It’s almost Halloween, and we still have a couple of days to crochet some Candy Cornflowers!
The idea for these flowers came straight from my childhood, when candy corn was practically a food group at Halloween. It’s called corn, so it must be a…veggie?
The pattern for “Candy Cornflower” is on pages 124-125 of Crochet Garden. Round 1 is pretty easy.
Things get more interesting in Round 2, where you create a common popcorn stitch to start the petals.
But first, how do you start a round with 6 hdc? To start the round with hdc, make a slipknot on your hook, yo, and draw up a loop in the first ch-2 sp as directed (Photo A). Yo again and draw through all 3 loops on hook to finish the first hdc (Photo B). Work remaining 5 hdc in same ch-2 space.
To popcorn-join this group of 6 hdc, enlarge the last loop of the last stitch. Take hook out of loop. Insert hook into the top of the first stitch of the group, then reinsert it into the last loop (Photo C). Pull the last loop through the top of the first st to complete popcorn (Photo D).
Before you start any petal after Rnd 2, take time to identify the stitches of the previous round, which you will be working into. And remember, in Crochet Garden, unless otherwise directed, each stitch (or stitches) goes into the next stitch of the previous round.
In Round 3, fourth line of pattern, change “petals of rnd 1” to “petals of rnd 2.” Unlike your usual popcorn stitch pattern, in this round, you work into the stitches of the previous popcorn, skipping the first and last hdc of each petal, for a total of 8 hdc per petal. The sts of these petals are also pulled together as you would join a common popcorn stitch (Photo E).
When you’re finished with Round 3, the underside of the flower looks like Photo F.
Since Crochet Garden was published, I have crocheted the Candy Cornflower several times, making what I hope are improvements to the pattern along the way. Here are my rewritten Rounds 4-6.
Improved Candy Cornflower Rnd 4: Ch 2 (counts as first hdc), hdc in next st, (2 hdc) in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, (2 hdc) in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, popcorn-join this group of 10 sts, ch 6. *Starting in first st of next petal, hdc in next 2 sts, (2 hdc) in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, (2 hdc) in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, popcorn-join this group of 10 sts, ch 6; rep from * 5 times, join with sl st to first hdc of rnd. Fasten off C. (Photos G and H show underside and topside of Candy Cornflower after this round.)
Improved Candy Cornflower Rnd 5: Join D with *hdc in first hdc of next petal, hdc in next st, (2 hdc) in next st, hdc in next 4 sts, (2 hdc) in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, popcorn-join this group of 12 sts, ch 4, sl st in next ch-6 sp, ch 4; rep from * 6 times, join with sl st to first hdc of rnd.
Improved Candy Cornflower Rnd 6: *Sk 3 sts of next petal, working in back loop only, (hdc2tog) 3 times, ch 1, sl st in next ch-4 sp, ch 2, sl st in next ch-4 sp, ch 1; rep from * 6 times, join with sl st to first st of rnd. This rnd bends to the back forming the top of the candy corn motif. Photo I shows Rnd 9 in progress.
Weave in the ends, block gently, and you have a Candy Cornflower!
One last note, in Crochet Garden, I mentioned that candy corn makes excellent false teeth and fangs. Two lovely models demonstrate in the photo below.
