I have managed to finish the Stratford circles! Yay! And they are so masculine!
A masculine afghan! What does that mean? It means one that a manly man would like. No fancy stitches. Colours that could easily be used in a combat zone. And BIG! I had looked at many afghans to make for David and Arn, but they were all too fancy. A granny square; too busy. A ripple; too zigzaggy! Then I came across the pattern for the Stratford Circle Afghan (also called Woodland Circle Afghan) on the Lion Brand site and I knew I had a winner for the guys! I raided my stash, bought a couple of skeins and Dave found some at the local Sunday car boot sale (all DK) and I wizzed these up in a couple of weeks. Arn’s one has rings made up of 5 rows of a colour, and Dave’s has rings of 10 rows of a colour. The effect is very different. I followed the pattern strictly for Arn’s one, so the increases in each row are slightly offset so cannot be seen. In Dave’s, I increased on top of the increase in the row below, so you can see the pie slices a little. The actual pattern I think uses a thicker yarn than I did so I did many more rows. The guys were happy when I got to 60 rows. That way they could cover their shoulders and their feet when watching the rugger from the couch. The colour changes make the work go faster I think. Its monotonous crochet, but I found it meditative. I needed to mark the increase points or I would just go round and round and round! Both Dave and Arn love their new blankies. It’s so nice to see the hours of work so appreciated. I wish them many years of warmth under these very manly man blankies.
Next I need to get to mom's stripey sampler giant square...
Lots of love
C.
