Cross Purposes 9" Afghan Square revised to 9" square/modified decreases and including crochet edge instructions re-designed by Margaret MacInnis c. 2013
Based on the block Square Knitted in the form of a Cross by The Dawn, published in The Trove, 1899 (now in the public domain and no longer under copyright)
Materials
\~50 grams of Vanna's Choice or similar aran-weighted yarn
Needles: Worked on a 24", 4- 4.5 mm (US 6 or 7) circular for the first rounds down to 80 stitches, and then switched to 5 dpn's, placing one repeat on each needle. You could use a 16" circular, but it's hard to join without a twist on that, and harder to see what you are doing. Gauge: 4.25 st/inch approximately Hook: used a 5.0 mm (US H) to edge Yarn Needle
Stitches
SSP: Slip one stitch as if to knit, slip next stitch as if to knit, and then slip both stitches back to the left needle as a unit. This ‘twists’ the stitches and orientates them properly to form a neat leaning decrease. Purl the 2 together. SSK: Slip one stitch as if to knit, slip next stitch as if to knit, then slip both stitches back to the left needle as a unit, and knit them together through the back. This twists the stitches and orientates them properly to form a neat left leaning decrease that mirrors the k2tog. K2tog: knit two stitches together P2tog: purl two stitches together Sc2tog: slip hook into first stitch, yo, pull up loop, slip into next stitch, yo, pull up loop, yo and pull through all 3 loops. Hdc2tog: yo, slip hook into first stitch, yo, pull up a loop, slip into next stitch, yo, pullup loop, yo, and pull through all 4 loops on hook. PM: Place marker
Instructions
Cast on 34 stitches per repeat, or a total of 136 in round and place markers every 34 stitches. Join in round and work each repeat 4 times. PM at beginning of round. The other repeats are easy to see with the corner knit stitch. Round 1: k2, p2, k1, p25, k1, p2, k1 Round 2: k1, p2tog, p1, k1, p25, k1, p1, SSP (32 per repeat) Round 3: k1, p2, k1, p2, k21, p2, k1, p2 Round 4: k1, p2tog, k1, p2, k21, p2, k1, SSP (30 per repeat) Round 5: k1, pl, kl, p2, k21, p2, kl, pl Round 6: k1, k2tog, p2, k1, p19, k1, p2, SSK (28 per repeat) Round 7: k2, p2, k1, p19, k1, p2, kl Round 8: k1, p2tog, p1, k1, p19, k1, p1, SSP (26 per repeat) Round 9: kl, p2, k1, p2, k15, p2, kl, p2
Round 10: k1, p2tog, kl, p2, k15, p2, k1, SSP (24 per repeat) Round 11: kl, p1, k1, p2, k15, p2, k1, p1 Round 12: k1, k2tog, p2, k1, p13, k1, p2, SSK (22 per repeat) Round 13: k2, p2, kl, p13, kl, p2, k1 Round 14: k1, p2tog, pl, kl, p13, k1, p1, SSP (20 per repeat) Move to dpn's as you work as in photo Round 15: k1, p2, kl, p2, k9, p2, kl, p2 Round 16: k1, p2tog, k1, p2, k9, p2, k1, SSP (18 per repeat) Round 17: k1, p1, k1, p2, k9, p2, kl, pl Round 18: k1, k2tog, p2, k1, p7, k1, p2, SSK (16 per repeat) Round 19: k2, p2, k1, p7, k1, p2, k1 Round 20: k1, p2tog, pl, k1, p7, k1, p1, SSP (14 per repeat) Round 21: kl, p2, kl, p7, kl, p2 Round 22: k1, p2tog, k1, p2tog, p1, k1, pl, p2tog, k1, SSP (10 per repeat) Round 23: k1, p1, kl, p2, kl, p2, k1, pl Round 24: k1, k2tog, p2, k1, p2, SSK (8 per repeat) Round 25: k2, p2, k1, p2, k1 Round 26: k1, p2tog, p1, k1, p1, SSP (6 per repeat) Round 27: k1, p2, kl, p2 Round 28: k1, p2tog, k1, p2tog (4 per repeat) Round 29: k2tog, SSK (2 per repeat) Finishing: 2 st on each needle; cut yarn 10 inches, and thread yarn needle, passing through all stitches from right to left and around and pull up snugly, weaving in end on the back and removing each needle/needle as you work. Work beginning end with an invisible join mimicking a loop for the beginning end and through the first stitch.
Crochet edge
Block should have 33 stitches cast on stitches on each edge, and 1 corner stitch: Join with a sc in any corner st, ch 1 (sc and ch 1 act as hdc), work 2 more hdc in same sp. \*Over next 33 stitches, (sc2tog), sc in next 6 st, (hdc2tog), hdc in next 2 st, (hdc2tog), hdc in next 5 st (you may find you need to dc in those ones for height), (hdc2 tog), hdc in next 2 st, (hdc2tog), sc in next 6 st, (sc2tog). You may find yourself “fudging' a little on the counts, but try to aim to keep the final count accurate. Corner as (3 hdc) in corner st\*. Repeat \* to \* 3 more times, omitting corner on last rep. Join with an invisible join, and fasten off. (120 sts) The following sample was worked with an extra round of hdc for sizing. Thank you, mrsjayhawk on Ravelry for a wonderful test sample. Thank you also to SusiMaloney on Ravelry for the 12" sample. If you want to know how she did that, you'd have to ask her!
MrsJayHawk extra border hdc
SusiMaloney 12" version
