Alpine Steps Square...Afghan CAL!

Today I am excited to be joining The Blog Hop Crochet Along!  Nine other bloggers and I are teaming up to create a new afghan square pattern every day for a month.  Crochet along with us and you will have a gorgeous new afghan just in time for the holiday season!  Here's how it is going to work:

• Every day (M-F) a new square pattern will be posted on one of our ten blogs. 
• You can join in the fun by crocheting each day's square on that day whenever you have time.
• Share your progress and post photos of your squares in our facebook group.
• By the end of the Crochet Along you will have twenty 12" squares all ready to be pieced together into a beautiful afghan just in time for the holiday season.
• Finally, we will be hosting some fabulous giveaways! You could win Lion Brand yarn to make your own afghan, $100 CASH money, OR our COMPLETED AFGHAN! That's right, we are going to be piecing all of our squares together and shipping an afghan out to one very lucky winner.

Hopeful Honey - Persia Lou - Little Monkeys Crochet 

Fiber Flux - Loopsan One Dog Woof - Maybe Matilda

Dream a Little Bigger - Whistle & Ivy  - Gleeful Things 

We would love if you crocheted along with us. If you'd like to add a button to your blog or website you can grab this one here:

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Today I am sharing the Alpine Steps square. The Alpine Steps Square is a fun to crochet mitered square with an interesting corner detail.  Multicolor stripes allow the stitches to really stand out as well.  At the bottom of this written pattern, be sure to check out the instructional video if you need additional help.

You can find links to all the other patterns at the end of this post. The links will be updated daily!

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn of your choice. Lion Brand Yarn sent us Wool Ease for the CAL.  Colors shown are: Seaspray, Natural Heather, Violet, Dark Rose Heather, Gray Heather, Eggplant
• J (6.0 mm) crochet hook
• Scissors
• Tapestry Needle

Instructions for Square:

How to Work A Double Crochet Stitch (dc)

How To Work A Front Post Double Crochet Stitch (fpdc)

How To Work A Back Post Double Crochet Stitch (bpdc)

Note: Work one row of each color.

Ch 4 and join with a sl st in the ch farthest from the hook.

Row 1: Ch 3 and in the center of the ring, work a dc, ch 2, then 2 dc.

Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as a dc) and turn.  Work a fpdc, then in the corner space (ch 2 space from previous row), 2 dc, ch 2, 2dc all in the same space. Work a fpdc into the next dc, then work a dc into the turning chain space.

Row 3: Ch 3 and turn (counts as the first dc).  In the next dc, work a fpdc.  In each of the next two dc, work a bpdc.  In the corner (ch 2 space from previous row), work 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc all in the corner space.  Work a bpdc in each of the next two dc.  Work a fpdc in the next dc, and a dc in the turning chain space.

Row 4: Ch 3 and turn (counts as the first dc).  In the next 3 dc, work a dc.  In each of the next two dc, work a fpdc.  In the corner (ch 2 space from previous row), work 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc all in the corner space.  Work a fpdc in each of the next two dc.  Work a dc in each of the next 3 dc, and a dc in the turning chain.  See diagram below:

Row 5: Ch 3 and turn (counts as the first dc).  In each of the next 5 dc, work a fpdc.  In each of the next two dc, work a bpdc.  In the corner (ch 2 space from previous row), work 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc all in the corner space.  Work a bpdc in each of the next two dc.  Work a fpdc in each of the next 5 dc, and a dc in the turning chain space.  See diagram below:

Repeat rows 4 and 5 until square is desired size (square pictured is 12 inches). As you work each row, each side of your mitered square will grow by two stitches, but the corners are always worked the same way.  Just be sure to stop at those 2 dc before you reach the corner, and work it as indicated in the instructions to achieve that "stair step" corner appearance.  Finished square shown is 12 inches square.

Here is a video too to crochet the Alpine Steps Square stitch by stitch:

Check out the other lovely squares from the CAL so far!

An InLinkz Link-up

Special thanks to Lion Brand for gifting this yarn to me for the Crochet Along.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

For more fun projects and pretty patterns, be sure to follow Fiber Flux on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for the latest updates!