Project 3: Baby Afghan
Bernat: 
My version: 
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This article will walk you through the actual construction of Crocheted Baby Afghan, by Bernat. By this point, you know, based on the information in the pattern header what kind of yarn and hook you need, how tightly or loosely you must crochet in order to make this the correct size, and what size to make to fit your body. To refresh your memory, check out the extracts to the right and below.
As noted earlier in this series, this project is a free pattern from the Bernat website.
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Gauge Notes
Many times, you will see gauge specifications as so many stitches per 4 inches (or 10 cm). But in crochet patterns with intricate stitches and motifs, you will more likely see a gauge specification say so many motifs per 4 inches (or 10 cm).
This pattern is no exception. The gauge specification reads as shown at right.
Now, a "shell" is not a standard crochet stitch - there are many different kinds of shells, and each pattern will tell you what the shell is. In general, however, a shell is a collection of longer stitches (double crochets or longer) worked into the same stitch.
The important point here is that you will need to understand the pattern before you can do a gauge swatch!
The pattern will be discussed further in this article. But first, here is something else to consider.
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GAUGE
4 shells and 10 rows = 4 ins [10 cm]
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Without going into the full details of the pattern (because that's coming a bit further down), I can tell you that the pattern consists roughly of what I will call "alternating shells and sticks".
There is a question as to what the gauge specification actually means:
- Does it refer to just 4 shells and the 3 sticks between them? (as shown by the photo on the right)
- Does it refer to 4 repeats - as in 4 shells and 4 sticks?
Personally, I was uncomfortable with the gauge swatch as shown on the right.
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So I got a hook a size smaller, and made this gauge swatch, in which 4 repeats of the shell-and-stick pattern take 4 inches.
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Another tip: when you are going to make a gauge swatch for an unfamiliar pattern, make your initial chain about 5 inches long.
Start making the project on this small chain. You will probably have an incorrect number of chains. Keep working until it seems like you don't have enough chains left to finish a repeat. Back up to the end of the previous repeat, and then do the end-of-the-row stitches. If there are excess chains, don't worry - this is just for the gauge swatch - it's not the real project.
Especially for this project, with an incredibly long foundation chain.
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Original Instructions
Here are the original instructions from Bernat.
Don't worry about the fact that the letters are so small. We will work through these lines step by step, and they will be visible when needed.
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The Foundation Chain
What a simple statement: Chain 209. And what a difficult thing to accomplish! It is just so easy to lose count when making that chain.
The photo at right shows how I handled it - every 20 chains, I stuck a stitch marker into the chain. That made the counting much easier.
But I do have to tell you a little secret - if you are off by 1 chain (either too short or too long), this particular pattern makes it easy to fudge. Just before you put some stitches into the last chain, you have to skip a couple of chains. If you made your chain a bit too short, and you only can skip 1 chain, no one will notice. Or if you made your chain a bit too long, and you have to skip 3 chains, no problem. The only one who will know about the fudging is you.
And by the way, even though the initial chain is 209 stitches, the yarn is quite fine, so the fabric is only about 36" wide.
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The Foundation Row
This is the kind of instructions that can cause crochet beginners to just give up. There are a lot of words there, all in abbreviations. And it is really easy to lose one's place.
The answer is to chunk things.
On a typical row, there is an initial section, a repeat section, and a final section.
For this pattern, here is the breakdown:
- Initial section: 1 dc in 5th ch from hook. Ch 1.
- Repeat section: *Miss next 2 ch. 1 dc in next ch. Ch 1. Miss next 2 ch. (1 dc. Ch 1) 3 times in next ch - shell made. Rep from * to last 6 ch.
- Final section: Miss next 2 ch. 1 dc in next ch. Ch 1. Miss next 2 ch. (1 dc. Ch 1. 1 dc) in last ch. Ch 4. Turn.
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Hmmm. Even chunked like that it is still a bit overwhelming. So let's go at it a bit slower.
The initial section, shown at right, should be fairly easy to swallow. Work a double crochet into the fifth chain from the hook, and then do a chain 1.
