of the petals would make sense to anchor the rest of the green part that showed, and is (sort of) along the lines of that Irish Rose construction I mentioned earlier.

Any other 'villers have any ideas?  I didn't find this on Ravelry to see if anyone there had commented.

 

 

 

[bgs]

After working all the petals in round 5 join the green for round 6 in the first sc you made on round 5 where you joined the gold with a sc.  Ch 3.  This puts you about about half the height of your petal.  Look on the back of 1st petal and sl st through any two loops of yarn that are close together in middle of of petal.  Now make 2 dc in your sc on round 5 between 1st and 2nd petal.  Look at back of petal 2 and sl st through any 2 loops close together in middle of petal.  Make 2dc in sc on round 5 between petals 2 and 3.

[Granny Square]

BGS, thanks for confirming, we are on the same page as far as what the pattern said; I deleted the original version of yesterday's post saying the same thing you did.  I just didn't think the # of chains called for by the pattern would reach far enough; I thought the petals looked like they were about 3" tall, and I didn't think 3 chains would reach 1.5" (more like 5 or 6 chains I'd think).  The chains from the 'floor' to mid petal, and those from mid petal to petal tip, would be reaching at a bit of an angle as well per my crude sketch, so less height than 3 chains straight up.  Maybe I'm not judging the petal size correctly from the photo.

If the # of chains is too few to reach and keep the petal flat, it would probably work to just add chains if necessary;  I'm not afraid to improvise but I know not everybody likes to 'go rogue' and face potential frogging so I didn't suggest it earlier.

[LeapyearCynthia]

OMGoodness!!  After reading all y'all's awesome notes and thoughts, I just realized where I screwed up.  I didn't do the SC in between petals because apparently I can't read instructions (I put petals in every stitch so I have twice as many petals as I should)!! 😂😂  No wonder I couldn't figure out where to put those DCs in the next round.  Yep, let the frogging begin *SMH*

Thank y'all so so much for your input!!  Once I redo my petals I *think* I should be sailing and can start on the other 50-something squares! 😁

[Granny Square]

Aha!  Glad to help.  To make you feel better, (for me) when I have to frog a big area, it seems to go quicker the second time...and dang, that's a lot of petals, so the second time had better go quicker!  

Edited April 1, 2021 by Granny Square

[bgs]

I had to pull out some yarn, crochet a few rounds to make a small circle base and work about 4 petals and then attach the green to see what was going on.  I couldnt see it just from reading the pattern.

Sounds like you are good to go. Please share a photo when you finish.  We love to see photos.   

[Granny Square]

Yay, glad to hear that everything 'fits' together after all.

[LeapyearCynthia]

The petals went so much quicker the second time (and you are absolutely right - anytime you have to frog it always works quicker after that!  I have a close personal relationship with that dang frog 🐸) 

Anyway, once I did the petal round the correct way, the green rounds were pretty much a breeze.

So one motif down and 50 to go.  Thank goodness I have no particular deadline for this project!  I'm going to do them all the same and bypass the whole JAYG that the designer intended.  Too much confusion and too many gaps for my taste!  Sewing together is a bit of a pain but I think I'll start sewing when I get a couple more done so I don't have to do them all at once.

I am truly grateful for all y'all's help on this!  You are an amazingly talented bunch!! 🧡🧡

 

[Granny Square]

You are welcome, and thanks for showing us the remade square--now THAT looks just like the pattern photo!   

 

[Thebodaclan]

I’m just picking this pattern up and TRYING to figure it out. The photo looks like the petals are symmetric whereas mine are closer to half moons. Also, with 3 motifs, how on earth do I know how many of each or how to assemble?!?   I love this blankets picture and bought the pattern for that result.  I sure hope to get close!

Edited December 4, 2021 by Thebodaclan
Forgot the photo

[Granny Square]

Hi, welcome to the 'ville.  Your petals look nice to me, and as I started to scroll up, look very like the ones made by the above poster.  In the pattern photo, some but not all the petals look like yours.

Does the pattern not have a schematic of how to assemble them? Have you read thru every step of the pattern to the very end? Wild but educated guess based on other things I've made, one style might be the majority in the center, 1 might be just in the corners of the edging and the last might be at the straight part of the edging--or something along those lines.

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Granny Square

[Granny Square]

After more research - this pattern has come up not only in this thread, and one of the posters included a (poorly scanned) pdf of the pattern.  It indeed does not explain how many motifs A, B, and C to make, nor how to put them together - the schematic shows all the hexagons looking the same, but they are not.

If it were me, and I didn't like the look of the petals - I'd consider (a) cutting my losses and look for another sunflower afghan pattern (there are a ton of afghan squares with flowers in the center, but most are smaller squares).  Or (b) If I could live with the 3-D appearance of the petals I'd make all the motifs identical, after all most pieced afghans are that way (shapewise).  IMO your petals look 'less phony' than a lot of flowers in blanket squares.

Here is a search on Ravelry of free / blanket / flower in the search parameters.

[sywang]

The use of the word 'motif' in this pattern is so misleading, because all 3 motifs are basically identical except for the last round! The motif instructions are where the instructions for joining the hexagons are. You gotta start with one of Motif A and just assemble using Motifs B (joining one side) and C (joining 2+ sides). Feels like this is going to be a real pain of a project :')

[LeapyearCynthia]

On 3/30/2022 at 7:36 AM, sywang said:

The use of the word 'motif' in this pattern is so misleading, because all 3 motifs are basically identical except for the last round! The motif instructions are where the instructions for joining the hexagons are. You gotta start with one of Motif A and just assemble using Motifs B (joining one side) and C (joining 2+ sides). Feels like this is going to be a real pain of a project :')

That’s  why I’m just doing multiples of one motif then sewing them all together.  Not only does the whole JAYG concept blow my mind, I’m not a fan of the holes it makes in between the motifs.  Much simpler for my brain and style … JMHO ☺️