It’s week five of the Fruit Salad Crochet Along. I’m sure you have all of your blocks done and are just waiting to join, right?

Confession: I did a Fruit Salad Sampler. I just joined nine squares, but it shows how versatile this pattern is. Join them vertically in a line for a table runner, in a square for an accent pillow, or don’t join at all and use them as wall art! If you stuck to the original blanket plan, I salute you!

I chose to join with yellow so it would be easy to see the join, but if I were doing a blanket, I probably would have stuck to white. Of course, the more I look at this, the more I like the yellow. No matter that it is smaller than I originally planned, it is cheery and summery. That was the goal.

To join the squares, I first laid them out to see where I wanted them. They are joined top row from left to right, then middle row from left to right, and bottom row left to right.

I picked my squares up in that order and made a stack, so I wouldn’t have to think of the order again. With the last round of each square, we’ve been setting ourselves up to do a flat braid join. Here is a video to watch that will explain it better than I can: Flat Braid Join.

Joining

Note: Most of my squares have 8 loops between the corners, but some have 9. On the ones that have 9, I skipped the center loop when working and it evened things out. It was not noticeable in the end. If you end up with extra loops on some squares, you’ll want to go back and make sure you skipped that center loop.

First square: Attach joining color with sl st to the bottom right hand corner of the first square. Ch 2, sc in corner st. [Ch 2, sc in next loop] across. Ch 2, sc, ch 2, sc in corner space. Continue around joining with sl st. Fasten off.

Second square and all in top row: Attach joining color with sl st to the bottom right hand corner of the first square. Ch 2, sc in corner st. *[Ch 2, sc in next loop]** across. Ch 2, sc, ch 2, sc in corner space. Repeat from * to **. Ch 2, sc, ch 1 in next corner. Sl st in top corner of the first square. Ch 1, sc in corner space. Ch 1, sl st to next loop of first square, ch 1, sc in next loop of current square. Across to corner. Ch 2, sc, ch 1 in next corner. Sl st in the bottom corner of the first square. Ch 1, sc in corner space. [Ch 2, sc in next loop] across. Join with sl st to the beginning. Fasten off.

You will join the first square of the second row in the same manner as above with only one side joining. The only difference is on the top right hand corner. You will sl st into the corner diagonally from the new square and skip the corner on the square above.

Squares with joins on two sides: Attach joining color with sl st to the bottom right hand corner of the first square. Ch 2, sc in corner st. *[Ch 2, sc in next loop]** across. Ch 2, sc, ch 1 in next corner. Sl st in bottom corner of the diagonally opposite square. *Ch 1, sc in corner space. Ch 1, sl st to next loop of square above (not the corner space), ch 1, sc in next loop of current square across to corner.** Repeat once from * to **. Ch 2, sc, ch 1 in next corner. Sl st in the bottom corner of the first square. Ch 1, sc in corner space. [Ch 2, sc in next loop] across. Join with sl st to the beginning. Fasten off.

When you get to the last square (bottom right), Join as usual, but do not fasten off.

Border

Round 1: Ch 3, sc in corner, [Ch 2, sc in next loop] across. Note: Treat each of the joined corners as loops. (Sc, ch 2, sc in corner space). Repeat for all four sides. Join.

Round 2: Ch 3, 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in corner space. 2 dc in each loop across. (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in each corner. Join or fasten off.

Round 3: If changing colors, join new color with sl st in corner space. Ch 1, *[Sc, ch 2, sc] in corner space. Ch 2, sc in space between group of 3 dc and 2 dc. [Ch 2, sc between groups of 2 dc] across. Ch 2.** Repeat around from * to **. Join. Fasten off. Weave in all ends.

I love joining blankets this way, because it cuts down on the sewing that has to be done. If you’ve done the Flat braid Join before, this should be relatively easy. If this is your first time, I hope you’ve learned a new skill.

How is your Fruit Salad CAL blanket coming? Make sure to share pictures on my Facebook page and contact me with any questions you might have.