I wanted to make an afghan for my special granddaughter to take to school with her after her high school graduation. I have had a “thing” for making things out of granny squares lately so that’s the type of afghan I wanted but with a bit of a twist by using 2 different square types--solid and traditional. You may have noticed from granny square patterns that not all squares are created equally. Some traditional grannies have 1 chain in the corner and no chains between the sets of 3 double crochets. Some start off with chains of varying lengths. I wanted the same number of stitches on each side of both types of squares to make it easier to join them.
The Graduation Afghan--
Materials: All yarn is Red Heart and the name in parentheses is the “proper name” on the label
lBlack yarn (black) 2 skeins
lPink yarn (I lost the wrapper so not sure of color, think it said rosa) 2 skeins
lPurple yarn (medium purple) 2 skeins
lBlue yarn (turqua) 2 skeins
lMulticolor yarn (neon stripes) 5 skeins
lHooks--G to make squares and H to crochet them together
lScissors
lLarge needle
Using the chart below, crochet the appropriate number of squares. Patterns follow the chart.
type
|
number
| |
multicolor
|
solid
|
24
|
pink
|
traditional
|
18
|
blue
|
traditional
|
16
|
purple
|
traditional
|
12
|
Traditional Granny
Using G Hook, Ch 4, join with sl st to first ch to form ring.
RND 1: Ch3 (this is first dc), 2 dc in ring. Ch 2, *3dc in ring, ch3. Repeat from * 2 times more. Ch2, slst in top of ch3. (You will have 4 sets of 3dc with 2 chains inbetween each set)
RND 2: Sl st in the first 2 dc's and over to the ch2 space. Ch3, 2 dc in ch 2 sp, ch2, work 3 dc in same sp. Work the following 3 times (Ch1, work 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc in next ch 2 space) Ch1, join with slst to top of ch 3.
RND 3: Sl st in the first 2 dc's and over to the ch2 space. Ch 3, 2 dc in ch 2 sp, ch 2, work 3 dc in same sp. Ch 1, work 3 dc in next ch 1 sp. Ch 1. Work the following 3 times (Work 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp. Ch 1, work 3 dc in next ch 1 sp. Ch 1.) Join with sl st to top of ch 3.
finish off and weave in ends.
Solid Granny
With G Hook, chain 4, join with sl st to form a ring
round 1: working in the ring, ch 3, 2 dc in ring, ch2, *3 dc in ring ch 2* repeat 2 more times. (You will have 3 sets of 3dc separated by 2 chains)
round 2: ch 3, * dc in each dc to corner, ( 2 dc, 2 ch, 2 dc) in corner repeat from * three times more, dc in each dc across to beg ch-3, join with sl st to top of beg ch-3 (Total of 7 dc per side including corner double crochets)
repeat round 2 until square reaches desired size (each side is 4 stitches larger than the previous side)
finish off and weave in ends
After making the number of squares required, use the following graphic as a guide on how to lay them out.
Joining:
Using the H hook and solid black yarn, single crochet the squares together using the layout below.
Shaded squares = purple
“P” squares = pink
“B” squares = blue
Plain squares = multicolored
Edging:
Round 1: Using G hook, you will be crocheting with double crochets in each double crochet and chain 1 space. In corners, you will do (2dc, ch2, 2dc).
Round 2: Switch to the multicolor yarn. Using hdc, work as rnd 1.
Round 3: Same as round 2
Round 4: Change to black yarn, crochet as round 2.
Round 5: Change to blue yarn, crochet sc all around.
Finish off, weave in ends.
You’re done!
If you have any questions, please ask.
Sharon
