Learn to Knit Afghan

Karen's Square 43

2010-10-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

I finished Square 43 some time ago but haven't got around to posting here until now...

Karen's Square 32 (substitute)

2010-10-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

I finally surrendered and decided I can't do the purl left twist stitch... I did an alternate square instead. It is called mock cables and was found online (I can't figure out how to post a link here...)

Krystal's LTK 40

2010-08-04T11:48:00.001-07:00

I substituted this one - I used Dolora Kowalczyk's "Mother's Love Motif" available on ravelry.

Donna's Square 30

2010-07-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

This one wasn't too hard to do. It was pretty quick and easy.

Donna's Square 29

2010-07-10T12:59:00.001-07:00

Here is square 29. This one went pretty quickly for me. I didn't end up needing the last repeat though. And the pattern was pretty easy once you got the hang of it.

Donna's Square 28

2010-07-10T12:57:00.001-07:00

Here is square 28. This one wasn't too hard to do either. The twists aren't too bad once you get used to them.

Donna's Square 27

2010-07-10T12:53:00.001-07:00

Here is square 27. I really like the look of this one. It's pretty neat.

Donna's Square 26

2010-07-10T12:50:00.001-07:00

Here is number 26. I finished it some time ago. It wasn't that hard to do if I remember correctly.

Krystal's Square 42

2010-07-08T16:25:00.001-07:00

I'm interested to see both how you're going to sew a zigzag seam into a square slot and how muich of the zigzag you see once you do so. Otherwise a great pattern to do because it's easy to remember. I'm not a big fan of ripples, but I imagine there are many varieties of a ripple that will use up scraps!

Krystal's Square 41

2010-07-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

(Yes, I skipped 40 - I have a replacement to do, but it's not done yet)

I liked 41. easy to remember, easy to do, and would make a nice cloth, I think!

Krystal's Square 39

2010-07-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I like LTK 39 a lot. The seed stitch on the outside helps it lay nice and flat.

Krystal's Square 38

2010-07-08T16:13:00.002-07:00

This one is quite neat. It really shows off how bold cables can be, while still being elegant. Not too hard to do.

Krystal's Square 37

2010-07-08T16:10:00.001-07:00

I had nothing really against square 37 other than it looked similar to others, so I did this one instead. I thought the picture square was sort of neat. :D

Krystal's Square 36

2010-07-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

I really like the outcome on this one. I can see it being a panel on an aran afghan and being gorgeous! It wasn't too hard to do, either.

Krystal's Square 26

2010-06-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never posted this one... LOL

I don't remember much about it, but it was quick to do and easy to remember the pattern.

Sherri's Afghan

2010-06-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

For the border I opted to use Priscilla Hewitt's Blanket Binding Afghan Edging. I changed the final sc round to just slip stitches as I was happy with the width at that point. The afghan is quite large and is shown on a full size bed. This blanket has been quite the learning adventure.

Sherri's Final Assembly

2010-06-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

All that is left at this stage is to add the border. Before then, I wanted to talk a bit about joining the squares together and the design layout.

Different joining methods are briefly mentioned in the book, leaving the knitter to choose which they might like the best. The original afghan was put together in a striped diagonal setting.

I knew before beginning this project that I wanted an Around the World setting. Because all of the large scale two-color patterned blocks were worked in two shades of pink, I opted to edge each square with 2 rounds of single crochet before joining. To make the blocks read the lighter pink I edged the square in that color. To make them read as the darker color, I used the darker yarn. Each of my squares have 33 single crochet stitches along the sides and 3 stitches in each corner for the first round. The second round has 35 stitches along the sides and 3 stitches in each corner. The two color yellow/gold squares were edged in gold and the solid color blocks were edged in whichever color they were knit. I used a size H hook for the crocheting. I then sewed the blocks together through all single crochet loops.

Sherri's Assembly Continued

2010-06-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

Sherri's Assembly

2010-06-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 63

2010-06-28T20:30:00.001-07:00

The last block in the book is Increasing Seamless Square. Unlike the previous block which was knit from the outside in and in stockinette, this block is knit from the center out and in garter stitch.

