After a rough start the 2013 temperature afghan is going well. Of course I've only gotten about 3 weeks into it. LOL The first 22 rows are about 4". The width is about 46" roughly measured. I am estimating the total length will be about 63" which should be perfect. If that all works out as expected, I will be quite pleased. The solstice heather looks very good amongst the marina, cornflower and canary. :-) The colors used so far: 40s solstice heather 50s cornflower 60s marina 70-74 grass 75-79 canary Louisiana weather - from 40s to 70s in one month. A picture to whet your appetite. Yes, whet is the proper spelling in this instance. Although I'm not sure appetite is right. LOL Don't eat your crochet!
My first row is a little wobbly. I possibly should have used an F hook. I know most people have to use a larger hook for their first row but for me the first row is always looser. No, I'm not going to rip it back and start over! Are you crazy? hahaha The seed (moss/linen/woven/granite) stitch is easy to do. A little harder to see with the small stitches and old eyes but generally fine. Regarding the tails, what I've done is grab the tail that is the same color and crocheting over it. I hesitated to do that since there is that ch-1 there, but it seems to be working okay. Sometimes I forget but this should lessen the number of strands to sew in after it's all said and done. Of course one could sew tails in as you go instead and that would give the same result. When there is more than one row of the same color it is nice too. Happy crocheting! Sandie
Well, it has begun and the beginning was not without its troubles! LOL (Reminder: This is my 2013 temperature ghan. I hope to do one for 2016 as well.) First color is canary. I chained 200 and was about to do another 50 when I hit a knot. A KNOT! I wanted to kill. I cut out the knot and started over. I finished the chain and did the first row of single crochet in the same color. Almost finished that one when ... a KNOT! A small one on one strand but still... I cut it out because that's how I am. I was not going to count another bunch of chains. I pulled a different skein but before I started to work with it noticed it was worsted not sport. *sigh* Picked the original skein up and was able to finish it. On to the next color - cornflower. I get to the end of that row and ... apparently the count was off by 1 - my bad. Rip that back and one chain and then redid that second row.
Went to work the third row which was to be purple and discovered the purple yarn I had was DK which should have worked with the sport but it looked considerably thicker and when working with single crochet that does make a difference, so I pulled a dark blue skein of Knit Picks Brava sport to use instead. (There are only 7 rows of that color anyway.) When I pulled from the center I got a tangled mess. I spent the next minutes trying to untangle it and finally left it to the next morning. Since I don't know how much yarn this afghan will take it was a guess when ordering so I don't want to waste any yarn! I am sincerely hoping the next 360+ rows are better! Now I do need to recount the stitches to have an accurate count in case I decide to use the same stitch for the next afghan. Done! Of course, we'll have to see how the width and length work for this ghan as well. I also hope to figure out how to not have 365 x 2 tails to weave in. :-) The foundation chain I've done is 226 for a total of 225 stitches. You're working (sc, ch 1, sk 1) so that requires 2 stitches, plus you need a final sc at the end. That means you need to end up with an odd number to work with so you need an even number for your foundation chain. You lose one chain for turning. That chain does not count as a stitch. You go into the very first stitch of the row when working single crochet. Does that make sense? I hope so. :-) As always, I'll keep you posted as I go along. Happy crocheting! Sandie
The purple hearts afghan is complete. Finished size is 34" x 48". I guess the edging didn't add to it or I measured it wrong. heh
The square pattern is the nursery hearts pattern by Leisure Arts. You can currently purchase it at Leisure Arts web site for $5.99 as a digital download. I am using Baby Bee Sweet Delights Sugarplum (purple) and BBSD Charming and BBSC Mint Charm. It's a #3 light weight yarn so I'm using a G hook. Each skein is 4 oz (115 gms) / 377 yards (345m). Coincidentally this yarn, like the Lion Brand DiYarn that I used for the alphabet and number afghans, is also made in Turkey. The Baby Bee is 60% acrylic and 40% polyamide. Each square was edged with Mint Charm, then assembled in columns with a whipstitch. I put a single crochet edging around each column after assembly then assembled the columns. Then I put the edging around the entire thing.
