I Need An Afghan - Fast!

     I had taken some time off from the Southern New Jersey Crochet Guild, so when I went back to the evening meeting on November 23, 2018, I felt a little pressured when I found out that I would have to finish two projects in about three weeks.  It wasn't a requirement.  Nobody said I HAD to do it.  The pressure came from within.  I felt like I should do it, this being the Christmas season, and all that.
     The bigger of the two assignments was to produce an afghan for a local church.  The church would be taking these warm blankets to people in need.  If you are trying to stay warm in the winter, you don't want a holey, lacy afghan.  You need a tightly crocheted afghan.  It takes a lot longer to crochet a tightly stitched afghan.  Here's how I solved the problem:

I made it up as I went along.  When I decided I was at the mid-point, I repeated to make a mirror image.

You can see that the stitches are single crochet, half double crochet, puff stitch (I have also heard this stitch called a bobble stitch), and shell stitch.

 
     I didn't think this out ahead of time.  I just jumped in.  I had to make a few adjustments due to my lack of forethought, but it turned out okay in the end.  Here are some instructions with my boo-boos corrected:

     Chain (ch) a multiple of 3.  I used a J hook.  To make the above afghan, ch 147.

     Rows 1-4: In the second ch from the hook work a single crochet (sc).  Sc down the chain for a total of 146 sc, then ch 1 and turn.  Repeat for 3 more rows for a total of 4 rows of sc.  Remember to ch 1 before turning at then end of every row.

     Row 5: Beginning in the second stitch (st) from the hook,  ch 2.   Work puff stitch in the third st from the hook as follows: yarn over (yo), insert hook in that third st, draw yarn through the st, yo and draw the yarn through 2 loops on the hook.  You have made a partial st and you have 2 st remaining on your hook.  *Yo, insert the hook in the same place, draw the yarn through the st and yo.  Draw the yarn through only the first 2 loops* on the hook.  Now you have a partial st and 3 loops on the hook.  Repeat from * to * until you have 6 loops on the hook.  Then yo and draw the yarn through all 6 loops.  That's your puff st.
     Sc in the next 2 st.  Make a puff st in the next st.  Repeat 2 sc, puff st down the row until you have 49 puffs.  There will be 2 st remaining.  Sc 2, ch 1 and turn.

     Rows 6-20: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 21: Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 22-40: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 41:  Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 42-60: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 61: Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 62-70: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 71: Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 72-95: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 96: Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 97-115: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 116: Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 117-131: Work all rows in sc.

     Row 132: Repeat Row 5.

     Rows 133-136: Work all rows in sc.

     Border:  At the end of Row 136, in the corner, ch 1 and turn.  Sc all the way around the four sides of the afghan.  I made a ch to turn at corners 1, 2, and 3.  When I reached the 4th corner, the place where I started, I made 2 ch.  Call this Round 1.

     Round 2:  Half double crochet (hdc) all the way around.  Ch 2 at the corners.  I had one corner that bulged out, so I made only 1 ch before continuing on with hdc (winging it!).  Ch 1 at the end of the round.

     Round 3:  Sc all the way around as you did in Round 1.

     Scalloped Edge Also Called Shell Stitch Border: Here's a nice video to explain the technique.
     
   


     I had to fudge the corners of the edging a little bit since I didn't work the count out ahead of time.  The adjustments were not noticeable in the finished project.
     This design worked because single crochet is a tight stitch that you can work up fast.  The large J hook built the afghan quickly.  The puff stitch bulks up the project and adds a lot of interest.  I added the edge and scallop because my afghan was not quite big enough.  You can easily enlarge this afghan by beginning with a longer starting chain, maybe 174 ch.  Add more rows of sc to make the blanket wider, maybe 10-12 extra rows of sc on either side of the center band of 9 rows of sc.  If you enlarge the afghan, I suggest finishing it off with only one row of sc around the edge followed by the scallop.

     Our second project was to make little Christmas stockings.  They will be used as "tray favors," stuffed with candy and placed on the trays of children who are patients at Shriners Hospital.  Here are the instructions:

http://www.eatingoutloud.com/2011/12/granny-square-stocking-ornament-crochet-pattern.html

  If you would like to crochet for a good cause, the guild meets at the Burlington County Library Headquarters Branch on the second Tuesday of the month from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and on the fourth Wednesday of the month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  All skill levels are welcome.  If you have no crochet skills and want to learn, we will teach you.