I just came to the end of a week-long adventure working out a stripe on my current afghan project. It’s a happy ending — I now have a version of box stitch that’s
- Truly reversible
- A full notch easier to work
- A bit lighter and slightly less of a yarn hog.
I have a whole story to tell, but if you want, you can jump to the instructions.
The story began when I decided to include Box Stitch in the striped afghan I’m currently working on. It’s a really great-looking stitch, and I had in mind the perfect place to use it. I’d never tried that stitch before, so I headed to a detailed photo tutorial. That may have been my first mistake. But it certainly wasn’t my last. Here’s what happened:
Day 1
- I read the tutorial,
- Figured out how to start on a bed of established stitches (rather than a chain),
- And laid down the first (2-row) stripe.
Day 2
- I brought up the tutorial, made the next (4-row) stripe,
- Noticed that the wrong side didn’t look great,
- Decided it wasn’t bad enough to pull out four rows and figure out how to make it better,
- Worked the next (4-row) stripe,
- Looked at the wrong side again and decided I’m not frogging 4+ hours of work, and…
- Weaved in all the ends. (Foreshadowing? Maybe.)
Day 3
- I studied the tutorial and “realized” I’d been doing it wrong,
- Undid the two full stripes, carefully preserving all the yarn,
- Made a stripe the “correct” way
(Hmmm… what’s with all the scare quotes, Rachel?), - And put it away because my head needed a break.
Day 4
- I decided the tutorial I was using was too hard to follow,
- Made another stripe. carefully following along with a very clear video…
- Checked the wrong side and saw that it was different from the correction I made the day before,
- Removed the two reworked stripes,
- Attempted to do it the “wrong” way (from Day 3)
because I thought the wrong side was better when I did it “wrong”… - Decided the wrong side still didn’t look good enough.
- And put it away for mental health reasons.
Day 5
- I frogged the Day 4 rows,
- Worked out a modification I was happy with (it only took three tries)
- Made one stripe the new way…
- And put it away because my head needed a break. (Are we sensing a theme here?)
Day 6
- I finished the next 2 stripes (Woot!),
- Figured out how to even out the top.
(Nope, I didn’t get it on the first try.
Who would have guessed?), - Made the first of 2 rows for the filling-in part…
- And put it away
because my head was done for the day.
Day 7
- Finished it!
- Did a happy dance.
After all that, I figured the least I could do was share. After all, making one section of a sampler afghan was not enough to justify all that work.
So finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, here it is…
The Instructions!
The part between *’s in the row summaries represents the repeating group. Basic crochet abbreviations and chart symbols are available from a link on the sidebar.
Next up… (guess what?)
Special stitches:
- Fan stitch (Fan): Work [5 dcs, ch1, 5 dcs] into the same st or ch sp.
- V stitch (V st): Work [dc ch2, dc] into the same st.
- Front post single crochet (video) (FPsc):
Insert hook from front to back; working around the post of a stitch on the previous row, make a single crochet.
We aren’t working with the same base row as shown in this graphic, but it shows nicely how to work the FPsc over single crochets, which we will do.
Repeats and counting
Now we’re getting serious. This is designed to work on a bed of existing sc-width stitches or a chainless foundation. You’ll start with a multiple of 8 + 1 stitches.
Check the sidebar link for stitch symbol definitions.
But before you hurry off to work the first pattern row…
Place stitch markers. Really. Do this. It’s very easy to miscount in the first row.
- Place a stitch marker on the 18th stitch.
- Then place another marker every 24 stitches
(that should leave a multiple-of-8-minus-1 stitches after the last marker.)
Oh yes, and don’t forget… this stitch works with 2 colors. Their names are A and B. Now to really get serious. (Yes. I mean it this time.)
Row 1
| 📔 If you are close to a stitch marker at end of a repeat, the sc you just made should be in the last stitch before that marker. |
R1: (Fan Row) Begin with color A, ch1, sc in first st,
*sk next 3 sts, Fan in next st, sk next 3 sts, sc in next st* to end.
(beg sc, *sk3, Fan, sk 3, sc*)
Row 2
R2: (FPsc Row) ch1, turn, sc in first st,
*sc around post of each of next 5 dcs (that’s 5 FPscs up the side of the Fan), ch1, sc around post of each of next 5 dcs (down the Fan), sc around legs of next sc between Fans (to make the 11th and last FPsc of the repeating group)*,
rep from * to last Fan, work [5 FPscs, ch1, 5 FPscs] in last Fan, sc in last sc.
