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Cactus graph crochet pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors

PDF · US Letter · 6 pages · Change paper

Size
About 8½ × 12½ in (22 × 32 cm)With its border. The panel alone: about 8 × 12 in (20 × 30 cm)
Skill
IntermediateSingle crochet throughout, 3 yarns, a graph of 26 by 45 units, at most 6 color changes in a row, 8 ends to weave in

Paper for the PDF

US Letter8½ × 11 inA4210 × 297 mm

Go to the instructions

A cactus in green and orange on a cream ground, worked in single crochet from the bottom row up, one stitch for each square of the graph. The yarn not in use is carried along the row inside the stitches, so the piece has 8 ends to weave in.

The whole panel: 8½ × 12½ in (22 × 32 cm)

Graph

26 squares wide and 45 tall. One square is 1 single crochet in 1 row. Row 1 is the bottom row. Right-side rows are read right to left, wrong-side rows left to right: each row's number stands at the end it begins from.

  • A cream, no symbol 722 squares
  • B green, cross 318 squares
  • C orange, dot 130 squares
4544434241403938373635343332313029282726252423222120191817161514131211109876543211020

Drag the graph to move around it. The whole graph is printed in the PDF.

Gauge

13 stitches and 15 rows to 4 in (10 cm) in single crochet, with the idle yarn carried.

How to measure it

How to measure your gauge

The pattern also stops you to measure after row 12.

Work a test square first (23 rows)

A test piece to measure and pull out. It is not the start of the pattern.

Gauge is counted over 4 in (10 cm), so make the swatch bigger than that: about 6 in (15 cm) each way, and count in the middle of it. Work it as the piece is worked: in yarn A, with one of the other yarns carried along the row and worked over.

  1. Swatch foundationCh 21.
  2. Swatch row 1 (RS)Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across(20 sc)
  3. Swatch rows 2 to 23Ch 1, turn; sc in each st across(20 sc)
The same graph in other yarn weights

The picture fixes the number of stitches, so a graph is resized by yarn and hook, not by counting. Each line is the same graph at a single crochet gauge inside the standard range for that yarn weight; the height follows the same proportion of stitch to row. Every size is about. The yarn amounts of this pattern are for its own gauge only. Each size is the panel without its border.

YarnSingle crochet to 4 in (10 cm)HookPanel alone, about
Light (3)154.5 to 5.5 mm7 × 10½ in (18 × 27 cm)
Bulky (5)106.5 to 9 mm10½ × 15½ in (27 × 39 cm)

No yarn amount has been worked out for these, so they are not a choice on this page.

Before you start

  • Each square of the graph is one single crochet. Every row is 26 stitches.
  • Row 1 is the bottom row of the graph and is a right-side row. The colors of every row are written in the order you work them. The direction in a row's label says where that row lies on the graph: a right-side row lies on the graph from right to left, a wrong-side row from left to right.
  • Ch 1 and turn at the end of every row but the last. The chain 1 does not count as a stitch.
  • To change color, work the last yarn-over of the stitch before in the new color.
  • Carry the yarn you are not using along the top of the row below and work over it, so that it is hidden inside the stitches. Carry each yarn across every whole row, edge to edge, from the first row it appears in to the last row it appears in: join it at the start of that first row, and cut it at the end of that last row.
  • Work firmly. A carried yarn can show between loose stitches, a dark yarn inside light stitches most of all. If it shows in your swatch, change to a smaller hook and measure again: the piece will then be smaller than the size given.
  • Rows 1 to 2 and 44 to 45 have nothing carried inside, so they are a little thinner than the rows between.
  • Worked flat only. In joined or spiral rounds the picture slants.
  • In a row, "8 A" is 1 single crochet in each of the next 8 stitches with yarn A.
  • The border is part of the piece: the first size given is with the border, the second is the panel alone.
  • Leave a tail of about 6 in (15 cm) when you begin a yarn, and weave it in at the end with the others.
  • Left-handed. Worked left-handed, these rows give a mirror image of the picture. To get the picture as drawn, read each row's runs in reverse order.

Instructions

US termsUK terms

  • A row lists its colors in the order you work them, each with its number of stitches.
  • The count at the end is what the row leaves.
  • Tick a row when it is done. Your place is kept in this browser.
How to read these rows

Never read a row’s list backwards. On the graph a right-side (RS) row runs right to left and a wrong-side (WS) row left to right. In UK terms sc is double crochet and sl st is slip stitch.

