Chunky Crochet The Sashay(free) Way

I have discovered that I am NOT a fan of those ruffle yarns - you know, the ones that are scrunched up on the skein then you stretch them out and crochet along one edge to create a scarf or ruffle?  The scarves made with them are lovely but working with these yarns is not - for me.

So, what am I to do when I encounter a whole bin of these pretty colors of ruffle yarn for .97 each?  I hummed and hawed for a few minutes.  Then, I decided that I could just forget the ruffly use for them and treat the yarn as super chunky and work with it that way.  So, there were 4 colors available, but I went home without the blue since I can only braid, without watching a tutorial, 3 strands at a time.  The two purple-reds and one pearl silver skein.

I used a 25.00 mm wooden hook that I love but seldom have occasion to use.  I simply chained the entire length of each skein and secured the end with twist ties so I wouldn't lose the stitches.  Chaining all three skeins took me less than an hour.  Then began the hard part - braiding a long length of stretchy, wiggly, chunky yarn.

To braid them, I folded each length in half and secured the folded ends with a huge safety pin to the arm of a sofa.  That left me with 6 strands of chained yarn to work with.  I treated them as though there were only three and went to work.  The braiding process took me another hour.

Once all the braiding was done, I wound up with three different lengths of chained yarns.  So, I cut the strands to the same size and tied off the ends all together.  I used a smaller hook to weave in the loose ends and used my petite daughter as my model.  Trust me, she's very pretty.  Since this scarf is not drab, it is not to my daughter's liking, so someone else will receive it as a gift.  I do like the way it looks, but it's not much my style as it has sequins in it.  I don't wear drab, but daughter and I do share a dislike for glitz in our wardrobes.

So, you don't actually need a pattern to make this.  I've given you the instructions.  I found this yarn in a bin at Joann's but I'm sure they're on sale all over the place or you may already have some in your own stash.  If you have leftovers like I did, you can even make a second, smaller scarf as a bonus. 

4 Skeins, 2 Evenings, 1 Baby Afghan

I have not worked much with chunky yarns before.  But, since today was Small Business Saturday, I decided to support my LYS and maybe use the coupon Georgia sent for 15% off some of the higher end skeins of yarn she sells.  Instead, I found some pretty yarn in the baby and sock yarn section that turned out to be just the right material to make a babyghan for a very special little girl who was recently born to friends in Raleigh/Durham area. 

This yarn is a nice blend of pastels that includes a denim blue but also some pink and two pretty yellows that create a cheerful color pallet.  I tried to find some other colors in this yarn to add to my stash but this was the only one that really appealed to me except for one that was an orphan skein.

When I arrived back home, I grabbed my K hook (Etimo Tulip) and began to create my 'go to' babyghan pattern, the diagonal crazy stitch.  Before long - I mean in about an hour - I was through that skein.  I'm now working on the second skein.  i'll have half this babyghan completed tonight.  That means that with 4 skeins of chunky yarn and 2 evenings of crocheting, I'll have a completed babyghan worthy of gifting to little Aly.  I'll post a picture of the completed afghan soon. 

This is not the softest yarn I've ever worked with so I will throw it in the dryer with a damp towel to which I've added a half capful of liquid fabric softener.  That seems to work wonders with all kinds of yarns.

I have become a big fan of Plymouth Yarns.  I'm angry because they discontinued their Patchwork yarn before I had time to work every colorway in it.  It seems perfectly designed for the diagonal crazy stitch as the self striping nature of the yarn truly complements the stitch pattern.  Since this babyghan is worked on the diagonal with a corner start, you can literally make it any size you want, increasing with half the yarn you have then decreasing with the remainder of your yarn.  Further, it does not require any additional edging although you can add an edging if you want easily enough.

The thickness of this babyghan will make it perfect as a covering to put on  the floor and put baby on top of it to nap or play.  I always carried some sort of blanket for that purpose since one never knows the condition of a floor or even a friend's crib or bassinet.  I preferred to have my baby exploring and goo-ing all over something I could take home and pop in the washer and dryer.  The fiber content of this yarn is 75% acrylic and 25% wool but it is machine wash and dry.  I wouldn't give most new mom's any blanket that required any sort of special care.  I also prefer to make the babyghan in a size for dragging rather than 'show'.  I want it to be used!  If a mom expresses a desire for an heirloom type afghan, I am quite willing to work up another one for the baby so it can be saved for the use of future generations.  Wonder how many of them actually do get used later?  I don't care.  If mom wants one, I'm happy to comply.  But, blanket number 1 is for baby to make a mess with .

My ulterior motive in buying this yarn was also to keep the last batch of Plymouth Patchwork yarn I have on hand for my own babyghan stash in hopes that one day I'll have my own grandchildren to crochet for.  I'll have plenty of blankets and sweaters ready when the time comes.

BTW, on Black Friday, our favorite thrift store had half price on the entire contents of the store.  I found 5 packets of cute themed buttons for baby garments at their regular price of 75 cents.  So, for half that, I bought them all - except the cows which I left for cow lovers - and will begin working on sweaters to use those sweet sets of buttons.  Each packet had 3 buttons on it which is just about right for a baby sweater.

Small Business Saturday was Novermber29, 2014 and Hearthstone Knits is the LYS I support.  Hope you supported yours too!