FINISHED! An Afghan in 3 Months

Hello:

I have finished my Transfiguration OWL Afghan, WITH a border.  I used the beautiful Eight Pointed Flower Square by Julie Yeager.

The challenge was to "vanish over 2,400 yds of yarn."  I hooked up a square and weighed it to get an idea of how much yarn I was using per square ( about 124 yds), then multiplied that by 20 squares.  Already I had 2480 yds of yarn.  That didn't include the yarn to sew everything together, or the border rows.  I would easily make the required yardage.

The next part of the challenge was to learn and incorporate a new technique in the making of the afghan.  I learned a new method of starting and then joining crocheted rounds, Air Crochet. It is absolutely beautiful.  It really makes the joins invisible. Now that the Winter Term is almost over, I should have a bit more time (when I am not frantically knitting socks for Sock Madness), so I hope to do a demonstration of the technique here.  Though, if you follow the link I gave, you can just learn it that way.  It takes more time because you have to completely finish off every round.  And, that means a lot more weaving in.  I think it is worth it in the professional look of the finished product.

Because I know I have a problem with finishing, I made myself state in my OWL proposal that the half-way mark would include 12 squares, SEWN TOGETHER.  This was probably the smartest thing I could have done.  Every time I finished 4 squares, I ... sewed them together.  Then, I ... sewed that row to the rest of the afghan.  It is amazing how little finishing work you have to do if you finish as you go.  I don't know why I avoid this with knitting and crochet.  I mean, when I cook, I always clean as I go.  I put away ingredients as I use them so that when I am ready to pop what ever I am making in the oven, or sit down to eat, there is very little clean up.  Because of the new start/join technique (air crochet), I was weaving in each round as I finished it.  That meant that the only weaving in I had to do was the sewing ends.  Again, I did that as I sewed.  When I started the border rows yesterday, I had only to sew in the last row's ends.  There was no dreaded feeling in my stomach when I started the first border row because I knew I had NO OTHER ENDS left to sew in.

One other good thing about this afghan.  I often wing the colors of crochet squares as I go.  Because you have to submit a plan for your OWL before you start, I had to really think about the plan of each square, what colors I was going to use, and how I was going to hook it together.  I think you can see a bit of the two rugs in the above photo that inspired the colors.  Also, it was really nice to have made a plan in advance of how I would rotate the various color combinations.  If you look closely though, you will see one random variation of the color scheme.  I had to throw one odd square in, just for fun.  It was completely spontaneous.  I can only change so much.

Here is what the back looks like:

 

I would like to thank the designer of the square, Julie Yeager, for such a beautiful design.  I think it takes a strong square to make an entire afghan, and not look boring.  This square allows for so many color combinations. 

A complete success.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with a new afghan.

Please, Help Me Decide How to Join These Squares

Hello:

For my OWL (a project that should take 3 months) for the HPKCHC, I am making a 20 square afghan.  Each square will be 12 x 12 inches and there will be some type of boarder. 

I have made many afghans over the years, but given them ALL away, except for the one I made as my wedding gift to my husband which is on our bed though looking a bit thin after 30 years and many washings (our cats love to sleep on it ...)  We really need some nice afghans for both the living room and our TV room (that's what we call the family room).

I have been so inspired by the BAMCAL group I am in (it's the 2013BAMCAL this year).  I loved almost all of the squares we made last year, but I didn't want to make a sampler, so I went back over the squares I made as I was hooking together Himes's ghan, and chose a few to think about.  Then I took a really good look at the rug in the living room, and decided to make Julie Yeager's Eight Pointed Flower with LOTS of color changes.

The OWL prompt I chose is for Transfiguration, and it is to Vanish a large amount of yarn.  For crocheters, that means 2,400 yds.  I used about 124 yds for each square I made last summer, so if I make 20 squares, I will already be over the minimum at 2483 yds, even without the crocheted border.

 For the OWL to be accepted, you have to do a bunch of preparation and submit a real project proposal.  I NEVER do this type of thing.  Honestly, I always just wing it.  I make afghans without making sure I have enough yarn, and if I run out and can't find the right color, I just add a new color.  My stripes are always random.  And so on.  I had to be really disciplined this time. I was not very exact with my squares last year, and few are really 12 x 12, but this square was right on.  I knew if I had gauge, I could be sure my squares were the right size if I followed the rounds I added on to make my 2012BAMCAL squares.  I actually made a little "template"  so I could decide color changes in advance, and have some uniformity and plan to it all.

The pointy things are supposed to represent the petals.  I am working with an old version of Paint, so cut me some slack.  I was able to use the fill tool and find some colors that were close to colors in my rug to make up some possible color combinations.

One of the other really cool things about this OWL is that you have to use a new technique.  I asked in one of the Gryffindor chat threads, and someone suggested Air Crochet, Paperclip method, and invisible seaming.

I already use the seaming method (more on that in a bit), but both Air Crochet and the Paperclip method of starting rounds were new to me.  I will not try to explain them here, but might do a tutorial in the future.  Anyway, WOW!  I can't believe how much neater my squares look with these techniques.  Air Crochet is an especially neat way to start a round with a new color, and finish that color off at the end of the round.  The  Paperclip method is much like an Air Crochet beginning, but since you are not changing color, it shows how to finish that round and then continue on to the next round with the same color.  Honesty, sometimes I can not find where I began a round.  Also, I often can't find the final join. 

So far I have finished 2 squares.

I need to seam as I go.  First because I don't want a ton of seaming at the end.  But, secondly, I put in my proposal that the 50% mark would be 12 squares finished and seamed.  The last 50% will include the border, so I wanted to be ahead with the number of squares at 50%. 

The question is, how to seam them?  Usually, I make all of my squares have the same color border, then seam with that color.  But I don't want to do this.  I am going to use the navy and the claret in alternating squares, and I want a third color for the seam, I think... So, I was thinking the beige, or perhaps the olive green for the seam color.  Most likely the beige.  Should it show?  or should I just do an invisible seam and have the blue meet the claret?

This shows the squares seamed together with the seam showing:

and up close:

This is the backside, or what it would look like if the seams were invisible from the front:

I had planned to make the final rounds of each square a sc (single crochet) round.  But now I am wondering if that round will get lost with the seam.  Hmm, maybe I should make the pentultimate round sc and the last round hdc (half-double crochet).  That would make them just a bit wider, and then they would show up better with the seaming.  I think I will make my 2nd pair of squares that way, and compare the two sets.

I would really appreciate any input.  Again, I am leaning towards having the seams show.  This is a pretty busy afghan, so why not make it even busier?


Peace,
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with afghan squares.