DITHERING OVER THE AFGHAN

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Hopefully, mine will look this good.

 I recently mentioned that I started an afghan from a kit that I purchased 25 years ago. It’s crocheted in the afghan (Tunisian) stitch and then embroidered with pansy designs. The pattern calls for the entire afghan to be worked in one piece of 151 stitches. Somewhat like knitting, Tunisian crochet pulls loops onto the hook and then works them off. I ordered a long hook, but it just wasn’t long enough, and as the afghan grew, it was only going to get worse. 

Long hook -- not long enough

So, after having completed 30 rows, I researched Tunisian crochet and determined that I needed a short hook with an attached cable to hold the stitches. I found one on Amazon and excitedly waited the two days for delivery. But when I began to use the new hook, I saw that switching hooks at this point would be obvious in the work. I would have to start over. (Sigh)

Shorter hook with cable

But – the hook issue wasn’t my only worry. I feared that I would not have enough yarn. By this point, I knew exactly how many rows I was getting per skein, so I decided to be scientific and actually do the math. I discovered that I would indeed be short of yarn if I continued in this way, meaning that my work was too loose. This is a chronic problem with me and sometimes I just don’t care, but it matters with this project. The stitches must be tighter to enable the cross-stitch embroidery, and the yarn in this kit (Caron’s Dazzle Aire) was discontinued long ago. I repeat – long ago! It’s not available anywhere. Some kits provide extra yarn, but this was not the case here.

This is a labor-intensive project, probably the reason I put it off for 25 years. Working tightly, as I must, hurts my wrists. But I hate to just say that I can’t and give it up. I can, and I also want to, so I made another start, and I’ll see how it goes. (I’ll tear out my other work when Mike isn’t looking.)

My mother and my mother-in-law both worked afghans of this type in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and Hallie did one for Mike in the ‘90s, but I suspect that Tunisian crochet is not as popular as it was. I think that today, people like projects that work up more quickly and easily. This doesn’t apply to everyone, of course, but I believe bulkier yarns are the trend now. KW