The edging is (sc, ch 2, 2 dc, sk 2) all the way around, with the Mint Charm. You'll notice I placed the sugarplum squares one way and the Charming squares the opposite way so you can use this ghan in either direction. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Happy crocheting! Sandie
Here's the little doll afghan. I call it a number dollghan. :-)
Here's the process for making a ghan such as this. 1) design pattern for numbers (already had this done) 2) choose yarns (leftovers from the alphabet afghan) 3) figure out what color to use for each number (write it down, you'll forget) 4) make squares (well, rectangles) using number chart, with a sc edging around each in same color, I used (2 sc, hdc, 2 sc) in corners for this one 5) sew in tails on squares now if you want to 6) choose color for edging around each square 7) edge each square with edging color (RHSS buff/beige in this case) using dc cross-stitch, leaving long strand for assembly 8) assemble squares in correct order in columns or rows (I chose columns) 9) edge each colum with single crochet, using whatever stitches needed to straighten at joins (I generally used hdc or dc) 10) assemble columns together using long strands 11) edge entire afghan in buff in single crochet 12) additional round of edging in peach (you can do as many rounds as you like using colors from the squares) 13) properly sew in any tails dangling 14) launder and snip any tails that poked out 15) gift to a sweet little girl I think I got all the steps in there. heh Particulars for this afghan... Yarn is the leftover DIYarn by Lion Brand. I used peach (3), aqua (2), sky (3), and teal (1). Each Lion Brand DIYarn skein is acrylic, 1.05 oz (30g) and 65 yards (60m). It is #4 worsted weight and made in Turkey. I used an I hook for the square bodies and an H hook for the edgings. Each square is about 6" x 7" before edging. Finished sizeof afghan is 24" x 26". It actually came out a bit larger than I was expecting. This would be a good size for a small receiving blanket. I guess a doll is baby sized so that works. :-) Next up, I think I've decided to leave the purple heart afghan at its present size so will edge the entire thing and sew in all the tails. When that is done, I will most likely start the temperature afghan. Happy crocheting! Sandie
I am back to the purple heart squares afghan. The square pattern is the nursery hearts pattern by Leisure Arts. It's a very popular pattern and one I've used many times. You can currently purchase it at Leisure Arts web site for $5.99 as a digital download. I decided to put half the squares right side up and the other half facing down so it can be turned either way. I am using Baby Bee Sweet Delights Sugarplum (purple) and BBSD Charming. It's a #3 light weight yarn so I'm using a G hook. I've edged 24 squares in green - 12 sugarplum and 12 charming - and assembled them. I have begun sewing in the tails which are cleverly hidden in the picture. :-) I left long tails on the green edging for assembly. That was tricky because I had to make sure the tail came out in the right place since half of them were to be assembled upside down. I succeeded in most cases.
The present size is about 34" x 48". Now here's the dilemma. I have 5 more squares made, ready to be edged and I have the yarn to do that and an edging around the entire afghan. That would make it approximately 42" x 48", more squarish. However, I don't have any more Sugarplum so I'd have to wait to get more of that if the local Hobby Lobby has some. On the other hand the size it is now is not a bad size for a crib afghan.
What to do oh what to do. Well, I'll do what I always do. Put it aside until I decide and work on something else. The something else will be a small doll blanket to go with the alphabet afghan. It will be the numbers 1-9. Problem there is that I don't have any more pumpkin and very little teal. I have plenty of peach and enough of the aqua and sky to make squares so it depends on how it goes. I may not put all the colors in the dollyghan. I also now have the yarn (except for freesia - I will probably substitute another color since there are only a few rows of that) for the temperature afghan. That will be started soon. As some may have heard, we've had an unexpected death in the family (in-laws). Prayers appreciated for the family. Happy crocheting! Sandie
