Wrecking Ball

I started crocheting this last year, and I’m determined to finish it in time for Halloween, this year (I obviously haven’t been working on it continuously). It’s a garland of Mexican marigolds (cempasúchil), a traditional Day of the Dead decoration. Crocheted, it works as a garland or a particularly ridiculous scarf.

I’ve included a pattern of sorts below; I figure that someone on the Internet, somewhere, might appreciate it. Bear in mind, though, that I freehand everything I crochet (with the exception of, like, granny squares or whatever), so the pattern is really just a rough guide. I think the garland looks quite a bit better for having variation not only in the number of petals on each flower (the pattern has a total of 20 petals, starting with a row of six, but I’ve made some with twice that many, some with fewer) but also with regard to the color and weight of yarn used, hook size, etc.

For the main stem, I started by crocheted a narrow tube (see second photo), but this year decided that a spool-knit tube would look nicer (top photo, lefthand side) (it does) (no, I’m not going to replace the crocheted length I’ve already finished). Some of the flowers are sewn directly to that tube, but for most of them I crocheted a short stem directly into the back of the flower.

Anyway, I’ve never attempted to write out a pattern before, so here goes nothing.

Round 1: (can be worked in stem [green] or main [yellow-orange] color)  Work 6 single crochet stitches into a “magic ring” (Googling it, if need be), join.

Roud 2: Chain eight. Starting in the third chain from the hook, work 2 double crochet stitches, then 2 half-double crochet stitches, then 2 single crochet stitches (one in each chain). Slip stitch into next single crochet stitch and repeat.

Subsequent rounds: Refer to top right of the diagram. Work into the stitches between the petals made in Round 2. You may work either in a spiral, continuously, or you can join with a slip stitch after each round before continuing. If joining, make sure to skip one space to account for the decreased number of petals. After a few rounds, you’ll probably have a bit of a jumbled mess; this isn’t, in and of itself, a problem. Just keep adding shorter and shorter petals until you have what seems like enough.

Final round: After completing the last of the petals, break the yarn and either slip stitch or weave the end through the remaining spaces between the petals. Pull the yarn end tightly through to the back and tie to the original tail.

The leaves should be pretty self-explanatory (they’re long and pointy). You can play around with working them in multiple rows, making them longer or shorter, etc.

Scarf?