New Bernat Crochetalong - did you see this?

[jennyh]

Jenny, I'm using Bernat super value. I have a lot of it, and I want to use some of it up. I think there are others using worsted weight yarn as well. I think it will be fine as long as all your squares are the same size.

 

ja! i think i might try to score some super value at the end of the week and/or just try to use up my stash. I don't have the full amount of any of the colors though....so we'll just hafta see.

 

I'm using Super Value! I love Super Value, you won't have any problems substituting. A lot of people, here and on other forums, are using different yarns.

 

Join us!

 

hey cool! I've never used it, but for a value yarn, it seems pretty soft. seems softer than the caron one pound or the RHSS...

 

eeee! getting excited! this'll be my 2nd afghan....my first one isn't even done yet...

[marpan79]

I also like the bernat super value, I like the caron one pounds too, but really dislike the rhss

 

Jenny - You may just pass you're 1st afghan with the 2nd

[jennyh]

I also like the bernat super value, I like the caron one pounds too, but really dislike the rhss

 

Jenny - You may just pass you're 1st afghan with the 2nd

 

good to know

 

it is quite possible...hehe! so would that make my second my first and my first my second?

 

That reminds me of Flapjack...the cartoon. He's telling this joke that goes: "What did the candy say to the other candy when the first candy asked the second candy if the second candy would dance with the first one???".............

[angelfire]

However the written instructions on the webpage says that you work to the last two loops of the last stitch in the row, drop the working color and work the last yarn over and draw through the last two loops with the new color.

 

I've always changed colors according to the webpage instructions.

I have always changed with the last two stitches at the end of the row, I find with my style it tucks better and looks smoother, I guess I will see.

[Gardener]

The clue is up and we're doing stripes and using 4 colors. The instructions for how to change colors differ on the webpage and in the pattern. The pattern tells you to : Fasten off. Turn. 2nd row: Join C with sl st to first sc. However the written instructions on the webpage says that you work to the last two loops of the last stitch in the row, drop the working color and work the last yarn over and draw through the last two loops with the new color.

 

I've always changed colors according to the webpage instructions.

 

So which way will you be changing colors? And I'm thinking that 23 chains across X 17 rows is not going to be square- guess we'll see after work when I try this out.

I've always done it as the webpage instructs, but I may try both.

 

I'm fixated on all the ends that there will be to weave in on these squares! I will try to do it as I go, but sometimes I find that when there are a lot of color changes that doesn't always look the best.

[Gardener]

ja! i think i might try to score some super value at the end of the week and/or just try to use up my stash. I don't have the full amount of any of the colors though....so we'll just hafta see.

 

 

 

 

I don't think you would need as many skeins of the Super Value as you would need of the yarn the pattern calls for. There is a lot more yardage in the Super Value. I think you would need more yardage than with the chunky yarn in order to make 8 inch squares though.

I did have to buy two skeins of yarn, and I'm also using some Vanna's choice that I had in my stash.

[Gardener]

I just hoped that I assigned the colors well so they fall into a good pattern on the finished product

 

 

I am a little worried about this too. But since clue four is stripes, it ought to help pull things together. When we are finished with clue 4, we will have 1/4 of the squares finished already.

[nicolep]

Well, this won't be my favorite to crochet because of all of the tails to weave in from color changes. It sounds like it will be pretty though.

[Gardener]

I've done 6 rows of clue 4, and I'm already tired of weaving in ends. I'm finding it difficult to make the color changes look good too, especially on the sc rows. the edges of the row seem lumpy, no matter what I do. I've tried both methods, and decided to go with what seemed easiest to me.

[nicolep]

I've done 6 rows of clue 4, and I'm already tired of weaving in ends. I'm finding it difficult to make the color changes look good too, especially on the sc rows. the edges of the row seem lumpy, no matter what I do. I've tried both methods, and decided to go with what seemed easiest to me.

