Zigzag Afghan

When I was younger, I loved snuggling up with blankets that my grandmother and great aunt crocheted when they were younger. I always admired the colors and the patterns that they used, most from memory when their mother had taught them. I used to study my grandmother's handiwork and as I tried to mimic her, I told myself that I could not call myself a true crocheter until I created my own Zigzag afghan as it was such a staple for all any experienced crocheter.

My first crocheted afghan was made for my friend as a house warming present. I followed a pattern in a pamphlet I picked up at a craft store (used different colors though), but it was far from perfect! (The stitches were fine, but I didn't keep track of rows and I didn't watch the gauge so it ended up being smaller than most of the knit blankets I had made before) I gave it to her anyway and it still serves her good use :)

 I feel bad sharing the pattern for this one because, like I said, it was from a pamphlet, so I don't own the rights or anything to do so.

My next one I made for me for my house warming present. (By this time I had made 4 large afghans as well as 5 baby afghans and decided it was time for me to make one that I could hold onto!)

I did not use a pattern, but instead used stitches that I had discovered as I was learning to crochet, so in a way this is my first original pattern!  This time I chained more stitches so that the blanket would be large enough for the futon I wanted to keep it on.


I used Loops and Threads (tm) Impeccable yarn. It is a nice afghan weight, and very warm (keeping me warm as I worked on it!) for the winter time. I probably wouldn't keep this out to use year round as it was a little warm to wear even for the fall temperatures, but I do keep it out just because I like the pattern :) The three colors are Amethyst, Lavender, and White. The basic pattern I used (more thorough one to follow) was 6 rows of Amethyst, 9 rows of Lavender, and 12 rows of white. Using so much white made me nervous because I thought that it would look dirtier as it aged, but I definitely like the cascading effect achieved by the different number of rows and that the white makes the whole blanket look cleaner (for now!) If I make another one, I might choose colors that complement another neutral color such as beige or the taupe color. Everyone's tension is different, but with mine, 1 skein of yarn earned me about 16 rows of work. Because my work is so big one skein didn't get me very far, but you can monitor your own work and decide what your tension yields and can use this information in any later project you work on. I'll certainly keep it in mind for the next project I start!

Since this is my first time writing a pattern I wanted to go ahead and explain myself. I GREATLY dislike the way that most crochet and knit patterns are published. I'm a smart person, but most times I mess up a pattern because I decipher the pattern wrong and I have to start over. Now, once I have been using a pattern for a while, I reorganize it in my brain a different way and then eventually memorize it so I didn't have to look at the pattern anymore. I know it a.) saves space, and b.) experienced crafters probably decipher the code without an issues, but I decided here I have space, and it's my blog :) I decided to post my patterns in my patterns in a step by step process I'm very methodical and  lay out EVERYTHING that I do in steps. I also want to post a step by step pattern with pictures (which for right now is underneath the pattern without pictures) Eventually I hope to post YouTube videos and link them from my posts, but since this is my first one, I'll rough it just to get something out there. You're welcome to leave me comments if you disprove of my method, or if you want the pattern in the more standard way. I don't mind!

Pattern:

Size: 50"x72" (big enough for two :) )

Materials:
3 balls Color A (mine: Amethyst)
5 balls Color B (mine: Lavender)
6 balls Color C (mine: White)

Crochet Hook size I-9/5.5mm
Scissors

Chain 308 stitches (or any even multiple of 11) of color a. (using an odd multiple of 11 will mean one side of your pattern ends up and the other side ends down and also messes up the counts when doing the skip 2 and chain 2. With an even multiple of 11, both sides should end down)
Start in 2nd chain from hook and Single Crochet (SC) 10 stitches.

Chain 2.
SC 10 stitches.
Skip 2 stitches.
SC 10 stitches.

REPEAT these 4 steps until you reach the end of the chain. This counts as your first row.

[That is your hardest row, it is the only row of its kind in this whole work and because it's your first you have to pay extra special attention to your counting and keeping track of when you chain 2 and when you skip 2. This is the row that might get ripped out many a time over :) ]

Turn work.
Start in 2nd chain from hook.

SC 9 stitches IN BACK of stitches from from the 1st row.
SC in center of hole created by the chains from previous row.
Chain 2.
SC in center of hole created by the chains from previous row (will share with SC made before the chains).
SC 9 stitches IN BACK of stitches from 1st row.
Skip 2.

 REPEAT these 6 steps until you reach the end of the chain, leaving one stitch unworked.

REPEAT the last 8 steps until you have completed 6 rows of color a.

To change colors, cut color a with a safe amount of tail (enough that you won't lose, but not so much that you're wasting or having to worry about getting tangled) pull end of color b into the "turn stitch" of color a and pull tail of a. This creates a light knot and you can now begin working with color b without having another stitch to keep track of.

REPEAT previous 8 steps until you have completed 9 rows of color b.

Change to color c.

REPEAT previous 8 steps until you have completed 12 rows of color c.

Continue working back and forth until you have either used all of your yarn, or have reached a desired length.

To personalize this blanket, you can create a swatch (a trial) of the pattern to test your gauge and decide how wide you want your blanket to be before you start. The swatch I used for the pictures that followed is only 44 stitches wide. Using Red Heart yarn and a H-8/5.00mm hook my swatch ended up being 10", so I know that if I started with 440 stitches, my blanket would end up being 100". (Basic math!)

Pattern (with pictures):

Size: 50"x72" (big enough for two :) )

Materials:
3 balls Color A (mine: Amethyst)
5 balls Color B (mine: Lavender)
6 balls Color C (mine: White)

Crochet Hook size I-9/5.5mm
Scissors

Chain 308 stitches (or any even multiple of 11) of color a. (using an odd multiple of 11 will mean one side of your pattern ends up and the other side ends down, with an even multiple of 11, both sides should end in the same direction)

Start in 2nd chain from hook and Single Crochet (SC) 10 stitches.

Chain 2.

SC 10 stitches.
Skip 2 stitches.

SC 10 stitches.

REPEAT these 4 steps until you reach the end of the chain. This counts as your first row.

[That is your hardest row, it is the only row of its kind in this whole work and because it's your first you have to pay extra special attention to your counting and keeping track of when you chain 2 and when you skip 2. This is the row that might get ripped out many a time over :) ]

Turn work.
Start in 2nd chain from hook.

SC 9 stitches IN BACK of stitches from from the 1st row.

SC in center of hole created by the chains from previous row.

Chain 2.

SC in center of hole created by the chains from previous row (will share with SC made before the chains).
SC 9 stitches IN BACK of stitches from 1st row.
Skip 2.

 REPEAT these 6 steps until you reach the end of the chain, leaving one stitch unworked.

REPEAT the last 8 steps until you have completed 6 rows of color a.

To change colors, cut color a with a safe amount of tail (enough that you won't lose, but not so much that you're wasting or having to worry about getting tangled) pull end of color b into the "turn stitch" of color a and pull tail of a. This creates a light knot and you can now begin working with color b without having another stitch to keep track of.

REPEAT previous 8 steps until you have completed 9 rows of color b.

Change to color c.

REPEAT previous 8 steps until you have completed 12 rows of color c.

Continue working back and forth until you have either used all of your yarn, or have reached a desired length.