Black and white afghan

At long last, my monochromatic / black and white afghan is complete! I wanted to photograph and blog it yesterday, but some unfortunate happenings came about involving homemade soup, spillage, and said afghan needed an emergency wash. But myself and blanket have made it through in one piece. Both physically, and mentally.

To date, I have to say this was the toughest thing I’ve had to photograph. I took over 150 photos of my blanket, and only four made the cut. I had some more than willing kitty props, except that Juniper {above} doesn’t exactly look happy. I promise, she’s actually a happy cat. You’ll just have to trust me. And every time I positioned the blanket to take a picture, Toshi was on it like a car bonnet.

I was so surprised with how fast I was able to get crochet this blanket. I casually crocheted it for 6 weeks, doing a couple lines each evening; I sound like a hardened crack addict. I averaged at 20 minutes per row, which works out at 30 hours of continuous crocheting. Or realistically, 6 weeks.

I crocheted until I used up all the yarn. It’s the perfect length for sitting on the couch watching tv. Snug as a bug. 97 x 137cm (38 x 54 inches). I tidied away all the crochet gobbledy-gook after the jump. Enjoy!

Pattern Note
The original Lion Brand Yarn Shaded Ripple Afghan uses twice the size of crochet hook (9mm), and half the chains (76ch). Since I used a 4.5mm crochet hook, I had to double the amount of chains. In the end, it makes up the same size blanket. Original pattern can be found here. Below are details on how I made my blanket.


Materials
400g skein of black yarn
400g skein of white yarn
Crochet hook size 7 / 4.50mm
Scissors

Abbreviations
ch(s) – chain(s)
dc – double crochet
rep – repeat(s)(ing)
st(s) – stitch(es)
dc3tog (dc 3 together) – yarn over, insert hook into st and draw up a loop, yarn over and draw through 2 loops. (Yarn over, insert hook into next st and draw up a loop. Yarn over, draw through 2 loops) twice, yarn over and draw through all loops on hook (4) – 2 dc decreased

Afghan
With black yarn, ch 152.
Row 1 – dc in 4th ch from hook, *dc in next 4 ch, dc3tog, dc in next 4 ch, 3 dc in next ch; rep from * 10 more times, dc in next 4 ch, dc3tog, dc in next 4 ch, 2 dc in last ch – 12 ripples.
Row 2 – ch 3, turn, dc in first dc, *dc in next 4 dh, dc3tog, dc in next 4 dh, 3 dc in next dh; rep from * 8 more times, dc in next 4 dh, dc3tog, dc in next 4 dh, 2 dc in top of turning ch. Change to white.
Rows 3-90 or until you run out of yarn – rep row 2, continuing in color sequence.

Fasten off, weave in ends, and get your snuggle on!