☀️ Week 3 of 46 | This Week's Featured Pattern is the Follow the Sun Afghan! 🌸

 Week 3: Follow the Sun Afghan – Brighten Your Home with Warmth and Light

Hello beautiful crocheters! 🧶☀️

Welcome to Week 3 of our 46-week crochet celebration here at Apple Blossom Dreams! After basking in the romantic charm of the Farmhouse Rose Afghan last week, it’s time to bring a fresh burst of sunshine into your crafting with this week’s featured pattern: the Follow the Sun Afghan.

Inspired by golden rays and warm, glowing horizons, the Follow the Sun Afghan is all about brightening your space and lifting your spirits. With its radiant yellows, rich oranges, and comforting neutrals, this design channels the uplifting power of the sun — perfect for those cosy afternoons spent crocheting with a cup of tea.

Why You’ll Love the Follow the Sun Afghan:

• 🌞 Vibrant, sunny colour palette that adds warmth to any room

• ✨ Textured stitches that create depth and a beautiful play of light

• 🧶 Designed to be relaxing yet engaging for all skill levels

• 🧡 A perfect throw to brighten your sofa, bed, or reading nook

GRAB the pattern HERE with 20% discount already applied!!

Yarn Packs Now Available!

To make your journey even easier, I’m excited to share that yarn packs for the Follow the Sun Afghan are available from Wool Warehouse HERE! These carefully curated bundles contain every color you’ll need to bring this sunny design to life, taking the guesswork out of yarn choices and helping you start stitching straight away.

What’s Next?

You can start the Follow the Sun Afghan this week and share your progress with our community — don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtag #AppleBlossomDreams Your creativity always inspires me, and I love seeing your projects grow stitch by stitch.

Stay tuned for Week 4, where another fresh, fun design awaits to keep your crochet journey glowing all year long.

Happy crocheting and sending sunny vibes your way!

The Apple Blossom Dreams 🌸

🌹 Mini Granny Rose Blanket | In Two Sizes | Baby or Doll Blanket 🌹

 Mini Granny Rose Afghan – Perfect for Dolls, Toys, and More!

If you’re looking for a sweet, quick crochet project, you’ll love this Mini Granny Rose Afghan! Measuring approximately 19" x 12" (48 cm x 30 cm), it’s just the right size for a beloved doll or toy pet.

Of course, you can easily make it larger — simply add more squares and you’ll have a beautiful baby blanket. For a baby size, you might even try two of each colour for a balanced, cheerful look.

Here are the colours pictured above in Stylecraft Special DK:

 

The Granny Rose pattern can be found here or here, but I made a few tweaks for this project:

• Crochet two rounds for the rose instead of the usual three.

• Add two granny rounds as shown in the photos.

• Join the squares with single crochet.

The blanket layout is 4 squares by 7 squares — that’s 28 squares total. (Tip: Afghans fold better if you use an even number of rows. I forgot this time, but it still turned out adorable!) 

Border Details

I finished mine with:

• One row of half-double crochet (hdc) in white

• A simple shell border in Meadow

The original pattern comes with a picot border, which would be equally cute. If you’d like to try the shell edge I used, there’s a free tutorial available here used for a Mitered Dishcloth.

 

(All yarn is 100% Acrylic DK from my stash of Stylecraft Special DK, Yarnsmiths Create DK, and Scheepjes Colour Crafter that was originally purchased from Wool Warehouse. :-) )

Once complete, the afghan folds up perfectly — ready to wrap and give as a thoughtful gift for a child’s toy or to brighten a nursery.

You could even make a cute little matching cushion too!!

If you’d like me to write up the full pattern for this mini afghan and cushion, let me know in the comments — I’d be happy to put one together!

Happy Crocheting! 🧶✨

💙Week 2 of 46 | This Week's Featured Pattern is the Farmhouse Rose Afghan! 🌹

 🌹 Week 2: The Farmhouse Rose Afghan – A Romantic Nordic Beauty

Hello lovely crocheters! 🧶

Welcome to Week 2 of the 46-week crochet celebration here at Apple Blossom Dreams! We’re thrilled to reveal this week's featured pattern: the Farmhouse Rose Afghan — and we think you’re going to fall head over heels for her. ❤️

Inspired by the clean charm of Astri's Scandinavian farmhouse, this bold and beautiful afghan combines crisp whites, striking reds, and cool blues with textured rose motifs, all set within classic granny squares. She’s cosy, cheerful, and full of nostalgic romance — like a warm hug from a simpler time.

