Please help with a border suggestion for a too narrow afghan

[mom2boys]

I am crocheting a ripple afghan for my uncle with Navy( 1 ball of Canadiana ) , Dark Grey(almost 0.5 balls ) , and white(5 rows) yarn starting with 183 chain. Somehow because of the way I crochet too tight the afghan is only 35" wide. Could you please suggest ways to crochet the border to kind of widen the afghan? I started a few rows in navy and it was too narrow, this is my second attempt and the length of the afghan is now about 37" and I'm running out of time and can't crochet another one ! My neighbour used the same 183 chains to start and her afghan is a few inches wider! Also, should I crochet a border in navy ? I have 10 balls of navy, 5 balls of dark grey and only 1 ball of white yarn however, I can buy more yarn.

 

Please help !!! :thinkThank you very much for all your suggestions!

[RelicRaider]

In the past when I made a blanket that was too narrow, I didn't try a border to widen it. I added rows on the beginning chair (going in the opposite direction from the original crocheting). That way, you can keep in your color pattern and not make it longer while trying to add width, which would continue to make it look narrow. And I so hope that made sense. lol I'm not sure how else to explain it.

 

As for what color to do a border in, I'm not sure. If the blue would look ok, since you have more of it, I would go with that one.

 

Hope that helps and didn't confuse you.

 

Heather

[mom2boys]

In the past when I made a blanket that was too narrow, I didn't try a border to widen it. I added rows on the beginning chair (going in the opposite direction from the original crocheting). That way, you can keep in your color pattern and not make it longer while trying to add width, which would continue to make it look narrow. And I so hope that made sense. lol I'm not sure how else to explain it.

 

As for what color to do a border in, I'm not sure. If the blue would look ok, since you have more of it, I would go with that one.

 

Hope that helps and didn't confuse you.

 

Heather

Thank you very much for your reply! I'm so sorry but I don't understand how to add row to beginning chair ! I'm a newbie and this is my first afghan as a gift! My other afghan which is still wip was too narrow, even narrower than this so instead of giving to my uncle, I will be giving it to my ds!

[passionsgirl22]

do a scalip edgeing on it

[sherryzzz]

In the past when I've made the center of quilt too narrow but the length was fine, I just added borders to the sides. You don't have to add borders all around, you can just add them to the sides. Turn your afghan sideways, and working in the ends of the rows, do as many dc rows along the long edges of the sides as you need on each side to widen the afghan. You could use just the navy and that would "frame" the center ripples.

[RelicRaider]

lol, I knew I would confuse you. I tend to ramble at times and confuse even myself. Sorry that I confused you.

 

Adding rows is like adding a border, just flip it around to where the very first stitch you made is and start there, then work another row down the length. Add as many rows as you need to get the width to a measurement you are happy with. Did that make more sense? Basicially, you are making a new first row going in the opposite direction from your original first row. Sadly, I'm more of a visual helper/instructor than a written directions type.

 

Making blankets gets easier with time. I started a comforter for my bed once (a queen size). It was long enough, but boy was it ever getting heavy. After a while, I gave up and turned it into a really long afghan that I sometimes use either across the foot of the bed or on the back of the sofa. Baby blankets are much more my style. The last one I made was camo with hunter orange trim for my first nephew.

 

Heather

[MadCityCrochet]

In the past when I've made the center of quilt too narrow but the length was fine, I just added borders to the sides. You don't have to add borders all around, you can just add them to the sides. Turn your afghan sideways, and working in the ends of the rows, do as many dc rows along the long edges of the sides as you need on each side to widen the afghan. You could use just the navy and that would "frame" the center ripples.

 

This is what I was going to suggest! Or you could make another really narrow afghan continuing the pattern and colors and whip stitch the two together. If you are into symmetry, do the same thing on both sides and it will look like it was intentional!

 

Sara

[darski]

This is what I was going to suggest! Or you could make another really narrow afghan continuing the pattern and colors and whip stitch the two together. If you are into symmetry, do the same thing on both sides and it will look like it was intentional!

 

Sara

 

I think this would be a good way to go.

 

The problem with ripples is that they don't lend themselves to borders easily. There is a border that might be able to work on this one..

 

http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa101505.htm

 

It has that same hills and valleys look to it, it is quick and easy to work up and is very pretty. it is fairly easy to fudge the beginning count if you have to.

[mom2boys]

This is what I was going to suggest! Or you could make another really narrow afghan continuing the pattern and colors and whip stitch the two together. If you are into symmetry, do the same thing on both sides and it will look like it was intentional!

 

Sara

I'm so new that I don't know what whip stitch is! I'll crochet the easiest way possible! Thank you for the suggestion!

