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Ocean Breeze Afghan in Homespun

pplcrochets

By pplcrochets
in Afghans

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pplcrochets Apprentice

pplcrochets

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Thanks to the UFO CAL - wonderful bunch of supportive people!, I finished my sister's christmas gift - uh, for 2005 - but she's willing to take it this year, too :lol

 

OceanBreeze3Cpresize.jpg

 

It's wide enough but not quite long enough for a twin bed. Nice afghan size (can you tell I forgot to actually measure it?).

 

Lessons Learned (probably only of interest to those who might want to make this, skip otherwise): Homespun is lots of fun, as long as you use a big enough hook. This is the Ocean Breeze Afghan from Afghans in Just a Day, (can't find book number, will edit later to add). It uses a Q hook, 2 strands together, and calls for 6 skeins of Homespun. I'd make sure you have at least 7 and maybe 8 - I used 6.5, and since you use two strands simultaneously, you might need to start the 8th skein towards the end (or use the outside end of the 7th skein). I had only 15" left of skein 6...that's 15" away from starting a new skein:eek Took 1.5 hours first session (ran out of yarn), 8 next session, and 1.5 to finish (=border). I knotted old strand to new strand as a skein ran out and worked over the ends as I went - plan to use fray spray to control any extra wispies. With the double strand, the knots aren't visible, and hopefully won't be apparent in feel, either. By luck, the skeins I started with weren't equal in size, so one ran out before the other. Meant that I never had to join two strands in the same place; skein joins were always staggered (major reason I got away with the knotted joins). I'll try to make sure my initial skeins are like this for the next one I make, and for any double strand pattern. Not sure I'd try the knot joins in a single strand pattern, though.

 

On the pattern itself, for the first few rows, I didn't read carefully enough, and was crocheting into the specified dc stitch, instead of into the space it arched over - meant the row had more visual holes, but otherwise, no biggie. Didn't affect the overall appearance much. Secondly, when I put on the border, I thought I followed the pattern correctly, but must have miscounted. When you start the 3rd row of the border, it calls for slip stitching around to the right dc to start the border pattern. Wherever this puts you, just make sure that it is the middle dc of the current corner. I didn't know that the first stitches of round 3 were designed as corner ones, and so when I came around to finish, this last corner doesn't quite look right; the corner stitches are actually more on the side than the corner and thus frame, not extend out from the corner. Not very fixable when you find this out (after you've put the entire border on) unless you frog the entire border (ummm.... nah:no ). If I'd known what purpose those first stitches served, I'd have known where they ought to go, despite where my counting said they should. Another issue regarding the border: the first round is to seal the edges and give you something to work into for later rounds. I always find sealing row edges a challenge, although this pattern gave instructions on where each stitch was to go. For whatever reason, I ended up with one additional stitch for each side. In row 3, that meant I had to finagle the stitch just before each corner to make up for the extra stitch. pattern calls for skipping 2 dc's between each border "flower" except at the corner, where you skip 3. I skipped 3 before corner as called for, and 3 before the stitch just before the corner (where I accounted for the extra stitch). Minor adjustment, really; just included here for completeness. Otherwise, I found the pattern worked out just as stated.

 

The resulting afghan is very soft, somewhat weighty, floppy, and quite warm - I fell asleep finishing the border!

 

additional pics:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/pplcrochets/UFO%20CrochetAlong/OceanBreeze15Cpresize.jpg color shows better in the sunlight

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/pplcrochets/UFO%20CrochetAlong/OceanBreeze18Cpresize.jpg border "flower" detail

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/pplcrochets/UFO%20CrochetAlong/OceanBreeze8Cpresize.jpg body stitch detail

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/pplcrochets/UFO%20CrochetAlong/OceanBreeze7Cpresize.jpg corner detail (not the messed up one!)

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cupcake Rising Star

cupcake

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That is simply lovely. You must feel happy that it is finished! The wool looks so lovely and soft, and such pretty colour. Well Done!

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Roli Community Regular

Roli

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Wow, thanks for that thorough explanation! Your afghan turned out very well despite some of your problems. You can't even tell that the corner stitches are a little off. Homespun can be very forgiving because it is so thick and bumpy. Beautiful color too.:)

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pplcrochets Apprentice

pplcrochets

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Wow, thanks for that thorough explanation!
:eek too wordy, huh? (I knew it....- that'll teach me to post so late at night)
Your afghan turned out very well despite some of your problems. You can't even tell that the corner stitches are a little off. Homespun can be very forgiving because it is so thick and bumpy. Beautiful color too.:)

 

Thank you all for all the kind words - it feels great to get something off the UFO list and onto the FO. working on the next one, now... (but what will I stress over when they're all done? - Hey, I know! I can join more CALs! :badidea)

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