WANNA MAKE A 5 POINT AFGHAN?

Look what I found! If you want to make a FIVE POINT AFGHAN, there’s a detailed tutorial with lots of pix at this site:

cro superstar 5 pt afghan 092509

http://barbarabradford.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-06-01T03%3A32%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

I’m a fan of this and similar afghans that fall into the category of ’round ripples’. The round ripple afghans come in all sizes and with an amazing amount of points – 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, and more. Everything from the Spiderman to this Superstar make wonderful gifts for baby and older kids. If your kid isn’t a fan of Spiderman, crochet it in colors that suggest some other character, school, or decor.

Some of the patterns for found ripples are baffling. In fact, ripples in any ‘direction’ are baffling for lots of crocheters. Try this one out. Bradford does a nice job of helping the crocheter decipher the pattern.

Here are a few samples of other round ripples you can find online for free:

http://project-angel-kisses.150m.com/roundripple.html

Here’s another I particularly like. Color choice could easily be changed to suit you or the recipient.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977275501

For a Directory of other Round Ripples, check here:

http://www.tamemymind.com/blog/2007/03/19/round-afghan-blanket-patterns-crocheted-or-knitted.php

Disclaimer: I DO NOT make popcorns. LOL. They can be easily omitted from almost any pattern. I speak from experience. If you want to omit them like I do, just crochet the ‘regular’ stitch in the row in place of the popcorn.

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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