Beginning a square on dpn's (double pointed needles) is also a bit awkward. But after about 4 rounds it gets easier.

Sherri's Square 62

2010-06-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Decreasing Seamless Square was a little disconcerting for me at first. This is one of the blocks in which you need circular needles and also stitch markers. You will cast on however many stitches are in the outer most round, and then proceed to decrease until you reach the center.

Sherri's Square 61

2010-06-28T20:17:00.001-07:00

The block on the right is called Parquet Squares. It was an easy block to knit, however, it ended up being quite a bit larger than all my other blocks. Instead of hunting for smaller needles or doing the math for smaller sections, I decided I would find a suitable replacement. The block on the left is titled Pinstripes and is from Jan Eaton's 200 Knitted Blocks. It was a sloooow knit. Lots of slip stitches.

Sherri's Square 60

2010-06-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

This one is called Short-Row Stripes. If you look closely you will see tiny holes where I did not "wrap" my stitches. Make sure you read the directions that come after the Row information in the book. I think it is on the following page. I did not and therefore, the block is not as nice looking as it could be.

Short rows are what gives the heel of a sock it's shape, or how you make knitting fit over a curvy shape. This block does not lie flat. There are little mounds of pink and magenta in my blanket.

Sherri's Square 59

2010-06-28T20:08:00.001-07:00

Dip-Stitch Check

Sherri's Square 58

2010-06-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Blister Stitch

Sherri's Square 57

2010-06-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Star Stitch is a really nice textured pattern.

Sherri's Square 56

2010-06-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

This is Elkhorn and Fleurettes.

Sherri's Square 55

2010-06-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is Single-Strand Lace.

Sherri's Square 54

2010-06-28T19:48:00.001-07:00

This is the Seafoam Pattern. It you are not fond of lacey/holey blocks you might want to find a substitute block. As you can see from the picture on the left, knitting the required number of repeats does not give you an 8 inch square. The picture on the right shows what the pattern looks like blocked. (sort of) It actually looks nicer in the finished afghan than just pinned to the carpet. I've seen some beautiful scarves made in this stitch, but I will just admire them for the beauties they are. I can't say that I was particularly fond of knitting this one, but I am keeping it in my blanket.

Sherri's Square 53

2010-06-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

This square is called Bumblebee. Again, I don't remember much about knitting it, but I certainly like the finished product.

Sherri's Square 52

2010-06-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

Lace Diamonds is the name of this block.

Sherri's Square 51

2010-06-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

This one is called Faggoting and Fancy Rib.

Sherri's Square 50

2010-06-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

I find this Arrowhead Mesh block very cool.

Sherri's Square 49

2010-06-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

I did all of the lace patterns such a long time ago that the only thing I remember was how difficult I found them..

This one is called Tilted Trellis.

Sherri's Square 48

2010-06-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

The Vine Leaf is a very pretty square knitted up. However, if I were to make this square again, I would add a little bit of a moss stitch pattern on the outside edges.

Sherri's Square 47

2010-06-18T06:44:00.001-07:00

Isn't this cute? The hardest thing about knitting the Inchworm pattern is trying having making 7 stitches from one. With a little practice it does get easier though.

Sherri's Square 46

2010-06-18T06:41:00.001-07:00

The reverse fern stitch wasn't too bad, but either I didn't do something correctly or the angle of my photo is off The pattern doesn't quite look like the one in the book which appears more like leaves.

Sherri's Square 45

2010-06-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed knitting the Bobble and Leaf square very much.

Sherri's Square 44

2010-06-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

The first few rows of the Cocoon Stitch would make a nice edging for either a blanket or a little girl's sweater.

Sherri's Square 43

2010-06-14T19:33:00.001-07:00

Sherri's Square 42

2010-06-14T19:32:00.001-07:00

Sherri's Square 41

2010-06-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 40

2010-06-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 39

2010-06-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 38

2010-06-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 37

2010-06-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 36

2010-06-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 35

2010-06-14T19:23:00.001-07:00

Sherri's Square 34

2010-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 33

2010-06-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Sherri's Square 32

2010-06-14T19:19:00.001-07:00

Sherri's Square 31

2010-06-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

Karen's Square 42

2010-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

My ripple square. This one will be something else to attach... And I thought all the missmatched square sizes was going to be tricky. How to make a ripple fit in??

