Monday, December 28, 2009

Elephant Afghan in complete!!!!



I started this elephant afghan back in October and I'm so happy that I was able to get in done in time to give it to my grandmother for Christmas.  My grandmother has collected elephants since she was a little girl.  Just to give you an idea, this is a sample of her collection.

I've been crocheting for years, but mostly baby blankets and a few scarves.  I've never "dropped" yarn like this before nor have I done a pattern.  It was fun, challenging, and a learning experience.  I designed the elephant design myself.  I searched all over the internet for just the right elephant.  A front view looked too baby-ish and many side views had four legs and I didn't want to deal with that many color changes. 

I used MS Excel to make my pattern.  Hoping that the gauge would be accurate, I made the cells 3x as long as they were wide and crocheted the blanket using all double crochets.  I found the closest elephant picture I could find to what I wanted and made it a watermark in an MS Excel spreadsheet.  This allowed me to see the picture behind the grid/spreadsheet.  I then shaded in all the cells over the watermark, making adjustments so that it was more what I wanted. 

I made a total of 6 squares and then crocheted them together for the final product.  I used Vanna's Choice, 100% Acrylic yarn in Taupe and Linen for this design.  Because I dropped yarn vs. crocheting over the secondary color, it was a challenge until I got past the trunk/tail as I did this pattern from bottom to top.  At it's most challenging, I had seven different skeins going at one time and since I didn't always have that many skeins on hand, there were times when I was working off both ends.  Every time I started a new row and had to flip the blanket, all the yarns would get tangled.  I was always so relieved to get past the tail and trunk when I was only working with 3 yarns.  Getting past the legs was also a joyous occasion. 

Despite my desire to make the afghan with just 4 squares so that I could make more infinity scarves, I pressed on and made all 6.  It's a very warm, soft blanket - maybe a bit on the heavy side for my dear old grandmother who is soon to be 80.  But none the less, I consider it a success and another fantastic gift made with love :-).

3 comments:

  1. Hey Katie!
    I just started crocheting this past month. I'm so impressed with your work--and holy moly, seven skeins at once?? Eeek.
    I'm looking forward to seeing your next creation.

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  2. Thanks Gigi! I go through spurts and right now I'm pretty excited about crocheting new things.

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  3. Hi Kate,
    I love your afghan. I found it thru google. My son's girlfriend loves elephants & wants me to make her an afghan. I really would love to make this for her. Do you have a pattern that I could purchase from you? It is beautiful. I will check here often for you response. Thank you! Debbie

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