Working on the Graduation Afghan

Hello:

Since I returned from my trip, I have been cranking on the Graduation Afghan for my son, Pookie.   I started this afghan more than a year ago, but it sat in squares in a bag in my stash room from December until now.  I have to finish it before Pookie leaves for New Jersey on August 30th.

I am editing this post on August 21, 2013, because I have refined this DC Join.  If you would like to see the newer edition, go to Four Rows of Six Hooked Together.

I have been hooking the squares together with my new double crochet method into rows of 5 squares each. Then, hooking a row of double crochet along each long row.

Let me show what I mean.

I take 2 finished squares

and put them together wrong sides out.

Then I use locking stitch markers to hold them together at the middle, and at the 1/4 and 3/4 marks.

I begin with an air crochet in the corner of the top square.

Then I dc into the corner of the back square.

I dc in the front square, then in the back square alternating squares back and forth.

If there are too many stitches in one of the squares, I can hook 2 stitches together

this will help even out the stitches.  If I have planned ahead, I make sure all of the squares have the same number of stitches in the final round.  But with this afghan, it was rather haphazard.  The squares are all about 12 inches, but they can have very different numbers of stitches.

 This is what it looks like from the backside, when I have just finished.

I weave the ends in right away, through the ridge on the backside.

Flip the squares over to the right side, and smooth out the double crochets a bit, and this is what it looks like:

This method of joining is especially helpful if you want to add a few inches to your afghan.

Each one of these dc joins adds about 1 inch.  (I'm a fairly loose hooker.) 

Here are the 3 rows I have finished laid out together on the floor.

You can see the rows of white dc that frame the top and bottom of each 5 square row.  I will probably use light blue yarn to hook the rows all together.

I have 2 more rows hooked that need their borders, and one complete row to first make.  I am on track to finish this afghan easily before Pookie leaves for school.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with a new join.