Fab or Flop: Weekend in Stockholm Afghan

For my first fab or flop post I have a huge project from my WIP pile finally completed.  I started this afghan last year and am happy to say I can put a nice big red check mark next to it.  The pattern is called the Weekend in Stockholm afghan from Red Heart.  I originally pinned this pattern to the Crochet projects board from someone else's page but here is the direct link to the pattern, and guess what....it's totally free.  I've pretty much abandoned buying patterns at this point unless it's a "I'll die without that" kind of response. Red Heart and other yarn companies like Lion Brand have some great free patterns on their sites.  I even follow them on pinterest.

So how did it go?  Not too bad.  I think I could have done better with the finished scalloped edge but being that this is my first full fledged afghan I'm pretty happy.  I have also gone through a bit of a roller coaster with the color selection.  From love, to unease, to dislike, to disappointment, back to love.  This all happened as the blanket was assembled.  I had no worries until that step.  Somehow, though, once I completed the boarder and stepped back, all my love for the original idea returned.  I especially love the yarn I chose, Caron Simply Soft, which I got at Joann of course.

Like I said this project was started last year and was sitting in a bag in the craft room.  I had all but maybe 8 squares done when I gave up.  How silly am I.  I was on the downhill slide to the finish and couldn't see it.  I had a three day weekend from work this last week and it was rain central around here so what did I do?  Curled up in the lazyboy, with both little dogs in my lap of course, and pounded out the finished product.  I was surprised at how quickly the joining process went.  I mainly listened to an audio book as I went along but one day I even just sat in the quiet.  (I have become a lover of quiet lately.)  Nature provided a soundtrack that day with the rain an thunder.  Way better than any recording.

When the sun finally came out.

The last thing I'd like to mention is that I didn't follow the pattern layout exactly in choosing my color pattern.  This took some math, which thankfully I'm pretty good at, and a couple pieces of scrap paper but it worked out great.  I have 24 different squares whereas the pattern calls for 10.  This translated to me having an uneven number divided into the total of 56 squares.  I made two of each and then for 8 strategically chosen squares I made an extra to bring me up to the right number.  The layout was a little tricky but the trial and error is just like putting together a puzzle(one of my favorite things to do).  Mr. Biscuit and Sadie made sure everything looked good before giving the final OK for me to start assembly.

I'd say the planning and patience to make it to the end were the toughest parts of this project.  The pattern itself looks much more challenging than it is.  After a few squares I got into a rhythm that was easy to maintain.  Plus it's alot of treble crochet so the squares grow quickly.  This is definitely a pattern that I would recommend to someone who has a little crochet experience but you don't even need to be a novice.

Tiny diva Gidget totally crashed my final photo shoot.  This was the best shot because she was doing it in protest.  The only thing she would tell me was that she disapproved of the lighting.
 

All in all I would say this is a FAB, but long, pin.  A keeper in the afghan library.

Crochet on!
Anita

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