Note that when you are trying to find the fifth chain from the hook, the first chain is the one just below the loop on the hook. Do not count the loop on the hook.
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Initial section: 1 dc in 5th ch from hook. Ch 1.
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Now let us look at the repeat section.
The first key item is the asterisk (star). It marks the beginning of a repeat section. There is a reference to the star later. When it says "Rep from *", it is saying every phrase starting from the star until just before the "Rep" is to be repeated, in the given sequence.
And in this case, it is to be repeated over and over again until 6 chains remain from the foundation chain.
There is another little repeat inside this repeat, and that is the section "(1 dc. Ch 1) 3 times in next ch". Instructions in parentheses usually are done a specified number of times. This is a bit special, because everything in those parentheses is worked into the same stitch, the next chain. This should be interpreted as:
Dc in next ch. Ch 1. Dc in same ch as last dc went into. Ch 1. Dc in same ch as previous 2 dc's went into. Ch 1.
Then the designer further adds the note that this (Dc-ch1-dc-ch1-dc-ch1) combination that is worked into the same stitch is called a Shell in this pattern, and will be referred to as a shell later on. This is convenient shorthand.
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Repeat section: *Miss next 2 ch. 1 dc in next ch. Ch 1. Miss next 2 ch. (1 dc. Ch 1) 3 times in next ch - shell made. Rep from * to last 6 ch.
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Here's a tip for figuring out what this pattern is trying to say. First, just look at what stitches you will make, and then look at where you will place them.
The first step is to look at the stitches. So ignore the phrases about missing chains or "in next ch". You are left with:
1 dc. Ch 1. (1 dc. Ch 1) 3 times. And repeat.
So the repeat just consists of alternating dc's and ch-1's. That's pretty easy.
Now, look at where stitches are going. Ignore the type of stitch, just focus on where to insert the hook. You are left with:
Miss next 2 ch. Something in next ch. Miss next 2 ch. Something in next ch. And repeat.
So the repeat just consists of working a stitch (or several) into every 3rd chain. That's pretty easy, too.
And now, it is easy to combine those concepts, and follow the pattern.
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Repeat section: *Miss next 2 ch. 1 dc in next ch. Ch 1. Miss next 2 ch. (1 dc. Ch 1) 3 times in next ch - shell made. Rep from * to last 6 ch.
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Some people are more visual, and this chart might help.
In this chart, the circles are chains and the straight lines are double crochets. You can see the foundation chain, the initial section at the far right, and then a couple of the repeats working to the left (separated by the slanted red dashed lines).
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Now that the repeat has been figured out, let us check out the final section.
You will no doubt notice that it starts out very much like the repeat section, but it does not have a full shell in the last chain - just half a shell - 2 dc legs into the same chain.
Not surprisingly, this is quite similar to the initial section, which had a dc and a long chain that was equivalent to a dc right at the beginning.
In this pattern, the turning chain is given at the end of a row.
My personal opinion: a turning chain should be given at the beginning of a row. In this pattern, the ch-4 will act as the first dc and ch-1 in the next row, so it should be shown there. There is debate about which practice should be used.
To the right is a completed chart for this foundation row (minus the turning chain at the end).
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Final section: Miss next 2 ch. 1 dc in next ch. Ch 1. Miss next 2 ch. (1 dc. Ch 1. 1 dc) in last ch. Ch 4. Turn.
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Now you can complete the foundation row.
It is easy to get confused on this one. Notice in the photo at the right there are TWO places where I missed putting in a shell (for the photo, I positioned both mistakes just below the black stitch marker).
Of course, that meant I had to undo the crochet and then redo it! Sigh...
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This photo shows the beginning of this foundation row.
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And this photo shows the both the beginning and the end.
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To be continued
By now, the foundation row is complete. The next part is explained in part 2 of the instructions.
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If you have any pattern reading questions, please email Crocus Needle Arts School. I will answer your questions (if I can!), and add the information to this series of articles - a win-win for you, me, and others.
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Copyright 2009, 2010 Judith Obee except for the excerpts from Bernat
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