Diagonal Granny Afghan

I was looking for something else - never mind what - when I came across this beautiful pattern! 
Lion Brand Yarn posts this as a wedding afghan. I also like the technique for alternating rows of complementary colors or making fewer squares for a baby blanket.



http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70346AD.html?r=1

Happy crafting,

Kathi Linz

Stashbusters - Granny Stripes and Granny Ripples

Now that you have all of your holiday gifts made, you probaby have some extra yarn lying around.  If you're like me, you have a PILE of yarn stuck in the corner just asking to be used up.

I keep an ice cream bucket or large pretzel jar to collect those tiny scraps of yarn that would otherwise drift to the bottom of the stash or unwind to make a huge tangled mess.  These small scraps make an excellent source when you want to put together a traditional granny square afghan or one of its variants like a hexagon granny.

 
Photos by Lion Brand Yarn

If your balls of leftover yarn are a little larger, you could use them up by crocheting a granny stripe or a granny ripple afghan.

Granny ripples are easy and look fancy.  You can use any combination of colors in any order.  You might want to organize the colors or just be random.  Both ways work beautifully.

Granny stripes are even easier.  You simply work the double-crochet clusters in a straight line.  You don't even have to count groups between peaks and valleys like you do with a ripple pattern. 

There are several good patterns for both types of afghans (and many others) on www.ravelry.com and www.crochetpatterncentral.com.

Happy stashbusting,

Kathi Linz

Crocheting in Summer

Sometimes I think that joining as you go is the best thing I've discovered about crochet in years and sometimes I don't.  When the heat index is above 100 degrees, holding an afghan on your lap resembles a warm form of torture. 

Summer seems to be the season for small pieces.  Maybe you can make the scarves and mittens for next winter or pile up the granny squares to join after the weather breaks.

There are all kinds of shapes possible in crochet.  Triangles, squares, rectangles, diamonds and hexagons fit nicely together to make a solid piece. 

If you make circles or octagons, you might need to make fill-in pieces to finish your afghan. Octagons match on four side with other octagons leaving a square opening at the diagonal sides. 

Here's a picture from Lion Brand Yarn showing what I mean:



You don't have to be stuck with squares if you think they are boring.  Try something new and see what grows from your hook.

Happy crafting,

Kathi

Two More Shawls

I finished two shawls in the last five days.  One is a simple V stitch which worked up very quickly. 

The other is partly granny square and partly granny stripe.  I discovered that granny stripe spreads out more than the squares do, so rows are wider than the squares.  I evened it out a little by adding a row of single crochet to the edge of the squares.

I hope to get pictures of the knitters in a couple of weeks and the crocheters after that, so we can post their projects as well.

Happy crafting,

Kathi





Granny Stripes

Lately, I have noticed that granny squares are changing their shape.  I'm finding granny circles, granny triangles, granny circles inside a square, and straight-line grannies.  I found two examples of elongated granny triangles made into shawls.

The premise is pretty much the same - use your stash yarn, if you wish, or organize your colors into a set pattern. 

You can find patterns for these designs at the usual places ( Ravelry, crochetpatterncentral, etc.), but I've also found that, if I put "granny stripes" into Google images, I can click on a picture I like and find the pattern on someone's blog.  Many times, the patterns at www.Ravelry.com or www.crochetpatterncentral.com are linked to those same blogs.

What I like about granny patterns is that you can use any sized hook and any kind of yarn you want.  Once you establish a set pattern, the work falls off of the hook without hardly a thought.  You can do them anywhere, anytime.

Maybe one of these new styles will catch your fancy.  I have a couple of projects in mind now that the end of summer is in sight.

Happy crafting,

Kathi

Quick and Easy Grannies

Looking for instant gratification? Go to www.lionbrand.com and enter "bulky granny" in the search bar. Here you will find some granny square patterns made with bulky yarn that work up in no time. Scrap yarn piling up? Make one of these with two or three strands held together. You'll be ready for the cooler weather on the other side of summer. (I know that's hard to believe right now) or have a head start on gifts for the holiday season.

Happy crafting.

Kathi