Advent CAL-endar 2020 - Day 4

Welcome to the fourth instalment of your beautiful advent blanket, designed by Rosina Plane. All the posts about the CAL and each instalment is now together in its own section of the website here. You need to register with this website to view the pattern - but registration is free. When you log in, the pattern will appear below!

Scroll to the bottom of this post for more close-up photos

Day 4: Alternating Spike st (first patt row only) & working into the FLO and BLO

Today's section is relatively small and simple, but still something new to learn. Working into FLO (front loop only) and BLO (back loop only) is super easy and it can add a little bit of extra dimension to your project.

Special Abbreviation Spike dc (spike double crochet): Insert hook in st 2 rows below, yrh, pul to height of working row, yrh, draw through both loops on hook. You might recognise this stitch - you did it on day 2!

Start crocheting...

Row 1 (RS): Join Bubblegum with a standing dc in first st, *1 spike dc, 1 dc; rep from * to end. Turn. 117 sts Tip: Don't fancy doing a standing dc? Don't stress about it - just join the new colour with a slip stitch and ch1 to start!

Row 2 (WS): 1 ch, dc in FLO across to last st, 1 dc. Turn.

Row 3 (RS): 3 ch (counts as 1 tr), tr in BLO across to last st, 1 tr. Turn.

TIP: The front loop is the one that’s closest to you as you work, and the back loop is the one that’s further away. This is the same whether you’re working a right side or a wrong side row.

Rows 4–5: Rep rows 2–3. Fasten off. Do not turn.

Working into the front or back loop

For rows 2-5, you will be working totally normal double or treble stitches, but instead of working into both sides of the V as you usually would, you just work into one side or the other. Let's take a look at how that looks in double crochet. You can click on any of these images to see them much bigger and zoom right in to the details.

Working into FLO (front loop only) in double crochet - RIGHT HANDED

Working into FLO in double crochet - LEFT HANDED

There, it's just that easy! So, after you've done a row of dc in FLO (double crochet in front loop only), the pattern asks you to do a row of tr in BLO (treble crochet in back loop only). You already know how to work a treble, but here's how to find that back loop:

Working into the back loop (Right handed)