Spike Stitch Afghan

I made this afghan as a gift for my wonderful Mom's 80th birthday. It is based on an afghan that my mother-in-law made many years ago and that my mother always admired. Unfortunately, I didn't have a pattern so tried to duplicate it as best as I could. It took some trial and error, but I was really happy with the result and Mom loved it!

I used 3 colors of acrylic yarns so that it could be easily washed and dried - cream, a multi color and an accent color - and a size H hook. It is mostly single crochet with two special stitches.

Back Cross Stitch: Skip next st, dc in next st, insert hook from back to front in skipped st, dc

Spike Stitch: Insert hook one or more rows below the corresponding next st, under the horizontal threads, but between the nearby posts, YO, pull up a loop