This dreamy design is perfect for making a statement in your home, whether draped across your bed, folded at the foot of your sofa, or displayed as a much-loved heirloom.

The Farmhouse Rose Afghan pattern is a beautiful pattern! Just pop over to my Etsy page HERE and download the pattern straight away.

What You’ll Love:

• 🌹 Raised rose motifs for a 3D floral pop

• 🔲 Traditional granny squares with a twist

• 🧶 Clear and detailed instructions

• 💻 Instant PDF download

Whether you're new to crochet or a seasoned stitcher, this project will bring joy from the very first square to the final border.

What’s Next?

The Farmhouse Rose Afghan will be featured until Thursday, and then we’ll unveil a brand new pattern on Friday for Week 3! It's been such a joy to see your excitement and your makes already starting to pop up online — keep tagging and sharing!

We hope you love this pattern as much as we do and that it brings some colour, comfort, and creative magic to your week. 💙

Until next time,

Happy crocheting!

 The Apple Blossom Dreams 🌸

🌼 Week 1 of 46 | This Week's Featured Pattern is the Sunnyside Up Afghan! 🌼

🌼 Week 1 of 46: Let’s Get This Crochet Party Started with the Sunnyside Up Afghan!

The day has finally arrived — and we couldn’t be more excited! 🎉

Welcome to Week 1 of our 46-week crochet celebration here at Apple Blossom Dreams. Over the next several months, we’ll be featuring a different crochet pattern each week, paired with a special discount, a sprinkle of joy, and a whole lot of yarny inspiration🧶✨

So… what’s in the spotlight this week?

🌞 Say Hello to the Sunnyside Up Afghan

We’re starting things off with a burst of colour and happiness - the Sunnyside Up Afghan! 💛

This pattern is everything we love about crochet: bright, bold, and beautifully textured. It’s designed to lift your mood, energise your creativity, and bring a little sunshine to your sofa, bed, or wherever your blanket lands.

Think vibrant motifs, joyful colours, and a satisfying project you’ll look forward to stitching again and again.

🔸 Skill Level: Easy to Intermediate

🔸 Style: Flower design with sunny vibes

🔸 Perfect for: Weekend projects, stash-busting, or gifting something cheerful and handmade

🎁 Grab the pattern here! (back to normal price now!)

📅 Offer valid: Friday, 8 August – Thursday, 14 August 2025

🌐 Find the pattern at: etsy.appleblossomdreamz.com

🧶 You can also purchase the yarn pack for this pattern from Wool Warehouse HERE!

🌟 What’s This All About?

Each week, we’ll feature one of our patterns — a mix of classics and newer releases — to inspire your next project. Here's what to expect:

✨ A new pattern featured every Friday

🧶 A special discount you can enjoy all week

🌼 Ongoing inspiration, tips, sneak peeks, and surprises between features

It’s our way of saying thank you for being part of the Apple Blossom Dreams community — and a fun excuse to crochet our way through the year together!

💬 Let’s Stitch Together!

We’d LOVE to see what you create! Whether you’ve made the Sunnyside Up Afghan before or this is your first time, don’t forget to tag your projects so we can cheer you on!

📸 Use hashtags:

#sunnysideupafghan

#appleblossomdreams

#appleblossomdreamz

#weeklypatternparty

This is just the beginning — and we can’t wait to see where the next 45 weeks take us.

Here’s to a year full of colour, comfort, and crochet magic! 💖

With love and yarn,

Apple Blossom Dreams 🌸 

🌸Apple Blossom Dreamz | Etsy | Featured Patterns for 46 Weeks with Discount!!!🌸

🌸 Hello, Astri here! 🌸

Did you know Helen has heroically relisted the entire Apple Blossom Dreams pattern library

 in her brand-new Etsy shop:?

Apple Blossom Dreamz (yes, with a “z”... because dreams happen during zzzz’s, right? 😴✨)

You can find it by clicking here.

