Wednesday

Freeform Afghan - Second Version

Finished! My second attempt at a Freeform Blanket



10/18/10: 
I’m starting a new blanket - trying to do a bit more “controlled” freeform than I have in the past. I’m wanting something that’s a bit calmer and more serene - not quite as tumultuous and busy as the last one. I’m wanting something linear that flows around circular shapes. Usually I cut a piece of fabric in the general shape that I want the piece to end up. This time I made a paper template (I've compiled a list of standard or average blanket and afghan sizes here) so I can draw in where I want the circles and can look at the big picture as I go instead of just randomly putting together shapes that have just sprung forth. (Which I love to do - just wanting to do something different this time.) I guess it could more rightly be called directed freeform.

My color choice is driven by an old Kaffe Fassett pattern featuring multi-yarn triangle shapes that I started about 5 years ago and never finished. I unraveled it, which made some interesting “Magic Balls” that got me started. I made up a bunch of different circle motifs, using patterns from “Beyond the Square, Crochet Motifs” by Edie Eckman. This is without question the book I use more than any other in my library when looking for interesting patterns in inspiring colors with easy to read written instructions and charts. 




Working about 10" ahead at a time I laid out the circles and then crocheted and knitted in stripes across. I drew lines every 10" just to have reference points.
Working towards the first 10" line


I joined my husband at a work conference on the Chesapeake. While he spent his days in meetings I wandered through the nearby towns and as always seems to happen came across some yarn stores. I bought a few yarns that seemed like they'd be perfect.
Yarns from Fibre Cafe in Cambridge, Maryland


Yarns from Yarns & Company in Easton, Maryland




I bought some really beautiful yarns, but some of the colors were really, really off. I cut some pieces of ribbon and attached the yarns onto them by color. I kept these in my handbag & pulled them out whenever a yarn store appeared in my path. It's a great system that's easy to maintain.










10/25/10:
I’ve been struggling to keep this going - not happy with the way it was heading and having trouble figuring out what to do next. On a meander through Ravelry I came across Melisseio’s Free Range Wrap which got me thinking about how I was approaching the whole thing. Between that and a couple of very encouraging Ravelry messages from Jenny Dowde (JenOz on Ravelry) and looking a bit at her work I’m back into a happy mind about where it’s heading. It’s a very different process than I usually use while “freeforming” in that I’ve got a much more specific idea of where I want to end up and how I want the piece to appear. I’m also using colors that are quite out of my usual sphere. Jenny's book, Freeform Knitting and Crochet  is one I often turn to when needing inspriation or a bit of technical direction.










11/8/10


It’s going much more quickly now. Am keeping up with my 10” per week goal - mostly because I’m already planning the next 3 or 4 projects & can’t wait to get this one finished & get onto those. 






almost finished - just need an edging






11/20/10:


The basic shape is finished. It’s feeling like it needs a border. Something sort of wavy so the uneven edges aren’t so noticeable.
























12/3/10:


Finished! I decided I needed a border to finish it off. Used #54 from “Around the Corner, Crochet Borders” by Edie Eckman. I modified it slightly - I did 2 base rounds in purple, then did round 1 in yellow and round 2 in green.

This is the other Edie Eckman book that I use constantly. It's got great pictures, and it's easy to modify the instructions to fit the specific edging that you're trying to achieve. 

detail of edging

9 comments:

RiittaR said...

Amazing work! Love your ATCs too.

Kate said...

WOW!!!! It really is magnificent.
Congratulations.

Unknown said...

DIVINA!!!!!

Christine said...

congratulations!! This is beautiful

Anonymous said...

I spotted this on icrochet and knew right away that this was a version of freeform. WOW! it's a work of art! Thanks for showing the process. I couldn't figure out how to embed motifs.

Paula said...

That's one of the most beautiful blankets I've ever seen. Love the colours you used too.

PeacefulPath said...

Great post! Beautiful blanket! Thank you!

Unknown said...

Preciosa!!!!

Unknown said...

Thank you very much for showing how you made this beautiful Afghan. I'm starting one and went to your page for measurements but I've loved seeing your work, and the bonus of seeing how you did the embedded motifs and how you linked them. I'm cniotáileacht in ravelry, Margaret