Saturday, September 17, 2011

Alternating Shells Afghan!

My apologies in advance for rotten photo quality, the ceiling light when bad in my living room about 2 days ago and I haven't had the opportunity to replace it yet.

I made a great big snuggly afghan so that the munchkin can grow with it, and I made it in somewhat more grown-uppy colors for the same reason. I want this afghan to be used until it falls apart, not until she's too cool to like the colors I picked.

It's gotten the seal of "Snuggle Approval" from our official product tester. Honestly, it was getting hard to keep him off of it so I could finish the thing.
The pattern is simple alternating shells with a 4 round border.

if you are using multiple colors, choose an odd number of colors to reduce the number of ends you have to work in, with an odd number (I like 3) you can simply pick up the color you need next at the end of the row and carry your yarn along the outside edge. when you crochet the first row of the border, you'll be hiding all that yarn!

ch desired length, a multiple of 6 +2.
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, * sk 2 ch, work shell (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch, sk 2 ch, sc in next ch, rep from * across. turn
Row 2: ch 3, 2 dc in last sc of prev row, * sc in ch-sp, work shell (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in sc, rep from * across, work 3 dc in last sc, turn
Row 3: ch 1, sc in first dc, * work shell in sc, sc in in ch-sp, rep from * across, sc in 3rd beg ch

if changing colors, change with the last yo of each row. rep rows 2 and 3 to desired size

Last Row: work across this row picking up pattern depending on which row you ended with - dc in sc, hdc in first dc, sc in next 4 dc, hdc in next dc, dc in sc and so on across.

Border:
Rnd 1: single crochet around placing 3 sc in the corners.
Rnd 2: half double crochet around, placing 3 hdc in the corners
Rnd 3: double crochet around, placing (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in the corners
Rnd 4: single around, working between sts of prev row, placing 3 sc in the corner ch-sp.

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