A Round Flower-Edged Sample: Count the Circle Before the Petals

The flower edge starts with a count that can be divided into complete repeats. This written practice sample builds a seven-round double-crochet circle with 84 stitches, then adds 21 small petal groups and optional green chain loops. It is a small construction exercise, not a measured full-size blanket or a verified reproduction of the photograph.

Before beginning

No physically tested sample accompanies these instructions. Stitch arithmetic is checked, but actual size and flatness depend on yarn, hook and tension. Choose compatible centre, petal and optional leaf colours, an appropriate hook, a marker, yarn needle and scissors. Use US dc, ch and sl st terminology.

Rounds 1–7 are joined. Their starting ch 3 counts as the first dc and uses the first stitch position after round 1; do not work a separate extra dc into that position unless the round explicitly calls for an increase there. Joining sl st do not count as stitches.

Circle rounds: twelve more dc each time

1. R1: make MR; ch 3, 11 dc in the ring. Tighten and join to the top of ch 3. (12 dc)
2. R2: ch 3 and 1 dc in the same first stitch; work 2 dc in each of the remaining 11 stitches. Join. (24 dc)
3. R3: ch 3; work 2 dc in the next stitch. Repeat [1 dc, 2 dc in next stitch] eleven times. Join. (36 dc)
4. R4: ch 3; dc in the next stitch, 2 dc in the next. Repeat [dc in next 2 stitches, 2 dc in next stitch] eleven times. Join. (48 dc)
5. R5: ch 3; dc in next 2 stitches, 2 dc in next. Repeat [dc in next 3 stitches, 2 dc in next] eleven times. Join. (60 dc)
6. R6: ch 3; dc in next 3 stitches, 2 dc in next. Repeat [dc in next 4 stitches, 2 dc in next] eleven times. Join. (72 dc)
7. R7: ch 3; dc in next 4 stitches, 2 dc in next. Repeat [dc in next 5 stitches, 2 dc in next] eleven times. Join. (84 dc)

Finish this colour. Place the sample on a flat surface without stretching it. If it cups or ruffles, check counts and the starting-chain convention first. The arithmetic does not guarantee that every yarn and tension will produce a flat circle.

Petal edge: one group consumes four base stitches

Join petal colour in the first of the 84 dc. In that stitch work ch 3, 1 dc, ch 3. Skip the next two base stitches and sl st in the fourth base stitch. That is one group.

Sl st into the next unused base stitch to begin the next group, then work ch 3, 1 dc, ch 3 in that stitch; skip two base stitches and sl st in the fourth. Continue around until all 84 base positions have been used. There are 21 groups because 84 divided by four is 21. Finish the yarn after the last group’s anchoring sl st; do not make an extra group in the first base stitch.

There are 21 dc in the petal edge. Its height and anchoring chains/sl st are not counted as base dc. Mark every fourth base stitch beforehand if it is difficult to see the repeat beneath the new edge.

Optional green loops

Each petal group has two ch-3 spaces. Choose the trailing space—the one between its dc and the anchoring sl st—and use that same location consistently on all 21 groups.

Join green yarn with sl st in one trailing space, ch 5, sl st in that same space, then finish and secure the yarn. Repeat as separate attachments in the trailing space of each remaining group. This produces 21 chain loops without a connecting strand crossing between petals. They are decorative loops rather than fully shaped leaf pieces.

Finish the sample before scaling it

Secure every tail through firm fabric and check the edge from the reverse as well as the front. Settle it using a method compatible with the yarn. Do not add an unspecified sc or sl-stitch round over the petals: that would need its own exact placement instructions.

For a larger project, circle growth and edge allocation must remain compatible. A circle continuing the twelve-increase sequence has 12 times the round number dc; an edge that consumes four base positions can divide those counts evenly. That relationship only checks allocation. It does not establish a tested blanket size, correct drape or suitable use.

Measure this actual sample, keep its yarn and hook details, and evaluate the edge’s behaviour before expanding the construction. Readers wanting straight rows rather than a circle can follow the three-colour striped practice pattern, whose scope and sample limitations are stated separately.