Hello! Welcome to June! Summer is officially here in my part of the world (although the weather may not always feel like it at times). When I think of June I always think of the midpoint in the year, the solstice – so what better symbol to have in the centre of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL June square than the sun?
As with my travails in April, coming up with this design (which in principle I had in my head from January) in practice wasn’t quite as simple as I thought it would be. I played with rising or setting suns, stained glass window effects and textured centres for the sunshine. It took a lot of jiggery pokery but eventually, I got there and was happy with this attempt. I do hope you approve. I had so much love for last month’s May Blossom square, that it feels like quite a hard act to follow!
As I have mentioned in the patterns for the other 2025 CAL squares, the whole point of this CAL is to be a stash buster project to help you get rid of some of your odds and ends of yarn left over from previous projects. I am certainly using it for that purpose!
I have made my squares using my own stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarns and I have included the names and numbers of the shades I’ve used in case you want to replicate what I have done exactly, but you can use any yarn you like. The only thing you need to do is make sure it’s all the same weight, ie all DK or all Aran or whatever yarn you choose, and if you are making the whole project along with me, make sure all your squares are made using the same weight and the same size of crochet hook to make sure they all measure the same size so they can be joined together easily at the end.
Each square is made to a similar basic pattern and should have 120 stitches in the final round to make joining easier at the end.
☀️So without further ado, it’s time to take you through the steps to make the Making Stitches 2025 CAL June Summer Solstice Square….☀️
2025 Making Stitches CAL Part Six : June – Summer Solstice
To make this square, I used Stylecraft Special DK in (A) Citron (1263), (B) Denim (1302), (C) Cloud Blue (1019).
You will also need a 4mm crochet hook, scissors, a stitch marker, and a yarn needle.
Abbreviations (in UK terms): blo = work in back loop only, ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dtr = double treble, FPTrTr = Front Post Triple Treble, fyo = final yarn over, htr = half treble, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble, yo = yarn over hook.
In case you haven’t come across a FPTrTr before, you begin the st with yo 3 times = 4 loops on your hook. You will work around a st in a round/row below the round/row you are working. Once you have inserted the hook where it needs to be, through the front of the work, around the back of the st and back through the front of the work again, yo and draw the loop back through from around the st (you will now have 5 loops on your hook). Complete the triple treble at in the usual way – yo and pull through 2 loops 4 times.
Tension: Tension isn’t important for this project as long as you maintain the same tension throughout the project so all your squares are the same size. Once blocked this square will measure approximately 20cm x 20cm. The stitch count of the final round of each finished square will be 120 plus corner chain spaces.
Please note, this pattern is written in UK Crochet terms.
Central Sun motif
Using Yarn A, make a MC.
Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st), 12 tr into MC. Slst into top of ch2 to close the round. Pull the central yarn tail tight to close MC. Fasten off and cut yarn. (12tr)
Round 2 In this round, you will be working into the space between the stitches of the previous round. Join A into one of the spaces, ch3 (counts as a tr) and work another tr into this space, then work 2tr into every space around. Slst into the top of the ch3 to close the round. Fasten off and cut yarn. (24tr)
Round 3A In this round, you will be working into the space between the pairs of tr sts of the previous round to create the suns rays. Join A into one of the space between the pairs of tr sts from round 2. Ch4 (counts as a dtr) and work a dtr into the same space, (ch3, work 2dtr into next space between pairs of tr sts) rep around, ch3 and slst into top of the ch4 to close the round. Fasten off and cut yarn. (12 pairs of dtr & 12 x 3chs)
Round 3B Using Yarn B, join yarn into blo of an unworked st between the pairs of suns rays on round 2. Ch3 (counts as a tr) and work 3 more tr into that st, work 4tr into blo of the other unworked sts between the suns rays, slst into top of ch3 to close round. (12 x 4tr clusters)
Round 4 In this round, you will be crocheting 4dc over the top of the 3chs of round 3A between the pairs of suns rays to hide them within your work while working into the top of the 4tr clusters of 3B. You will also work 1dc over the top of the link between the pair of dtr suns rays and working that dc into the space between the 4tr clusters.
Ch1 (does not count as a st), 1dc around the 3ch and into every tr of the tr cluster and 1dc between the dtr of round 3A into the space between the 4tr cluster. At the end of the round, slst into the top of the 1st dc to close round. [Sorry for the garbled explanation – I can’t think of a better way to phrase it! Please refer to the photos below] (60 dc)
Round 5 Ch1 (does not count as a st) (1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr into next 2 sts, 1tr into next 2 sts, dtr + 2ch = dtr into next st, 1tr into next 2 sts, 1htr into next 2 sts, 1dc into next 3 sts) repeat around. Slst into top of 1st dc to close round. Fasten off and cut yarn. You now have a square. (64 sts)
Border
Round 6 Join C into any st, work 1dc into every st around and 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into every corner space. Slst into top of 1st dc to close round. Fasten off and cut yarn. (72 dc)
Round 7 Join B into any st. Ch2 (counts as htr), working blo work 1htr into every st around and 1htr + 2ch + 1htr into every corner space. Slst into top of ch2 to close round. (80 htr)
Round 8 Ch2 (counts as htr), work 1htr into every st around, 1htr + 2ch + 1htr into every corner space. Slst into top of ch2 to close round. (88 htr).
Round 9 Rep Round 8. Fasten off and cut the yarn. (90 htr)
Round 10 In this round you will be adding extra sun rays to the border. Join A, 2 sts before a corner space. Ch1 (does not count as a st) 1dc into the last 2 sts before the corner, 1dc 2ch 1dc into the corner space, 1dc into next 4 sts, 1FPTrTr around the 3rd st of Round 7, miss the next st of Round 9, 1dc into next 3 sts, 1FPTrTr around the base of the 1st FPTrTr, miss the next st of Round 9, 1dc into next 2 sts, 1FPTrTr around 10th st of Round 7, miss next st of Round 9, 1dc into next 3 sts, FPTrTr around the base of the 3rd FPTrTr, miss the next st of Round 9, 1dc into next 2 sts, 1FPTrTr around 17th st of Round 7, miss next st of Round 9, 1dc into next 3 sts, 1FPTrTr around base of 5th fptrtr, miss next st of Round 9, 1dc into rest of sts along the side, 1dc 2ch 1dc into the corner space. Repeat this process around the square and slst into the top of the first dc to close the round. Fasten off and cut the yarn. (80dc & 24 FPTrTr)
Round 11 Join B into any st, 2ch (counts as a st), 1htr into every st around, 1htr 2ch 1htr into each corners space, rep around and slst into top of 2ch to close round. Fasten off and cut the yarn. (112 htr)
Round 12 Join C into any st, 1dc (does not count as a st), 1dc into every st around, 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. (120 dc)
And that’s your Summer Solstice Square complete!
Thank you to everyone who has joined in so far and shared their makes on social media with the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL, it’s been great witnessing so many beautiful May Blossom Squares blooming online! I’m very much looking foward to seeing lots of sunny solstice squares brightening up Instagram in the coming weeks!
☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
If you make a June Summer Solstice Square and you share it online, please either tag me in your post or use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see what you have done!
☀️Happy sunshining!☀️
Lindsay x