Panel

  1. FoundationWith A, ch 27. Work row 1 beginning in the 2nd ch from hook.
  2. Row 1RSon the graph this row runs right to left26 Aleaves (26 sts)
  3. Row 2WSon the graph this row runs left to right26 Aleaves (26 sts)
  4. Row 3RSon the graph this row runs right to left8 A10 C8 Aleaves (26 sts)
  5. Row 4WSon the graph this row runs left to right8 A10 C8 Aleaves (26 sts)
  6. Row 5RSon the graph this row runs right to left8 A10 C8 Aleaves (26 sts)
  7. Row 6WSon the graph this row runs left to right8 A10 C8 Aleaves (26 sts)
  8. Row 7RSon the graph this row runs right to left7 A12 C7 Aleaves (26 sts)
  9. Row 8WSon the graph this row runs left to right7 A12 C7 Aleaves (26 sts)
  10. Row 9RSon the graph this row runs right to left7 A12 C7 Aleaves (26 sts)
  11. Row 10WSon the graph this row runs left to right7 A12 C7 Aleaves (26 sts)
  12. Row 11RSon the graph this row runs right to left6 A14 C6 Aleaves (26 sts)
  13. Row 12WSon the graph this row runs left to right6 A14 C6 Aleaves (26 sts)
  14. Stop and measure now, after row 12.The width, across the middle of the rows and not along the chain edge: about 8 in (20 cm). If it is wider, the whole picture will be larger: start again with a smaller hook, or keep going and expect a larger piece. If it is narrower, a larger hook. If the chain edge pulls in tighter than the rows, make the foundation chain with a larger hook.The height of the 12 rows worked: about 3¼ in (8 cm). If the rows are taller or shorter than this, the finished piece will be taller or shorter than the size given, in the same proportion.
  15. Row 13RSon the graph this row runs right to left6 A14 C6 Aleaves (26 sts)
  16. Row 14WSon the graph this row runs left to right10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  17. Row 15RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  18. Row 16WSon the graph this row runs left to right10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  19. Row 17RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  20. Row 18WSon the graph this row runs left to right10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  21. Row 19RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  22. Row 20WSon the graph this row runs left to right4 A12 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  23. Row 21RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A13 B3 Aleaves (26 sts)
  24. Row 22WSon the graph this row runs left to right2 A14 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  25. Row 23RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A14 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  26. Row 24WSon the graph this row runs left to right2 A14 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  27. Row 25RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A6 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  28. Row 26WSon the graph this row runs left to right2 A4 B4 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  29. Row 27RSon the graph this row runs right to left4 A12 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  30. Row 28WSon the graph this row runs left to right2 A4 B4 A13 B3 Aleaves (26 sts)
  31. Row 29RSon the graph this row runs right to left2 A14 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  32. Row 30WSon the graph this row runs left to right2 A4 B4 A14 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  33. Row 31RSon the graph this row runs right to left2 A14 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  34. Row 32WSon the graph this row runs left to right2 A4 B4 A6 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  35. Row 33RSon the graph this row runs right to left2 A4 B4 A6 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  36. Row 34WSon the graph this row runs left to right3 A2 B5 A6 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  37. Row 35RSon the graph this row runs right to left2 A4 B4 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  38. Row 36WSon the graph this row runs left to right10 A6 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  39. Row 37RSon the graph this row runs right to left2 A4 B4 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  40. Row 38WSon the graph this row runs left to right10 A6 B4 A4 B2 Aleaves (26 sts)
  41. Row 39RSon the graph this row runs right to left3 A2 B5 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  42. Row 40WSon the graph this row runs left to right10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  43. Row 41RSon the graph this row runs right to left10 A6 B10 Aleaves (26 sts)
  44. Row 42WSon the graph this row runs left to right11 A4 B11 Aleaves (26 sts)
  45. Row 43RSon the graph this row runs right to left11 A4 B11 Aleaves (26 sts)
  46. Row 44WSon the graph this row runs left to right26 Aleaves (26 sts)
  47. Row 45RSon the graph this row runs right to left26 Aleaves (26 sts)
  48. EndFasten off, leaving a 6 in (15 cm) tail.

Border

  • With the right side facing, the round begins in the corner stitch at the start of the top edge and goes along the last row, down the side, along the foundation edge and up the other side. Row 45 is a right-side row, so that corner stitch is the first stitch you worked in row 45: it is the "first st" of Rnd 1. The ch 1 does not count as a stitch. A stitch in the end of a row goes into the side of the stitch that ends that row.
  • The border is one round of 134 single crochet. Each corner is 3 single crochet worked into one place (the first and the last stitch of the last row, the first and the last chain of the foundation edge that hold a stitch of row 1: the turning chain is not counted), and those 3 are the only stitches of that corner: the row end beside each corner is skipped. A row of single crochet is shorter than a stitch is wide, so each side takes 37 stitches in its 43 other row ends and 6 of them are skipped, as Rnd 1 says: with the row end beside each corner, that is 8 row ends skipped on each side. So: 12 in the four corners, 24 along the top, 24 along the foundation edge and 37 up each side (12 + 24 + 24 + 37 + 37 = 134).
  1. FoundationA finished panel of 26 sc and 45 rows, RS facing.
  2. Rnd 1RSJoin A with sl st in first st, ch 1, 3 sc in same st, sc in next 24 sts, 3 sc in last st, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 3 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 7 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 3 rows, sk next row end, 3 sc in first ch of foundation edge, sc in next 24 chs, 3 sc in last ch of foundation edge, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 3 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 7 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 6 rows, sk next row end, sc in end of each of next 3 rows, sk next row end, sl st in first sc to joinleaves (134 sc)
  3. Stop and measure now, after round 1.If a side ruffles, work it again with fewer stitches along it; if it pulls in, with more.
  4. EndFasten off, leaving a 6 in (15 cm) tail.

Finishing

  • Weave in every end along stitches of its own color.

In all: 45 rows; 1,304 stitches (1,170 in the panel, 134 in the border); 118 color changes, at most 6 in a row; 8 ends to weave in.

New to crochet? How to crochet