I made this crochet clustter shell afghan for my maternal grand-mother. Of course, she loved it, as well as just about everyone else in my family! Let's just say I'll be making some more afghan's this year. At least I have a tiny family, so that means just a couple more!
I was going to make her a scarf at first, but in light of recent events, I changed to this more-practical-for-her afghan instead. It is very warm and soft because of the yarn I chose, and you just want to snuggle under it!
Let me just say that crocheting an afghan, or throw, of this size, takes a lot of time. Like, 30+ hours. I watched many movies while doing it!! I wasn't able to finish it in time for Christmas because of the change in project, but I managed to get it done in the week following Christmas, and gave it to her by mid-January. I spent 3-4 hours each night for a week straight working on it. My arms only got tired the before-last ball, at least.
The yarn I used was the Loops and Threads Country Loom yarn in Lavender Blues, and I ended up using 10 balls for this afghan. The finished measurements were 43" by 60", which doesn't quite cover a twin bed, but is a good size for a throw to keep you warm on the couch.
Now this is the part where I almost screwed up. The balls I bought after the first one (cuz I was just making a scarf, remember? I didn't need more than 1) ended up being a different color than the first one, even though they had the same name Lavender Blues.
I never would have thought that the lot would make such a drastic difference!! They really shouldn't be called the same name, one has blues, the other does not! That is why the border is more blueish than the rest of the afghan.
I was able to rescue this error by ending the afghan with the only other ball of yarn that was the same lot as the first. I don't know how I managed to buy just one other ball of the same lot, but I'm glad I did! At least it looks intentional this way. I don't have a picture that you see the entire afghan to show you that I really did finish with a bluer ball, so you'll have to take my word that it looks good!
The pattern I ended up using was this crochet shell cluster afghan, mainly because I found the youtube video on how to make it that I could follow along, which for a beginner was crucial.
I originally wanted to try making this one from the Michael's website. I made the first row easy enough, but could not for the life of me figure out the second!!! Maybe if I go back I'd understand it now, which I think I might, since I have a bit more experience.
This afghan pattern was pretty easy after the first row. I had trouble identifying all the sc in the chain while making my first row (so the shells aren't always exactly spaced every 4 spaces), so I ended up with 3 chains at the end. It's ok, I just wove it in at the end.
As I mentioned, I used 10 balls, and even though I got them during yarn week (so the balls were like 4$ instead of 7$ I think), it still rang in at 47$ total, with the N hook I needed for the bulky yarn. So this is definitely one of the pricier projects I've ever done. But it was worth every penny and second for that look on my grand-ma's face! Wish I had remembered to take a picture!!
I can easily see now how these handmade throws can sell for 400$ and up! Still, I'd rather make one myself and use my time rather than my money, because, you know, now I can ;)
I really got to appreciate this craft while making this afghan. There's just something really relaxing about being able to sit on the couch, watching a movie or TV show and crocheting away, with a cup of coffee, or tea or hot chocolate by your side! This will definitely not be the last of my crochet projects! It just marks the beginning :) I've actually pinned a whole lot more crochet projects on my Crochet Pinboard!
I party at these parties.
