I am so excited to be sharing the 5th crochet square in the Traveling Afghan series sponsored by Lion Brand Yarn. This year long endeavour involves 49 knitwear designers from 7 different countries and will leave you with two beautiful afghans (one crocheted and one knitted). The afghans started their journey around the world in January and every two weeks a new designer has been sharing their 10″ x 10″ pattern and adding their square to the blanket before mailing it off to the next designer. Here’s how you can participate:
2. Visit the landing page for the project, hosted by Alexandra from Two of Wands, for the master list of all designers and links to their sites as well as the itinerary for the afghans so you can have a peek at the route they will be taking as they travel around the world – click HERE.
4. Host a CAL or KAL with your local maker friends! Get together throughout the year in person or online to add your squares.
5. Scroll down to find the free instructions for my raised heart square or head to Ravelry to download an inexpensive PDF version – click HERE.
As part of this project we were asked to share our maker journey as part of Lion Brand’s “My Life In Yarn” campaign. My design is pretty literal . . . yarn has my heart. I remember, as a little girl, how special I felt in my grandmother’s colourful handmade slippers, with the little pom poms on top, that she knitted just for me. I remember making small figures out of yarn, felt, and clothes pins and selling them to my Mom’s friends (my first entrepreneurial success). I remember being on bed-rest while pregnant with my first and turning to yarn and a crochet hook for piece of mind. I will never forget how growing this crochet pattern business has allowed me to work from home and be present for each and every special moment in my children’s lives. Yarn is my creative outlet, my escape, my livelihood, and will always have a special place in my heart.
Everyone square in this project uses Lion Brand’s Wool-Ease yarn. You can purchase the crochet kit HERE – it includes enough yarn to complete the entire afghan. I really enjoyed working with Wool-Ease; it’s thick texture meant my square worked up quickly and has a cozy plush vibe.
I love (‘heart’ if you will – ha) everything about this project! We get to hear from so many inspirational makers as they each share their personal stories and the afghan grows month by month. The fact that the blankets are physically travelling the globe is so neat too. I excitedly opened my package from Lindsey of Lottie and Albert to not only find the beautiful first 4 crochet squares but also a chocolate treat all the way from the UK. And Lindsey wrote her little note to me on the same piece of paper that Wilma of Wilmade in The Netherlands had sent her. This truly is a journey and I’m so excited to be sharing in that with all of you. Below is a map of the locations the crochet afghan will visit as well as direct links to each designer’s square (I’ll update the list as new squares are published).
#1 – New York City, USA – Alexandra Tavel of Two of Wands
#2 – Barcelona, Spain – Cecilia Losada of Mamma DIY
#3 – Utrecht, The Netherlands – Wilma Westenberg of Wilmade
#4 – Gloucestershire, UK – Lindsey Newns of Lottie and Albert
#5 – New Brunswick, Canada – Kim of Lakeside Loops (scroll down)
#6 –Ontario, Canada – Lee Sartori of Coco Crochet Lee
#7 – Alberta, Canada – Janine Myska of Knits n’ Knots
#8 – Alberta, Canada – Abigail Ellazar of Knits and Knots by AME
#9 – California, USA – Arica Presinal of Skeinsnsticks
#10 – California, USA – Meghan Ballmer of Meghan Makes Do
#11 – California, USA – Nicole Riley of Nicki’s Homemade Crafts
#12 – Arizona, USA – Bailey Williams of Hooked on Tilly
#13 – Colorado, USA – Jess Coppom of Make & Do Crew
#14 – Kansas, USA – Emily Davies of Hooked Hazel
#15 – Michigan, USA – Jennifer Pionk of A Crocheted Simplicity
#16 – Michigan, USA – Melissa Fisher of Woods and Wool
#17 – Ohio, USA – Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts
#18 – Georgia, USA – Vincent Williams of Visuvio’s Crafts
#19 – North Carolina, USA – Tia Edwards of Simple Things Crochet
#20 – North Carolina, USA – Ashleigh Kiser of Sewrella
#21 – North Carolina, USA – Rohn Strong of Rohn Strong
#22 – Pennsylvania, USA – Jessica Benvenuto of Fly the Distance
#23 – New York, USA – Brianna Iaropoli of Life and Yarn
#24 – New York City, USA – Teresa Carter of Debrosse
#25 – New Jersey, USA – ChiWei Ranck of 1 Dog Woof (coming soon)
Traveling Afghan Crochet Square #5
F I N I S H E D S I Z E
10” x 10”
(once blocked)
M A T E R I A L S
Hook – US J – 6.00mm crochet hook
Yarn – Any medium weight yarn (size 4 / ‘worsted’ / 10 ply)
◦ Lion Brand® Wool-Ease® (in Natural Heather) was used
Amount needed:
➢ Approximately 87 yards or 80 meters
G A U G E
12.5 stitches = 4 inches
11 rows = 4 inches
P A T T E R N A B B R E V I A T I O N S
English (US) terms
ch – Chain: Yarn over, pull through loop on hook
hdc – Half Double Crochet: Yarn over, insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull through stitch, yarn over and pull through all 3 loops on hook
tr – Treble Crochet: Yarn over 2 times, insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull through, (yarn over and pull through 2 loops) x 3
FP – Front Post: Work around front post of stitch rather than into it
BP – Back Post: Work around back post of stitch rather than into it
N O T E S
• Beginning chain does NOT count as a stitch in stitch counts
• Stitch count is in [ ] at the end of each row
V I D E O T U T O R I A L
There is a video tutorial available for this pattern on YouTube:
W R I T T E N P A T T E R N
English (US) terms
Row 1
Ch 33, hdc in 3rd chain from hook, hdc down chain
[31 hdc]
Row 2
Ch 2, hdc in each stitch to end of row
[31 hdc]
Row 3 to Row 8
Repeat Row 2
Row 9
Ch 2, hdc in next 15 stitches, FPtr around next stitch, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 10
Ch 2, hdc in next 14 stitches, BPtr around next 3 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 11
Ch 2, hdc in next 13 stitches, FPtr around next 5 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 12
Ch 2, hdc in next 12 stitches, BPtr around next 7 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 13
Ch 2, hdc in next 11 stitches, FPtr around next 9 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 14
Ch 2, hdc in next 10 stitches, BPtr around next 11 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 15
Ch 2, hdc in next 9 stitches, FPtr around next 13 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 16
Ch 2, hdc in next 8 stitches, BPtr around next 15 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 17
Ch 2, hdc in next 7 stitches, FPtr around next 17 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 18
Ch 2, hdc in next 7 stitches, BPtr around next 17 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 19
Ch 2, hdc in next 8 stitches, FPtr around next 7 stitches, hdc in next stitch, FPtr around next 7 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 20
Ch 2, hdc in next 9 stitches, BPtr around next 5 stitches, hdc in next 3 stitches, BPtr around next 5 stitches, hdc to end of row
[31 sts]
Row 21
Ch 2, hdc in each stitch to end of row
[31 hdc]
Row 22 to Row 28
Repeat Row 21
Fasten off + weave in ends
Block to 10” x 10” square
C H A R T
Thank you for following along with us all. I can’t wait to see your hearts and all the other beautiful squares you’ll make along the way so please make sure to use the hashtags #thetravelingafghans, #lionbrandyarn, #mylifeinyarn, and #thetravelingcrochetafghan in your posts.
