Granny Square Flower Afghan - Crochet

Today's project is working on as many of these squares as I can. My son Ryland is out of school the next two days, which mostly means I'll be too busy to get much done. It's okay though, because these busy days are the best days! 

Something that I am learning from Granny Squares is how to work on making my tension the same with each stitch. Because I have only been crocheting for about three weeks this is definitely something that I know I won't perfect over night. Yet, I still really wish I could! Ha! I found this patter on Pinterest as usual and thought that it looked like something I could manage. So far they are pretty simple to make and I'm glad that I chose this flower to do. The color palate from the original model was a more subdued and natural looking choice, but I have to work with what I already have. This means bright pink and yellow daisies with an aqua blue border and the join as you go border will be made with a dark purple yarn. It's looking pretty awesome so far, but that pink sure doesn't photograph well in unnatural light. 

So far I have these three squares complete, about 6 additional flowers and maybe another 15 centers created. The worst part so far is weaving in the ends of the yarn. It really is awful. Granny squares are just too classic and adorable to decide not to do them just because of a little annoyance with ends. Maybe. 

I've got so many projects going right now that I have to settle in and finish some of them before moving on to anything else. So let's see where we get with this blanket and see what I bring for you tomorrow. I'm thinking I can share a knit hat pattern with you. I made the kids each a hat to wear with their Halloween costumes. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

For the pattern and an excellent tutorial on how to make these lovely granny squares please visit THIS wonderful page by Tillie Tulip. She does beautiful work!

Happy Crafting

Liz

Feather and Fan - Knit Afghan

On this blog I plan to do a mixture of Crochet and Knit projects. I am currently very fascinated with the different textures and the ease of crochet, but since this blog site is Knits with Heart I thought I should begin with a knitting project that I have on the needles right now. Please forgive my pictures and their lack of professionalism. I have great hope that I will get better at this as my blog progresses.

The Feather and Fan knit stitch is one of my absolute favorites. I have used it for pretty much any project you can think of. My favorites are washcloths, scarves, and blankets. The blanket that I have to show you today is made from two strands  of worsted weight yarn strung together throughout. I briefly thought of using a bulky weight yarn, but I just don't think that really gives the timeless look I was going for with this afghan.

The pattern for Feather and Fan is very simple. It is cast on with a multiple of 18 stitches and worked in the rows as follows:

Row One: Knit

Row Two: Purl

Row Three: *Knit 2 Together* 3 times, *Yarn Over, Knit 1* 6 Times *Knit two together* 3 times.

Row Four: Knit

When I am not going to add an additional border to my work I add two extra stitches so that I can make a sort of border on the sides by slipping the first stitch knit-wise and purling the last stitch on every single row. When doing this you'll notice that it gives your work a nice braid on the edges instead of the normal uneven edging that comes with knitting.

It isn't the easiest to see the braiding in this picture, but it really looks nice on the finished project!

My project is worked with a cast on of 146 stitches, which means I worked 8 feather and fan sets and had an additional two stitches for my border. I used Impeccable worsted weight yarn in Aran. and a 40 inch circular bamboo needle in size 10.0 mm. A tip that I can give for working this pattern is that I place a stitch marker between each of my sets so that I am able to keep on track and if any mistake is made I figure it out while working that section instead of finding out that I have an error once I make it to the end of the row. There isn't much I dislike more than having to rip out knitting work. I as of yet have not completed this project, but it is working up to be a beautiful blanket.