The stitch pattern is called Ocean Swells and the book it is found in is: Crochet: The Complete Guide by Jane Davis. ISBN: 9780896896970. This is a book of stitch patterns (not patterns of finished objects), so figuring out how to get the stitch pattern into a full size afghan took some thinking and some calculating, then finally crocheting, and ripping out, and crocheting again. At last, I got it down. It was exciting to watch it grow.
Well...as it turns out, December is a terrible time to begin a large crochet project of a new pattern. Especially if the pattern is the least bit challenging. Especially if you want to give it as a Christmas gift. But I gave it all I had. For weeks, I crocheted. And ripped out mistakes. And crocheted some more. It was, I think, less than a week before Christmas when I finally realized that I could crochet every free hour I had and I was not going to be able to complete this blanket in time. So I quit.
Well...I didn't exactly quit, but I freed myself of the expectation that I would finish in time for Christmas. I took it slower and enjoyed the process instead of frantically crocheting my fingers off. And I enjoyed that last week before Christmas - promising never again to put off starting such a large project until December.
I finished it after the New Year and decided that it would instead, make a great birthday gift for my mother-in-law. Good thing I had let go of the idea of it being a Christmas gift, because much to my dismay it needed blocking when it was finished. I've never before had to block an afghan so I don't know whether it was the Brava yarn or the pattern that make this afghan not lay smoothly. While I've blocked small objects, blocking a blanket was new to me. And of course, I procrastinated. Once I bit the bullet, though, it wasn't so hard. It was just big. And blocking did the trick. YAY!
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Yes, I know it's not laid out smooth in the picture, and the pretty top and bottom edges don't show, but blocking really opened up this, almost, lacy pattern. Someday, maybe, I think I'll try this pattern in another yarn to see if it behaves differently.
Finally, it was ready to go and I'm happy to say it was a hit!
Happy Birthday, Mom B!
Beautiful work,loved the pattern so much I ordered Jane Davies book thank you so much for posting info
ReplyDeleteI am getting ready to make this pattern as a straight shawl. Do you remember what size hook you used for your afghan?
ReplyDeleteLooking back at my project notes, I see I used a size H hook, but my yarn was a thin worsted yarn (Knit Picks Brava). Normally, with a worsted weight yarn, I use a size I or J even. It just depends on the thickness of the yarn. Sometimes it's trial and error picking the right size hook, but your yarn label will help you know where to start.
DeleteHi there, beautiful work. Did you give your blanket a border?
ReplyDeleteThank you! I did not give this blanket a border. Since the top and bottom were curvy, there was really no way to do a border all the way around. I didn't try to do a border on the sides only. In retrospect, a crab stitch border on the sides might have been worked, but it was fine without a border.
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