I love their crochet designs because there are usually some new to me stitches and there were. The design is also very dimensional like a bas-relief in
wool. Some of the more interesting stiches take a couple of rows to mature the pattern. One in particular, rows 83-85 creates beautiful wool dots that are wrapped in color making them seem like large painted dots. Ther are a couple more variations of this, that just increase the texture.
Another stitch design, rows 92-95, adds a square texture near the outer border that literally looks like a squared-off textured picture frame.
One of my requirements was that this be done from stash yarn. So, all the colors, at least initially, came from stash. It was a fun exercise to pull various yarns and align them to the various pattern colors.
After reviewing the black and white for value, I switched out the cream boucle for a mint green cotton. I also replaced the dark purple with a similar color as I hadn’t quite enough of the first selection.
The stash yarns used included (left to right in the photo) Diamond Luxury and Valley Yarns by Webs (100% wool), Knit One, Crochet too Brae Tweed (60% merino wool, 20% baby llama, 10% bamboo, 10-% donegal wool), Noro (55% wool, 35% silk, 10% mohair), Berroco (100% cotton), Malabrigo, Valley Yarns by Webs, and Plymouth Yarn Mushishi (95% wool, 5% silk).
There were two purchase casualties along the way. A skein of Noro was needed when I ran out in row 94 in June, 2025. I did measure in advance, but the yarn sizes varied a bit from the original design.
The second and last purchase, literally came on the last row, with only a side and a half to complete. The yarn came from a discontinued mill purchase on a trip to Massachusetts a decade or two ago. After searching online, the only available were from the stash of members of Ravelry. I fortunately found it through that social media site. Go Ravelry Stash!
This project originally started as a morning coffee companion. That had been my habit for three decades. But a couple of years ago we adopted cats. They found my morning fiber practice more fun and games for themselves. Progress stopped. My textile routines turned on their head. Since then, I’ve given up morning fiber, and instead its coffee, cats, and conversation. Fiber now happens throughout the day. This took some transition, and a few start and stops elongating the completion of this project.
The afghan is heavily textured, and the colors are rich and vibrant, just like a warm autumn day!
Enjoy!
Alex
