Afghan Crocheting

In light of all of the baby gift posts, I thought that I would add a general post about crocheting for anyone who may be interested in learning to crochet.  There are a lot of different things that you can make, but I have always preferred making afghans.  I taught myself how to crochet from a book when I was 13.  It can be time consuming and more expensive than you may realize, but I really love the afghans that I have made.  All but 1 (which I kept for myself) has been given as gifts to my family members or my then boyfriend (now DH).  And everyone has told me that they love them.  Several have asked for one specifically.  I know many people who have heirloom afghans from their grandmothers or great-grandmothers and I hope that some of mine become that eventually. 

Some of the blankets I've made so far (in the order that I made them): 

For My Brother:

For Me:





































For My Mom:




















For DH:

























For My Dad:




















For My Sister-in-Law:

























For DH's Sister:

For My Niece:

























I normally crochet a blanket - which takes me between 6 months and 1 year - and then not crochet again for a year or two...and then pick my needle back up and make another blanket.  They are very time consuming, especially if (like me) you make gigantic blankets that can cover a queen sized bed.  DH calls them 2 person blankets : ) 

In all honesty, it is easy to get a bit bored of them towards the end of a blanket, but I'm always excited to start a new project.  I have trouble sitting still when I am stressed, and I find that having something like this to keep my hands busy while I relax really helps.  

SO...some thoughts:

• Do not be intimidated to learn on your own if you don't have someone to teach you.  I think that it's actually much easier to teach yourself from a book that to learn from someone else, though admittedly it is nice to have someone to ask when you don't understand the instructions.  There are tons of instructional books.  I find the ones with cartoon pictures, like this, easier to understand that the instructions with actual photographs.  There are also a lot of youtube videos to watch if you get confused, but I wouldn't recommend learning from videos only.
• The yarn will feel differently when its a blanket than it does in the skein.  Make sure you like how it feels/how soft it is when it is crocheted into a pattern before you buy $100 worth of yarn to make a giant afghan.  Also, try not to get half way through an afghan before you realize you don't like how the yarn feels.  How soft the yarn is makes a big difference in whether or not people will actually use and love the finished product.  I made this mistake with my first few blankets.  SO...there are often little crocheted or knitted swatches on the yarn isle to let you see how the yarn looks and feels when used.  Pay attention to these.  You can also buy a single skein to practice on and check to see how it feels when you use it.  Find a brand or two that you like and stick to it.  I've used a brand called Simply Soft on a lot of my afghans.  It is not super bulky or warm and does not hold patterns as obviously as other yarns but it's very soft and silky in blanket form, has a nice color selection, and holds up well when the blanket is washed in the washing machine.
• Depending on how long it takes you to finish your project, it may be difficult to match the color of yarn when you go to buy it a second or third time.  I normally buy all of the yarn required for a project at the beginning to avoid this frustration.  Also pay attention to if the yarn has a "dye lot".  This is the batch of yarn that was dyed together.  For some yarn brands, if you do not get skeins from the same dye lot then the colors may not match perfectly.  I have never had this problem with Simply Soft.
• Make sure you like the color choices and pattern. This may be obvious, but it's really disheartening to get to the end of an afghan and not love it.  Take time when choosing your yarn and pattern.
• Weave in yarn ends as you go. This one isn't necessary but will save you a lot of headache.  When you end or start a new piece of yarn, take a couple minutes to weave the ends in.  If you do not, on some patterns you will "finish" your afghan only to realize that you have 5 or more hours of yarn weaving to do before you're actually finished.
• On your first afghan, choose an interesting pattern.  I know many people choose to do something very simple, like a wave pattern on their first big project.  You can probably handle a pattern slightly more difficult than you think that you can.  Almost all crocheting is various combinations of three steps:  insert the hook, yarn over, and pull through.  Most of the complicated patterns come from various combinations of these three things and the hard part is normally just reading the directions for the first time.  Remember, you will be working on the project for a long time.  Choose something that you won't get bored with and that you will like when you finish...that's what makes crocheting fun after all.
• Be wary of blankets that work in panels.  How big or small your project ends up is dependent on the type of yarn, the size hook, and also how tightly you hold the yarn.  Often, new crocheters struggle with keeping a consistent amount of tension on the yarn.  This means that if you work a blanket that is separate sections and are later sewn together, those sections may end up being different lengths.
• Do not pick fancy lacy yarn with all sorts of fuzz or baubles hanging off.  They are a pain to work with.  I suggest starting with a normal sport weight or worsted weight yarn.

Have Fun!