And it looks like this:

Since Etsy doesn’t allow shop transfers (surely they must have their reasons 🤷‍♀️), 

she opened a fresh new shop and rebuilt everything from the ground up. 

All the same beautiful patterns (with a few glow-ups here and there), 

but unfortunately, without the built-in history of reviews and sales. 

And somehow, she still did it all with such grace, style, and her usual eye for detail.

Each pattern now has a fresh, dreamy cover sheet. 

Everything is beautifully coordinated and oh-so-satisfyingly organized. 

Honestly, I could just scroll through the shop for the aesthetics alone.  😍

🌟 To celebrate this massive effort, we’ve come up with a fun plan!

Over the next 46 weeks (yes, nearly a whole year! 😮), 

one pattern will be featured each week, with a special discount just for you.

Here’s the scoop:

✨ Every Friday, a featured pattern will be announced on IG, Facebook, and here at

appleblossomdreams.com.

✨ The discount will be automatic so no code needed!!

✨ You’ll get a fresh dose of crochet inspiration every week. 

It might be a long-time favorite or something relatively new.

✨ Not to worry, between features, 

you'll still be seeing the regular posts that you have been accustomed to seeing. 

She'll sprinkle in surprise treats like new patterns, free patterns, tips, tricks, and other yarny goodness. 🧶💫

🎉 The first featured pattern drops Friday, August 8th!!!
Ooooooooh, what will it be? 🤔💖

 Stay tuned and crochet along with us!

The Granny Rose Cushion | Finished | Pattern Release! 🌸🌿

The Granny Rose Cushion is Finished and Blooming! 🌸🌿

🌟 I’m also thrilled to announce that the full pattern is now available – and you can grab both the pattern and yarn packs from Wool Warehouse! Whether you're ready to recreate this sunny design or give it your own twist, everything you need is right there.

She’s done – and she’s gorgeous! I’m so excited to share the final reveal of the Granny Rose Pillow, now fully finished and radiating all the vibrant energy of summer. This has been such a joyful project, from the bold floral centers to the fresh finishing touches.

After joining all the rose squares with a clean, soft off-white, I added a fuchsia pink edging to frame the whole piece. The pretty picot border in fuchsia pink dances around the edges like tiny petals. It adds such a lovely, delicate detail and perfectly complements the bold colour palette.

And let’s not forget the back – I finished it off with fuchsia pink buttons for a sweet and playful touch that ties it all together beautifully. 💗

The whole cushion feels like a garden in full bloom – bright, fresh, and full of personality. I’ve loved every stitch of this journey using Yarnsmiths Cotton DK from Wool Warehouse. The texture, the shades, the way it all came together – it’s been magic.

The pattern can be found by clicking on the following Apple Blossom Dreams Shops:

Etsy

Ravelry

The Yarn Pack can be found at Wool Warehouse by clicking here.

The pattern can also be found at Wool Warehouse by clicking here.

You can see more of the final shots (including some close-ups of that picot border!) over on my Instagram – I’d love to hear what you think and see your versions too!

Thanks so much for following along – and stay tuned for the next project on my hook! 🌞🧶✨

Helen x

 

Granny Rose Pillow | Summer Blooms in Full Swing! 🌼

Granny Rose Pillow Update!🌼

I'm back with another exciting update on the Granny Rose Pillow – and oh, what a transformation it's going through! After sharing those sneak peeks of the vibrant, summery shades (hello sunshine, citrus, and raspberry 🍋🍊🍉), I’ve now added a soft, off-white to frame each Rose... and it’s really bringing everything to life!

The bold floral centers are now beautifully squared off with that gentle off-white border, giving the whole piece a fresh and airy feel – like tiny summer gardens nestled in crisp linens. There's something so satisfying about watching each rose bloom into its little frame. 💚

I am now going to start joining the squares, using the same off-white to keep things cohesive and let the bright colors sing. It’s such a joy to see it all coming together.

I can’t wait to share the full reveal with you soon. Until then, you can catch more behind-the-scenes progress pics over on my Instagram – come follow along and let me know what you think!

Happy hooking!

Helen x

🧶🌸💕