 

Which do you think is easiest for you? I'm trying to decide how I'm going to handle this one. I'll probably fasten off each color since we're changing colors each row. Typically, I would join in the last two loops of the stitch, but I fumble with the yarn when I do that a bunch.

[Gardener]

Nicole, I'm finding it easier to finish off a row, weave in the ends, and then start a new row with a slip stitch. (the other way just seems too time consuming and finicky, and it didn't always look right.) My way doesn't always look the best either, though. I think it's partly because there is only really one row to weave your ends into, since the color changes are so frequent. I think that it will be fine in the finished afghan, but I'm finding it sort of frustrating at the moment.

 

Well. off to the dentist.........

[nicolep]

Thanks for the tip, Cindy. Good luck at the dentist!

[jennyh]

I don't think you would need as many skeins of the Super Value

 

definitely! i noticed that the balls they call for are 3.5oz, and SV is 7. Maybe I'll take some of my bigger stash balls to the store with me and decide then...oooooh, I'm way too excited to sleep!

 

Think I'll hit up the craft store(s) tomorrow a.m., until then perhaps fleshing out my original crokitcase design. It's got a pocket for full size scissors!! woo!

 

first things first though--to not get too far off topic, I'll just say go check out the baby Show & Tell forum in about 20 minutes...

[Braxxi]

NOT liking this square!

 

I started off making one with a K hook and finishing off each row...it ended up the right width, but too long and WAY too many tails!

 

Then I switched to my J hook, added 2 chains at the start and carried the natural yarn through the whole square (stitching over top the natural on the colored rows and being careful not to pull the yarn too tight when "reattaching"). This square is the right width and just a little too long - maybe the height of one sc. So I think I'm sticking with the second method.

 

Is anyone else wondering if they are going to put a border around these squares at the end before putting them together?

[Gardener]

NOT liking this square!

 

I started off making one with a K hook and finishing off each row...it ended up the right width, but too long and WAY too many tails!

 

Then I switched to my J hook, added 2 chains at the start and carried the natural yarn through the whole square (stitching over top the natural on the colored rows and being careful not to pull the yarn too tight when "reattaching"). This square is the right width and just a little too long - maybe the height of one sc. So I think I'm sticking with the second method.

 

Is anyone else wondering if they are going to put a border around these squares at the end before putting them together?

 

I'm afraid mine is going to be too long too. I am considering changing the TC rows to DC. I wondered if it would work to just carry the natural color yarn along the sides. If I knit something that is striped, that's what I do.

 

And yes, I was wondering if the squares would be bordered.

[nicolep]

I thought about the whole border issue earlier myself. If we have to go in at the end of the CAL and put borders around 45 squares, I'm going to be ***** . I would hope, but I'm not confident on this point, that we would border them at the end of each clue as part of the pattern.

[marpan79]

Hey ladies

 

I have alot of the same concerns too I started my first square and used the finsh off method but feel the sc and hdc rows seem bulky on the ends since the end chains there didn't count as a stitch and the dc and tc rows do I'm going to finish through the square and see the outcome, but I'm hoping overall that once it's joined it will blend well I'm good with my width but havent completed the square yet to figure out how my length is coming I was also wondering about the whole bordering?

[imanurse55]

I'm getting ready to start and I read some of the comments on Ravelry. This is what some are commenting:

 

Someone worked rows 1-8 and then Repeat 2-9. Someone else just stopped at Row 7 on the repeat to get 8 inches.

Someone else changed row 4 and 8 from a Treble to a Double Crochet. I think this is

what I may try. I also may try Ch 25 as Braxi did. And although I usually change colors in the last loop, I'm going to see how it looks by fastening off each row as some of you have done.

 

Nicole- I sure hope that if we are doing a border it would be part of the pattern for each Clue!!!