It was quick and easy to make though!

Karen's Square 41

2010-06-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

This one could hypnotize me if I look at it for too long! It was very quick and easy to do!

Karen's Square 40

2010-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

The last cable square - with the common boo-boo... Another square with a boo-boo... Oh well!

Karen's Square 24

2010-06-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Square number 24 is complete and now I am caught up!

Karen's square 21

2010-06-01T04:04:00.000-07:00

I love this square!! It is so pretty!! Now that I have posted the picture I realize I made a boo-boo along the way. I must have slipped with the yarn on the wrong side or knit (or purled) everything as I have no little white spots in that solid blue row... More character :)

Karen's square 23

2010-06-01T03:58:00.000-07:00

This one was fun to do once I figured out the drop stitch!

Karen's Square 20

2010-06-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

Getting caught up! This was fun to do once I figured out the stitches! This one should have been pinned down a bit but I was too lazy to find the package of pins...

Karen's Square 16

2010-06-01T03:44:00.001-07:00

Last mosiac!!!

Karen's Square 15

2010-06-01T03:38:00.001-07:00

Second last mosiac...

Karen's Square 39

2010-05-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Second last cable square. This one I also like :)

Karen's Square 38

2010-05-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

This one I like :) I thought it was fun to do!

Karen's Square 37

2010-05-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Another one complete. I don't quite like this one too much. It seems a bit untidy...

Karen's Square 36

2010-05-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

This one was OK. Mine does not seem to show the detail as much as the picture inthe book does but it was fairly easy to make.

Karen's Square 35

2010-05-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

I don't really like this square. Oh well it was good to learn the technique though...

Karen's Square 34

2010-05-18T04:12:00.001-07:00

The second cable square. I started learning how to do cables without a cable needle and after a bit of practice it makes things much quicker for me!! If you haven't tried it yet check for instructions online!

Karen's Square 33

2010-05-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to posting some squares I have completed... As with most of my squares there is a boo boo here... Every square has some character :)

Krystal's Square 35

2010-04-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

I don't really like all the cable-y stuff... it looks good, but a pain to do. I messed up on one side of one row, but it's not as obvious as I thought it would be. This is in buff even though it looks like Aran in the pic.

Tracy's square 25

2010-03-27T12:35:00.001-07:00

I finished square 25 and it was pretty easy. The photo doesn't show up the curves too well, though.

Krystal's LTK34

2010-03-18T05:37:00.001-07:00

This is in buff, even thought the color looks goofy. I had to add only a couple extra rows to get it to the right length, but not enough that it messed with the pattern. I liked this one, you only had to look out for R4 and R12 when knitting.

Christi's square #2

2010-03-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

This is my square number 2. I still have to block it, it wants to curl so bad! Almost done with #3. Everyone is moving along so fast and your squares look fantastic!

Tracy's square 24

2010-03-16T02:05:00.000-07:00

This one was interesting to knit and I quite enjoyed it.

Tracy's square 23

2010-03-16T02:03:00.000-07:00

Finished this a while ago, I think this one was fun.

Krystal's LTK 33

2010-03-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is in buff. I only had to do one extra row, but I should have bound off the seed stitch with knits on the purls and vice versa. Otherwise, the square was good. To do the cables, I just slipped my stitches onto my tapestry needle, knit the next three, then slipped the stitches back onto my left needle. I don't like cable needles or dpns as they are too long for me to work easily. If I could have found my metal tapestry needle, I would have just knit right off the needle.

Cindy's Square 33

2010-03-10T15:42:00.001-08:00

This was a relatively easy square to knit, although I did find making cables to be kind of awkward. I made a mistake in the middle and crossed one of my cables in the wrong direction. Still, I like this square.

Cindy's square 32

2010-03-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

I had a terrible time keeping track of where I was with this pattern, but I like the way it turned ou.