[MadCityCrochet]

I'm so new that I don't know what whip stitch is! I'll crochet the easiest way possible! Thank you for the suggestion!

 

Whip stitching is very easy and just involves sewing things together with a REALLY long piece of yarn. HERE is a good picture showing what it looks like. The other option you can do is to slip stitch them together (scroll down the page on that same link). This is nice because you don't have to use a really long piece of yarn and can just use it as it comes off the skein. It may create a small ridge but if you do a narrow strip on both sides it would look like you meant it that way. I prefer to slip stitch or sc things together since I think it makes a stronger seam.

 

Which pattern are you using?

 

Sara

[mom2boys]

Whip stitching is very easy and just involves sewing things together with a REALLY long piece of yarn. HERE is a good picture showing what it looks like. The other option you can do is to slip stitch them together (scroll down the page on that same link). This is nice because you don't have to use a really long piece of yarn and can just use it as it comes off the skein. It may create a small ridge but if you do a narrow strip on both sides it would look like you meant it that way. I prefer to slip stitch or sc things together since I think it makes a stronger seam.

 

Which pattern are you using?

 

Sara

I got the pattern from a magazine with afghans , it's a basic ripple with chain 183 and chain 1 at the end, turn and skip the first sc on the 2nd row.

[mom2boys]

This is what I was going to suggest! Or you could make another really narrow afghan continuing the pattern and colors and whip stitch the two together. If you are into symmetry, do the same thing on both sides and it will look like it was intentional!

 

Sara

 

Since my ripple afghan started with a 183 chain, if I were to choose to make another narrow afghan and whip or slip stitch them together, how do I figure out how many chain I should do? Maybe 1/4 of the original chain? Thank you for your help! I reallly appreciate it! If it's too difficult, I'll just do dc on the width of the afghan. I actually thought of doing more ripples on either 1 of the side of the afghan before posting my question here! But I've no idea how to do it, now I know!

[MadCityCrochet]

Since my ripple afghan started with a 183 chain, if I were to choose to make another narrow afghan and whip or slip stitch them together, how do I figure out how many chain I should do? Maybe 1/4 of the original chain? Thank you for your help! I reallly appreciate it! If it's too difficult, I'll just do dc on the width of the afghan. I actually thought of doing more ripples on either 1 of the side of the afghan before posting my question here! But I've no idea how to do it, now I know!

 

The best way to do it is to figure out how many repeats you want, then figure out whether you need to start in a "peak" or a "valley". That will tell you where in the pattern you should start. Just remember to finish the rows on each end just like the bigger blanket so that it doesn't start to "grow" on you.

 

As far as how long the chain needs to be, I will share a little trick. Chain a bunch (more than you know you will need), then turn and do the repeats until you reach the desired width. Any unused chains can be "picked out" and tied off and you don't need to worry about then unraveling because it is going the wrong direction. Things don't unravel "backwards". I used to make myself crazy counting chains, (and usually counting wrong) but once I learned this method I never went back. Unless it is less than 50 chains, then I will still probably count, but maybe add a couple extra just in case.

 

Good luck!

Sara

[mom2boys]

The best way to do it is to figure out how many repeats you want, then figure out whether you need to start in a "peak" or a "valley". That will tell you where in the pattern you should start. Just remember to finish the rows on each end just like the bigger blanket so that it doesn't start to "grow" on you.

 

As far as how long the chain needs to be, I will share a little trick. Chain a bunch (more than you know you will need), then turn and do the repeats until you reach the desired width. Any unused chains can be "picked out" and tied off and you don't need to worry about then unraveling because it is going the wrong direction. Things don't unravel "backwards". I used to make myself crazy counting chains, (and usually counting wrong) but once I learned this method I never went back. Unless it is less than 50 chains, then I will still probably count, but maybe add a couple extra just in case.

 

Good luck!

Sara

Thank you very much Sara! I think I only need another peak and valley.Then dc on the width. I'm hoping I'll finish before Dec 24th!

Thank you for the trick on the chain, I used to count the chain 183 at least 5 times and still end up with the wrong count when I start the pattern!

[MadCityCrochet]

Thank you very much Sara! I think I only need another peak and valley.Then dc on the width. I'm hoping I'll finish before Dec 24th!

Thank you for the trick on the chain, I used to count the chain 183 at least 5 times and still end up with the wrong count when I start the pattern!

 

No problem. Glad I could help and good luck getting it done!

 

Sara

[alchemyfyr]

I recently made a ripple afghan for my parents with the intention of doing a border to neaten up the edges. I used Homespun Barley ( shades of brown). Once I finished the afghan, I used black and did single crochets all the way around once. Then I went back to the brown and did another 5 rows of sc all the way around. I liked how the black broke up the ripple and the border. It looks really nice. Good luck!