Phoenix Afghan Crochet Along

I am having fun crocheting the Phoenix afghan pattern by Hooked on Sunshine, which was a Crochet Along (CAL) but is now over.  My daughter and I started the CAL late--we had just found the pattern and decided to take part close to the end date.  It was fun seeing other crocheter's afghans in progress and finished--so inspirational.

The CAL was organized into 11 parts.  I probably won't crochet all 11 parts, because I want only a mid-sized afghan.

                                                            Phoenix through Round 12


The pattern is a challenge because each round is usually different from previous rounds, and you have to really pay attention to make sure you have the correct count of stitches on each side before progressing.  Each round builds upon the previous, so correct stitch count is imperative.  Since each round is different, it's fun to see how it looks as you go.  It's fun to pick out the colors, too--it's not easy to always know how the color will look next to the previous rounds and future rounds.

                                                                      Phoenix thru Part 2.


The stitches are fun, too--the pattern has popcorns, clusters, back loop stitches, front loop stitches, etc., so it's a challenge and a fun learning experience.

We decided to crochet our afghans on the spur of the moment, so I picked out some Red Heart yarns from our local Joann's store:  Super Saver and Red Heart with Love.  I'm using a size H Clover Amour Hook.

                                                                   Phoenix into Part 4.

I'm really enjoying crocheting this afghan!  It will be fun to see how it looks when it's finished.

My notes:
Size H hook Crochet Amour, blue hook. Red Heart with Love Yarns and super saver red
Baby Pink super saver
Pink: Bubble Gum with love
Hot Pink: with Love
Bright Yellow: Daffodil with love
Dark purple: Aubergine with love
Light purple: Lilac with love
Medium blue: Bluebell with love
White: with love
Pale plum: super saver light purple
Medium purple: super saver
dusty grape with love
Peacock with love: blue
Boysenberry (wine color) with love
Lemon: light yellow super saver
Gold: Red Heart super saver
yellow/gold: cornsilk with love
July 13--through round 19 with rose.
July 23, through part 2.
Round 84 correction: (3dc-cl into the ch2-sp, ch1) 3 times. (last 3dc cluster in the instructions before the corner.)
July 30: Finished Part 3

Ally's Afghan: Victorian Lattice Squares

I'm finally getting back to finishing Ally's afghan; life gets so busy. 

I love the pattern, Victorian Lattice Squares by Destany Wymore.  I'm using Stylecraft Special DK acrylic yarn in mushroom and lapis.  The yarns are slightly different in thickness, which makes it a challenge to crochet the squares to the same size, so I blocked them to about 7" and changed to a size F 4.0 hook.  The yarn is so soft.

                                                              Victorian Lattice Squares


It's always hard to decide how to sew or crochet squares together.  I decided to try the Flat Braid Join, and I really love the look.  It's pretty easy to do, and it is a continuous join, which reduces ends to weave in.  So, you can start with joining two squares and keep adding squares without cutting the yarn.

I followed a wonderful tutorial by Crochet 365 Knit Too, available here:  https://www.crochet365knittoo.com/happily-ever-afghan-crochet-flat-braid-join/ .  

                                                                    Flat Braid Join


It's helpful to single crochet around each square before joining.  So, I ended up using Round 9 in the mushroom color around each square as my Single Crochet round, and crocheted the flat braid join using Lapis.  The reason I crocheted around each square in mushroom is so the join would show up more--if some squares were finished in Lapis, the join would blend in too much with the blue squares. 

                                                Victorian Lattice Squares and Flat Braid Join

I think I'll do a shell border around the afghan.  My granddaughter loves the blue color, but I think the shell edging would look really pretty in the mushroom color because it would stand out a bit more.  Ally loves her afghan and can't wait for it to be finished! 

                                                              Ally's Afghan in Progress

My notes: 
 

I’m using Stylecraft DK yarn in Lapis blue and Mushroom and a size 4.0 mm F hook. The squares are about 7” before borders and joining.
I am using the sc, ch1 as the first DC where the pattern says it. It makes a smaller DC which blends in well with the join each round. Round 9 is SC around in mushroom. This is 14 sc, ch1 in space, 14 sc, then the corner of (2sc, ch3, 2 sc).   I’m going to join with the blue with the flat braid join.

I am blocking each square before joining. For the flat braid join, always go into the stitch for the sc from the right side of the block. Always go into the chains from the right side of the block, so go down into the chain to join. Make sure the blocks are facing the right side when joining. 17 chains along each side of each block.
Each join is SC in new block, chain 1, take loop off, go into chain 3 of opposite square and pull thru, chain 2, then skip one sc on new block and sc in next sc.
Corners: SC in corner space, ch 2, take off hook, pull through diagonal corner, chain 3, sc in corner of new square again.
Starting a square: chain 5 from last corner of last square, sc into corner space of new square.

Ideas for border: there will be loops along each side of the blanket from the flat braid join.
I could do a shell into each: sc, hdc, 2 or 3 dc, hdc, sc into each loop.  I will sc in each loop first to add some structure.
I could do 3 sc into each loop with 5 in the corners. Then do the basic shell border: sc, skip one or two sc, 5 double crochets in the next stitch, skip one or 2 sc.. repeat.
Or a wave shell border is pretty. Or round of sc. 2nd round, sc skip one or two sc, then a shell of dc, ch1 (5 dcs with chain 1 between) or can use TC instead of dc.