I finished my first knitted afghan! Happy day! I omitted one knitted block because there was no room for it. The blue rectangle sort of complicated the layout but I was determined to make it a part of the afghan. Luckily, I had two blocks (crochet) that fit after some fudging.
Many years ago I bought yarn to crochet these blocks and make an afghan. However, the blocks were soooo time consuming! First you crochet a strip from each color, than you weave the strips, pin them and crochet the border. I only made three blocks before I gave up… When it was time to learn to knit afghan blocks I pulled out all the old yarn.
Instead of knitting blocks and rows together, I wanted to crochet them. I found a tutorial on YouTube on how to join the blocks so they lay flat and do not have a ridge around them as most granny square afghans do. If you notice on the picture above, the stitches form a zigzag – I love it!!!
Once I joined the blocks, then the rows as we do in quilting, I did a row of single crochet around the project, then one row of double crochet. I used a large crochet hook (US size 11, 8 mm), my regular yarn plus Cello Sensations for its fuzzyness. Blankets usually have a satin binding, so I wanted this one to have a soft edge, too.
The afghan we were learning had 24 blocks. Mine will be turned into at least two. This one will be a gift to my niece Amanda who just got into college. The weather is cooling down for Winter in Brazil, so the afghan will come at a perfect time as there is no heating in residences or anywhere over there.
The next one will be for her sister, Soraia, and I will start it as soon as I have a chance to return to knitting class, probably sometime in August.
In the meantime, what have you been up to?
Neat! I like the patterns and the colors
this is so pretty! L
Beautiful blanket Denise. I'll go check out that uTube tutorial, thanks.
hi love your blanket, and was interested in your post on knitted socks, I have just finished my second pair of socks, though my big love is quilting.