{"id":1992,"date":"2009-09-24T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2009-09-24T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lionbrand.com/community/blog\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2023-03-05T06:55:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T11:55:45","slug":"motif-afghan-crochet-along-youre-the-designer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lionbrand.com/community/blog\/motif-afghan-crochet-along-youre-the-designer\/","title":{"rendered":"Motif Afghan Crochet-Along: You’re the Designer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everybody for helping me decide which colors to choose for my afghan. I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments and can’t want to see all the colorful combinations you choose for your projects. It seems like I got plenty of votes for colorway #4, and since that fits with my d\u00e9cor, I’ll go with that one. Here are some I didn’t choose, but that you might have:<\/p>\n

\"Motif

Many of you are anxious to get started with learning a join-as-you-go method, but I’m going to ask that you be patient for one more week while we do some other steps.<\/p>\n

Swatching Tells the Tale<\/strong><\/p>\n

As with any<\/em> project, it’s important to do a swatch before beginning a project. A swatch gives us an idea of what size hook to use, how much yarn we’ll need, and what the likely finished dimensions of the afghan will be.  Luckily for us, in this case the swatch may just be the first or second motif of our project.<\/p>\n

I tried a couple of different hook sizes and settled on an I-9 (5.5mm) hook for the Vanna’s Choice yarn that I’m using. You may need a different hook size to get the ideal feel for your gauge and yarn. You want a motif that has a little bit of body without being too stiff or too floppy. If you’re not sure what size you need, start with the suggested size on the yarn band, but don’t hesitate to change hooks to get the ideal gauge for you.<\/p>\n

My motif measures about 3.25″ across one edge, 6.5″ from point-to-point across the center, and 5.5″ from side-to-side across the center. I printed out some (really cool) hexagonal graph paper<\/a> from Incompetech.com and used that to envision how the motifs will be arranged. Here’s what my hand-drawn worksheet looks like. You can see the size and shape of the afghan outlined in black.<\/p>\n

\"Sketch

You can also see that I need 60 hexagons in all. My swatch weighs in at about 12 g, so 12g x 60 motifs = 720 g, or 8 balls of Vanna’s Choice yarn. However, since I’m using more than one color, and I’ll need some yarn for joining, I know that I’ll need more than 8 balls of yarn, not including the yarn needed to join the motifs together either as we go or at the end. At this point, I can’t be completely accurate in knowing what amounts I’ll need, because I don\u2019t know how colors A, B and C will be used.<\/p>\n

If you are using lots of colors, and just want to do a patchwork\/freeform design without a plan, just start stitching. Leave a longish (12″) tail on the final round, and don’t weave in the final tail. You’ll understand the reason for this later.<\/p>\n

Planning the Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my case, I want to have a plan for placement of my motifs. I still need to decide how I want to arrange the colors on each motif, and also how to arrange the motifs to form the overall design. I’ve started by stitching one motif. Because I’m still in the designing stage, I’m going to work the first few motifs in a variety of color arrangements. Let’s call my colors A (taupe), B (cranberry) and C (linen). I use a kind of shorthand to describe the color arrangements, with letter designations for each round. Here are the motifs I’ve done so far, although I could do even more variations with just these 3 colors.<\/p>\n

\"CABA\"

\"BABA\"

\"BACA\"

Here’s where it gets really fun. I can do any of the following: (1) Decide to join my motifs once they are all complete. That means that right now I can just stitch individual motifs. I can decide on placement and color arrangements as I go, allowing the design to develop as I stitch. I don’t have to commit to a placement scheme until the last minute. I actually prefer this way most of the time. That’s because I don’t mind joining motifs at the end\u2014it’s not that hard or time-consuming, I promise. (2) Use a random pattern of color variations throughout. (3) Pick one or two color arrangements and use them in alternating rows. (4) Scan the motifs, then print out the (now smaller than life-size) images on my color printer, making as many prints of each one as I choose. Then I can cut them out and play with the pieces until I have an arrangement I like. If I tape the pieces together I’ll have a template to remind me what to stitch next. (5) Do #4 above with color pencils or crayons. This can be lots of fun, and the kids can play, too! (6) Scan the motifs, and then manipulate them digitally using an image-editing software program. Since I’m trying to learn a new-to-me program, and since it makes nice prototype afghans for this purpose, this is the method I’ll choose here. You’ll see that they are just rough digital “sketches”, but that’s all I need at this stage. (Note to mention: this is just about the extent of my skill at this point. The strange white lines between the motifs are just my inexperience!) Here are some of the options I came up with, based on the scanned motifs above.<\/p>\n

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