The Darkness Held at Bay 10" and 12" Block

The fourth in a series of four blocks exploring shaping and visual texture in a flat, fairly solid block. This block evokes a light shining in the midst of stormy skies. This is the most complex of the four patterns, and is best regarded as intermediate in difficulty. Instructions and pattern notes should be read carefully; some photos are included for potentially tricky bits. Special stitches include a modified picot stitch and single crochet decrease (sc dec); all are defined in the pattern. My excellent and helpful testers for this block were KarenRedBaron, muffetsmom, Penny-b, MrsJayhawk, mcoolidge, krotcher2008, wagsmeows. Thank you all so much! --- Errata: The last round of the 12" block calls for a combination of hdc and dc. However, many people have found that they do not require the additional shaping and that using only one height of stitch gives a better result.