 

Well off to try this out....I'll let you know how it goes! (that is if I don't lose my mind:lol:lol)

[marpan79]

Well, I just finished my first square but am not very happy with it I did rows 1-9 then 2-7 on the repeat which gave me 8 inches, which I like the look of by ending with the sc in the starting color so it's more symmetrical than if I still had extra tc and sc rows on the top, and I made 8 inches across with the original chain 23. I did the fastening off method of changing colors and on my next square will do it by pulling through since I'm not happy on this one already. I also think that having some turning chains count as a stitch and not others might be a cause of the edges looking the way they do so will keep it consistent whichever way I decide when I get that far

 

For now, I'm going to work on something a little more mindless while I watch tv, I've had enough concentration for one day

 

Wow, it looks even worse in the pic

[Gardener]

Marisa, it's not your square, its the pattern. I don't like mine at all either. Here is my clue 4. It really is square, I'm just a lousy photographer. I really don't care for this square at all. I don't like that big thick stripe in the center, and I think I'd like it more if the stripes were mirror images of each other from the center. However, I really disliked making it, and I am not re-doing this one. Three more to go....

I have decided that my chain 2's will count for HDC's. That weird hump the ch 2 makes at the beginning of the row looks really awful to me. I did the color changes in the second half of the square by pulling the new yarn through the loops of the last stitch. That looks a little better to me than starting a new row with a slip stitch.

I've been crocheting for quite a few years. If I am this frustrated with this square, I wonder what beginners are feeling about it? It's not that its hard, its just that the end result isn't very pleasing.

[Gardener]

Here are my four different squares together:

[nicolep]

Thanks for the pics, gals. I can't work on mine yet. I have to get my final color. I'll probably do all of that this weekend.

 

Regarding the square, your (Cindy & Marisa) squares do look good for the way it is written. Now that I see it together, I don't like the trebles. I think that's the problem. I'll probably change the trebles to DCs. It might help the size issues, too.

[imanurse55]

I'm with Cindy, Braxi and Marisa- I'm not liking this square!!!

 

I ended up using my I hook, did 25 ch instead of 23- it's a tiny bit over 8 inch W, I did not do the TR stitch on Row 4 and 8 - instead I did DC. I fastened off and don't like the way it looks, so the 2nd one I do I'm going back to the way I usually change colors.

 

I may try ch 23 with a J hook and see what happens. I also don't like that it is not "balanced" with 1 row of Color A at the beginning and 3 rows of Color A at the top.

 

And all those ends to weave in! This took way too much time for an 8 inch square!!! I crochet to relax!!! And I'm with Cindy- I'm not re-doing this one- it took too much of my time!! Too bad this clue wasn't for only 2 squares!

 

Well, I'm exhausted- so heading to bed. Night all!

[Gardener]

Joanne, I ended my square with just a single crochet row of color A, and not the three rows. Mine was just under 8 inches and I'm sure I can stretch it to 8. I didn;t care for the wide color A stripe in the top either. If it had been too short, I would probably added an extra row in the middle. (I measured my square when I got to the middle to see if I could get away without those last two rows.

 

And I agree...way too much effort for a lousy looking 8 inch square.

 

and Joanne, I can see that your colors are going to be wonderful together. Are those the colors the pattern calls for?

[imanurse55]

Joanne, I ended my square with just a single crochet row of color A, and not the three rows. Mine was just under 8 inches and I'm sure I can stretch it to 8. I didn;t care for the wide color A stripe in the top either. If it had been too short, I would probably added an extra row in the middle. (I measured my square when I got to the middle to see if I could get away without those last two rows.

 

And I agree...way too much effort for a lousy looking 8 inch square.

 

and Joanne, I can see that your colors are going to be wonderful together. Are those the colors the pattern calls for?

 

I'm using the colors the pattern called for except they didn't have "forest" so I'm using faded denim instead.

 

Since I already did the 3 rows of Color A at the top of the first square, do you think it would look silly if I changed it up a bit for the rest? I don't like the unbalanced look of it. So I was thinking of adding an extra row of color in the middle.