(beg sc, *[5 FPscs, ch1, 6 FPscs]*, end [5 FPscs, ch1, 5 FPscs] + 1 sc)
Row 3
| 📔 Non-chain stitches will be worked into the dc side (row 1). This will be the side closest to you. |
R3: (V row) Join color B, ch4 (counts as dc + ch1), turn, dc in first sc,
*ch3, sc in ch1 sp 2 rows below (at top of Fan), ch3, V st in next sc (between Fans 2 rows below)*,
rep between *’s to last Fan, work [dc, ch1, dc] in last st.
(beg [ch4, dc], *ch3, sc, ch3, V st*, end [dc, ch1, dc])
Row 4
| 📔 scs will be worked into the open ch1 sp of the opposite color (row 2), And Fans will be worked into the V stitch of same color (row 3.) |
R4: (Fan row) ch3, turn, work 4 dcs into first chsp,
*sc in next ch1 sp 2 rows below (between FPscs at top of Fan), work a Fan into the ch2 sp of the next V*, rep between *’s to top of the opposite-color-fan, work 4 dcs in last chsp, dc in last sc.
(beg ch3 + 4dcs, *Fan, sc*, end 5 dcs)
Row 5
R5: (FPsc Row) ch1, turn, sc in first dc, sc around posts of each of next 4 dcs,
*sc around legs of next sc, sc around post of each of next 5 dcs, ch1, sc around posts of each of next 5 scs*,
rep between *’s to last half-fan,
sc around posts of next 4 dcs, sc in top of turning chain.
(beg 1 sc + 4 FPscs, *6 FPscs, ch1, 5 FPscs*, end 4 FPscs + 1 sc)
Rows 6 – 8
| 📔 These rows are the same as the last 3 rows, just offset by half a Fan or V |
R6: (V Row) Join color A, ch1, turn, sc in first st,
*ch3, (sk the dcs), make a V st in next sc 2 rows below, ch3, sc in next ch1 sp (between dcs at top of Fan)*,
rep between *’s to end, ch3, sc in last st.
(beg sc, *ch3, V st, ch3, sc*, end ch3 + sc)
R7: (Fan row) ch1, turn, sc in first sc (sk next ch3 sp),
*Fan in next ch2 sp (middle of V st), sk next ch3 sp, sc in ch1 sp 3 rows below*, rep between *’s to end.
(beg sc, *Fan, sc*)
R9: Repeat row 2
Filling in the Curves
For the last 3 rows, I’ve gone away from the pattern rows of the box stitch to fill in the curves, and end with a normal stitch depth.
Definitions:
Zipper Stitch (Zip):
Insert hook through back loop of st 2 rows below (the row nearest you)
and the front loop of the st in same position one row below,
working through those 2 inside loops,
make a sc.
ch pair: 2 matching chain stitches, one from each of the previous two rows (see image next to zipper stitch definition.)
sc pair: 2 matching scs, one from each of the previous 2 rows.
And finally… the 3 filling-in rows
I’ll write the next steps as if 1 of this section is the same as row 6 of the main pattern, but of course it could be shifted if you end on a different stripe.
R1: Change colors ,ch1, turn, sc in first st,
*ch2, (sk the dcs), make a V st in next sc 2 rows below, ch2, sc in next ch1 sp (between dcs at top of Fan)*,
rep between *’s to end, ch2, sc in last st.
(beg sc, *ch2, V st, ch2, sc*, end ch2 + sc)
R2: Make one more V row on the other side as follows:
ch1, turn, sc in first sc, *ch2, make a V st in next FPsc 2 rows below (the side facing you), ch2, sc in next ch1 sp (still the side facing you)*, rep between *’s across, ch3, V st in next FPsc 2 rows below, ch3, sc in last sc.
(beg sc, *ch3, V st, ch3, sc*, end ch3 + sc)
R3: ch1, turn, sc in first sc,
work a Zip st in each chain pair across (skipping sc pairs), sc in last sc.
So that’s the whole story… well, it’s a chapter. Here’s where I am (so far) on the whole story.
A few closing thoughts.
This modified stitch is perfect for my afghan. It’s not as dramatic as regular box stitch, but being reversible and quicker to work up are things that matter for an afghan. Next year, I think I’ll made throw pillows for each of my daughters, in colors from each of their samplers. Regular box stitch will be great for pillows. No one’s gonna see the wrong side on a pillow (unless you have X-ray vision?) and they’re smaller, so taking more time will be fine.
I hope you found something either useful or funny in this post. And if you made it all the way here to this paragraph, Thank You!
P.S. If you give this stitch a try, I’d absolutely love to hear about it. If you find any mistakes in these instructions, or have questions, please let me know!
Because frankly, I’m sick to death of them at the moment and can’t properly proofread.
Rachel Sunshine's Creations 
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