Intarsia Wedding Afghan Series-Week 2

Welcome Back to the Intarsia Wedding Afghan Series!

The next step to creating this afghan is to Enlarge the Pattern.

As is normal for me, I forgot to bring the pattern with us this past weekend so I could have it enlarged at Office Max. So I will be working to enlarge it myself from home.

I thought my printer had a function to enlarge or shrink images……it does not.

So my next effort will be to enlarge the pattern using software on my computer before printing.

For me, this means using Microsoft Paint..don’t be frightened, I actually use this very basic program a lot with excellent results.

First I cropped the image to eliminate the white areas of the page where there was nothing useful.
Next I increased the image by 150% maintaining perspective.

The printed image is much improved over the original and as large as I could get the image and stay on one page. Once again, the simple Paint program comes through for me.

I may take this printed sheet to Office Max next weekend and have it further enlarged, covering multiple pages if necessary, but this is good enough to get me started.

Now, I need to assign the colors to the shaded and non-shaded boxes on the pattern grid.

I am choosing:

Royal Blue for Solid Black boxes
White for Gray shaded boxes
Pale Yellow for the Open boxes

If you count each block in this pattern as one single crochet stitch, it is 100 x 100 stitches.

I want this afghan to be larger than that so I am adding 50 stitches/blocks to each side for a total of 200 stitches across.

I would like the afghan to be longer than it is wide, so I am also adding 75 stitches/blocks to the top and bottom of the pattern.

Next I mark the changes to the pattern.

I will be adding a border to the pattern as well, but I haven’t chosen one yet. I like to choose the border after the afghan begins to take shape so I get a better feel for what it will look like. At this point I am thinking of something very simple, minimalist even, because I want the graphed image to be center stage..I don’t want anything to draw the eye away from the image.

Now that I have made the necessary adjustments to my pattern, it’s time to gather my supplies together.

I like working from a basket..this one is my favorite. It is large enough to hold a lot of yarn, all my tools and the finished project as it grows..and it isn’t too large to carry around from room to room easily. Besides, my Mother made it and it has held my crochet in progress for many years, so it is “well seasoned” to the task.

If you foresee traveling with a project, don’t use a basket. Go for a large tote or bag instead. This allows you to sling your project bag over your shoulder for easy carrying and the bag also sits nicely between your feet in the car or public transport. A bag will also keep your project clean during transport.

It is important to keep all your things together in one container, whatever you choose. Otherwise, you will find all your tools scattered and strung about.

My Tools are simple..

small notepad & pen

to quickly make notes
or write down ideas that come to me while I’m hooking

highlighter

to mark the rows on the charted pattern as they are completed..helps keep your place

2 size I crochet hooks

always have 2 because you will almost certainly lose one before the project is complete and having one handy instead of hunting another down from your craft room makes it ‘not a big deal’

nippers or scissors

These are optional tools I find helpful to keep in my tool bag

nail clippers w/a nail file attached

if a nail tears while I’m working, I can clip or file it to keep it from snagging on the yarn

magnifying glass

of course I forgot to buy one!

ponytail holder or hair clip

my hair drives me nuts sometimes and this keeps it out of my way

cell phone

at least keep it handy because if you are working on a large project you will enevitably find yourself covered with project, multiple skeins of yarn, child or pet and tools which you will have to find your way out from under without messing up what you are doing to go answer your phone across the room.

Zippered or Drawstring Bag…Whatever you keep your project tools in, make sure it has a secure closure so the contents cannot spill out. I like to use bags, not metal or plastic pencil boxes or similar, because you can store it with your work and it there are no sharp corners or latches to snag or otherwise damage your work in progress in the basket.

Your Pattern...I like to slide my printed patterns into a plastic sleeve while I’m working with them. It keeps the pattern from getting damaged as I am working with it.

Yarn…You don’t have to put ALL of the yarn for a large project into the basket at once. I do keep at least 2 or 3 skeins of each color handy so when one skein ends, it is simple to reach into the basket and tie on the next one.

Place everything into your basket, or other container, and you are ready to take it with you wherever you go.

That’s it!

There is nothing left but to start crocheting. For this project, that means arranging a quiet time and space to work on it so I can more carefully follow the pattern. It is too easy for me to get distracted and lose my place.