Crochet Morning Glory Garland

Remember when I told you I had more info on fun collaborative crochet projects? Well, a group of yarnies in the UK is working on the coolest project ever... a world-record breaking yarn bomb!

 The Craft Club is working hard to gather over 4,000 crochet items for a massive yarn bomb in Essex County. They are accepting submissions from all over the place, so you can get in on it too! The contact email for details on where to send your crochet items is thecraftclubyarnbombers@gmail.com.

The massive art piece will first see the light of day at Metal's Green Village Festival, a craft fair, on July 12th. Make sure to get your stuff to them before then if you want it to be seen by the thousands of folks who attend. Keep in mind that it may take 10 to 14 days for your package to reach them depending on where you are in the world, setting a closer deadline of the last week of June. Then on August 25th the yarn bomb will make a special appearance at a local children's hospice to delight families and care workers.

I am so charmed by this project! The theme of the project is a magical garden. Take a look at the event poster to the left for ideas about what to make. I am going to be working up a few fun patterns from my Ravelry queue and hope to send my package out by the end of the week. However, that just isn't enough for me. I mean, a magical garden??? How freaking awesome is that?! The gears got to turning today and soon enough I had written a brand new pattern in honor of the event. It's my Morning Glory Garland! I'm sharing it with you here on the blog this time in case you want to work it up for the cause or just for fun. The pattern follows after these pictures.

I used about 1/5 to 1/4 of a skein each of Vanna's Choice Solids in green, white, and purple. Keep in mind you will need more yarn if your project is longer than mine, which is relatively short. I used a 5mm crochet hook to make this project. However, you can use whatever yarn you may have on hand and a hook that is .5 to 1 mm smaller than the yarn recommends. Gauge is not important for this project.

Tip: Do not weave in any of the green ends as you go. We'll talk about them in the finishing section of the pattern.

Vine
With green, work any number of foundation single crochet stitches until your vine is the desired length. As an alternative to fsc, simply work up a chain to the desired length, turn, then work 1 sc into the back loop of each ch across starting in the second ch from the hook. If you'd feel more comfortable with an actual number, make your vine a multiple of 8 sts.

Ch 1, turn. Sl st into each st down the vine until you get to a good spot for a leaf. How far down you go is completely up to you (I worked down about 8 sts).

Ch 16. Starting in the fifth ch from the hook, work 1 sc into each back loop until you reach the original vine again. You have just made one leaf stem. Starting in the next un-worked st, continue working sl sts down the vine until you reach a good spot for a flower.

To make a flower stem, ch 8. Starting in the fifth ch from the hook, work 1 sc into each back loop until you reach the original vine, just as you did with the leaf stem.

Continue in this manner until you reach the end of your vine. I ended up with three leaf stems and two flower stems. You can add as many leaves and flowers as you want and put them as close together or as far apart as you like. If you're working on a multiple of 8 and want your leaves and flowers to be regularly spaced, simply work a stem after every eighth sl st. Your stems might curl a bit like mine did. Fasten off.

Leaves
You will work 1 leaf into the circle at the end of each long leaf stem. You formed these circles when you skipped 4 sts while working into the back loops of the chain, and you can see the circle in the flower stem picture above.

Working from right to left with the right (correct) side facing, attach green to the circle with a sl st. Ch 4. Work 5 tr into the circle, then 2 dc. Ch 2. Work 2 more dc into the circle, then 5 more tr. Ch 4 and sl st into the circle. Fasten off. Tug on the leaf a bit to shape it. Repeat these instructions for every long leaf stem.

Flower Caps
You will now be working into the circles at the ends of the flower stems, just as you worked into the leaf stem circles before.

Attach green to the circle with a sl st. Ch 1. Work [1 sc, ch 4] four times. Work 1 more sc. Sl st into the first sc to join. Fasten off leaving an 8 inch tail for sewing. Repeat these steps for every flower stem. Set vine aside.

Morning Glory Flower
The flower is worked with right side facing the whole way, no turning. The first part of the flower is worked in spiral rounds. 

With white, start with magic circle. Alternatively, ch 2 and work Round 1 into the second ch from the hook.
Round 1: Work 5 sc into the ring. (5)
Round 2: Work 1 sc into each st. (5)
Round 3: *Work 1 sc into next st, then 2 sc into the following st*, rep from * one more time. Work 1 more sc. (7)
Round 4: Work 1 sc into each st. (7)
Round 5: *Work 2 sc into next st, then 1 sc into the following st*, rep from * two times. Work 1 more sc. (10)
Round 6: Work 2 sc into each st. (20)
Work 1 sl st to join the round. We will no longer be working in a spiral. We will, however, still continue working with right side facing. Each ch 3 counts as a st.
Round 7: *Ch 3, work 1 dc in next st, ch 3, sl st into next st, work 1 sc in following*, rep from * four times. (25, plus an extra sl st)
Work 1 sl st in next st. Fasten off white.
Attach purple with a sl st in any sc.
Round 8: Ch 3. Work 2 dc in same st as ch 3. Skip ch 3, sl st into the top of the following dc. To complete the round, work 3 dc into each sc and 1 sl st into each dc. Sl st in first dc (not the ch 3, even though it counts as a st) to join. (20)
Round 9: Ch 3. Work 2 dc into the same st as the ch 3. Work 3 dc into each remaining st around. Sl st into first dc (not the ch 3) to join. (57)
Fasten off and weave in all ends of the flower. Make as many flowers as you have flower stems/caps.

Finishing
Flip each flower inside out so that the right (side) is on the inside of the flower and the wrong side is on the outside of the flower. Push your pointer finger into the center of each flower and scrunch the petal with your other hand to encourage a slight ripple. Place the white butt of a flower in the center of the first flower cap. Sew the cap onto the flower with the leftover green tail.

Finally, time to get to those green ends! A real morning glory plant has thin wisps of vines all over it. To recreate that look I used a yarn needle to artfully wind my green ends around and through the stitches of my vine after making sure the attached end was secure. I didn't use a particular method, I just messed around! If you'd prefer a cleaner look, you can weave in all of your ends as usual.

I'd love to see your Morning Glory Garlands! I'll be listing this pattern on Ravelry if you'd like to add a project page. Also, if you're going to send some stuff to The Craft Club for their yarn bomb, tell us about it in the comments!