Krystal's LTK 32

2010-03-08T06:43:00.001-08:00

Again, the ktbl edging. The picture actually makes my purl twists look better than they do in real life. (Good thing)

I found the trick to the Tw3 in the middle was to keep the original loops in their diagonal until you're completely done. That doesn't make sense, but I don't know how to explain it better.

Krystal's LTK 31

2010-03-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

I really liked the outcome of this one. I like the ktbl edging on the left and right. If I ever do a scarf, I will put it in my scarf!

Krystal's LTK 30

2010-03-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

This one was simple and straightforward. I chopped off some of the stitches on each end so that it came out the right width. I like this one: simple and neat.

Cindy's square 31

2010-02-27T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here is square 31, not really difficult to knit, but I had an awful time keeping track of where I was in the instructions. I finally got the odd number rows memorized, but not the others.

Christi's Square 1

2010-02-26T15:04:00.002-08:00

This is my first square, I am really thinking of my Grandma a lot while I do this. A most pleasant experience!! Thanx for talking me into this. My colors are Buff for sand, Windsor Blue for Lake Michigan, Dark Sage for trees and Light Blue for the sky.

Karen's square 31

2010-02-20T11:48:00.001-08:00

Square 31 is now complete. My LT are still not so nice but it will have to do...

Karen's Square 30

2010-02-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

Square 30 is now complete. I like this one (even with the LT) My LT though do not have the same nice appearance as the RT... Oh well...

Krystal's Square 29

2010-02-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

This one seemed to take forever, because you're doing a million stitches and then they shrink up. It's nice and thick, though.

Krystal's Square 28

2010-02-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

I really liked this one. It was too short, so I picked up stitches and did a 1/2" on each end of seed stitch. I figured I'd get it to size now rather than wait.

Krystal's Square 27

2010-02-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

bad picture. This is in buff, and I did it looser, so you can't see the stitch definition as well.

Sherri's Square 30

2010-02-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

This one was really quick even with the LT stitches. I got it done in one day, but it was the only thing I accomplished.

Sherri's Square 29

2010-02-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

This one was a bit boring to knit. I just did a half repeat everyday until it was done.

Sherri's Square 16

2010-02-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Missed getting this one posted.

Cindy's Square 30

2010-02-03T12:35:00.001-08:00

Another easy to knit square. It really is square too, I am just a lousy photographer.

Cindy's Square 29

2010-02-03T12:31:00.001-08:00

This was a very easy pattern to knit, and it makes a very thick square. I am wondering how it will work, putting squares of all these different thicknesses together.
It is not as wonky as it looks, I got tired of sticking pins into it to straighten it out.

Karen's square 29

2010-01-28T18:32:00.001-08:00

I made this one smaller than suggested or it would have been huge... I cast on 45 or 46 stitches and did five repeats instead of six... I found it fairly quick to do but I didn't like this one. It curls (note the number of pins holding this puppy down...)

Square 3 -Julie

2010-01-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Here is my square 3. Took some doing,since I messed it up and had to take part of it out a few times, but finally figured out how to fix it and get it finished .

On to number 4 .

Julie- Square 2

2010-01-26T06:18:00.000-08:00

Here is my Square 2 . So far, so good, nothing too hard yet. I thought the color changes would be hard, but on these they are simple .

The photo is sideways, but you get the point .

Julie - 1st Square

2010-01-26T06:12:00.000-08:00

This is my Square #1 . I think you all have seen it on the boards already, but will try getting them posted on this page today .

Cindy's Square 28

2010-01-23T16:32:00.001-08:00

even though I had to knit those left twists in this one, I really enjoyed seeing the design show up as I was knitting.

Cindy's Square 26

2010-01-23T16:30:00.001-08:00

Cindy's Square 27

2010-01-23T16:27:00.001-08:00

I like this design, but I didn't like knitting it much. I find the LT to be very awkward.

Karen's square 28

2010-01-22T15:30:00.001-08:00

I like this square! The stitches were not too bad although my twists are not the most even in tension...