Sunflowers, spiky yellow blooms, autumn leaves in five shades and clusters of tiny blue and white daisies, all linked together by green vines with no background fabric anywhere. The table shows through every gap and the outline is ragged rather than straight, because the leaves stick out wherever they happen to land.
This is a freeform piece. There is no grid, no repeat and no motif count you have to hit exactly. You make a pile of components, lay them out until they look right, then crochet the vines that hold them together.
That makes it the most forgiving runner here and the hardest to explain, so the layout and joining sections are the ones to read twice.
What you’ll need
DK cotton in golden yellow, mustard, dark brown, rust, burnt orange, tan, cream, sage green, olive green, pale blue and white.
A 3 mm hook, worked fairly tight so the motifs hold their shape without a backing.
You’ll also want a blocking mat or a folded towel, rustproof pins, and a tapestry needle.
Finished size is about 90 cm long and 35 cm wide at the widest point, though a freeform runner is never exactly any size.
Abbreviations are US terms. ch is chain, sl st is slip stitch, sc is single crochet, hdc is half double crochet, dc is double crochet, tr is treble crochet, inc is two stitches in one, MR is magic ring.
Part 1. Sunflowers, make seven
In dark brown, 8 sc in MR (8), inc eight times (16), then sc and inc repeated eight times (24). Change to golden yellow.
Back petals. Join into the back loops of the last brown round. Into every second back loop work sc, 2 hdc, 3 dc, 2 hdc, sc, with a sl st between each.
Front petals. Rejoin into the front loops of the same round, sitting halfway between two back petals, and work the same petal into every second front loop.
Offsetting the two layers is what makes it a sunflower. Line them up and you get a flat daisy.
Make five in golden yellow and two in mustard so the row is not uniform.
Part 2. Spiky sun flowers, make four
These are the flat pointed ones with no petal layers, and they are what break up a row of otherwise similar sunflowers.
In mustard, 10 sc in MR (10), inc ten times (20). Then into every second stitch work ch 5, sl st in the second ch from the hook, sc in the next 3 ch, then sl st into the base and sl st into the next stitch. That gives ten narrow points radiating out.
Add a cluster of darker French knots in the centre.
Part 3. Leaves, make about forty
You need a lot, and variety matters more than count. Make them in rust, burnt orange, dark brown, tan and cream, and vary the shape as well as the colour.
Plain leaf. Ch 12. Working back along the chain, sl st in the second ch from the hook, sc in the next 2, hdc in the next 3, dc in the next 3, hdc in the next, then 3 sc into the last chain, and back along the other side in reverse.
Ribbed leaf. Work the plain leaf, then add a surface slip stitch vein down the centre and three shorter angled veins branching off it. These are the ones that read as oak or beech and they carry the autumn feel, so make plenty.
Small leaf. The same over a chain of 8, for tucking into gaps.
Aim for roughly a third plain, a third ribbed and a third small.
Part 4. Small flowers
Blue and white daisies, make about fifteen. In pale blue, 6 sc in MR (6), then into each stitch work ch 4, sl st in the second ch from the hook, sc in the next 2 ch, sl st into the same stitch, for six narrow petals. Add a white French knot centre. Make about half of them the other way round, white petals with a blue centre.
Orange flowers, make six. In burnt orange, 5 sc in MR (5), then into each stitch work sl st, ch 2, 2 dc, ch 2, sl st. Add a mustard centre knot.
Tiny buds, make about twelve. In mustard or orange, 4 sc in MR pulled tight, closed with a knot. These fill the smallest gaps.
Part 5. The vines
Do not make these yet. They come last, once everything is laid out, and they are worked directly onto the arrangement.
The vine is a chain worked in sage or olive, with small leaves added as you go. To make one, chain along the route you need, then sl st back along the chain to firm it up. To add a leaf mid vine, chain 7 off to the side at any point, work sl st, sc, hdc, sc, sl st back along it, then continue the main vine.
Part 6. Laying it out
Block every motif flat and let it dry before you start. Then clear a table and give yourself an hour.
Lay the seven sunflowers first, spaced down the length in a loose zigzag rather than a straight line. Turn each one to face slightly differently.
Add the spiky flowers between them, offset to one side.
Now the leaves. Work outwards from the flowers towards the edges, letting them stick out past the outline in every direction. The ragged edge is the design. Every leaf that pokes out is doing a job.
Then the small daisies and orange flowers into the remaining gaps, in clusters of two and three rather than singly.
Finally the tiny buds into whatever holes are left.
Stand back and squint at it. Squinting is a genuinely useful test here, because it shows you the distribution of colour and mass without the detail. If one area reads as a dark blob or a pale hole, move things until it evens out.
Photograph the layout before you touch anything. You will disturb it while sewing and the photo will save you.
Part 7. Joining
This is the structural part, and there is one rule that matters.
Every motif must connect to at least three neighbours. A runner with no background is held together only by these joins, and any motif attached at two points or fewer will flop, sag or eventually tear away. Sunflowers and large leaves want four or five connections.
Work the vines through the arrangement one at a time. Attach your green yarn to a motif, chain along to the next one, sl st into it, then continue chaining to the next. Add small leaves off the vine as you pass through open areas.
Where two motifs sit directly against each other, simply stitch them together edge to edge instead of running a vine between them. Not every join needs to be visible.
Work from the centre outwards, and lift the piece every so often to see what is still loose. Anything that dangles needs another connection.
Part 8. Finishing
Block the whole runner once it is joined. Pin it out generously, opening every gap and flattening every leaf.
Once it is dry, hold it up by one end. If it stretches and distorts badly, add more vine connections in the areas that stretched most, then reblock.
For a runner that will get real use, consider backing it. Cut a piece of thin cream cotton fabric roughly to shape, allowing the leaf tips to overhang, and slip stitch it to the back. It will not show from above, it stops the piece stretching, and it means you can pick the runner up by one corner without worrying.
Notes and variations
A spring version in pinks, cream and fresh green works identically.
Make a small round version as a centrepiece mat, or a long narrow one for a mantelpiece.
A single sunflower with three leaves and a vine makes a good coaster, and a set of six uses up all the practice motifs you made while getting the hang of the petals.
Questions I get asked
How many motifs do I actually need? Around seventy in total. Make extra leaves rather than extra flowers, since leaves are what you run short of during layout.
Why is my runner floppy? Not enough joins. Three connections per motif is the minimum and the large pieces need more.
Do I have to back it? No, but it doubles the lifespan and stops the stretching that eventually pulls joins open.
Can I use acrylic? Cotton blocks far better and this piece depends on blocking.
How long does it take? About twenty five hours, most of it in the motifs. The joining is around four.