Afghan Patterns

From Pat and Steve:
A very effective, easy-to-make, optical illusion.

It can be knitted using any type of yarn, in three colours. The original was knitted in Aran weight in variegated blue and two solid blues. You do not have to work to a particular gauge.

You work with small units and only have a large piece when you assemble it at the end. Use the basic ideas to make it any size from baby blanket to king-size bed.

Cubism Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
This has always been one of our most popular designs. In addition to it being a stunning way to decorate your room, as a wall-hanging or afghan, it is ideal for using up all the oddments of yarn you have accumulated.

It is also brilliant as a group project as each person can work to their own gauge and the pieces are guaranteed to fit perfectly.

Tilting at Windmills Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
You might see this as just an interesting design. It is also a crochet representation of square numbers and triangular numbers.

It consists of 225 circles; 105 have dark centres, the others are plain.

Triangular numbers are what you get when you add conscecutive numbers. The circles with dark centres are

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 %u2026%u2026. +14 = 105

The circles without dark centres are

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 %u2026%u2026. +15 = 120

Add two consecutive triangular numbers and you get a square number

105 + 120 = 225, which is the square of 15

I love the idea of using circles to represent squares and triangles!

Circles will not join together sufficiently well to support their own weight, so these are attached to a backing. The circles are worked first and joined to the backing as it is made. This involves a lot of work as it is like making two afghans. The up-side is that it makes a very warm, double thickness afghan and, as can be seen from the photo of the back , it looks completely different on the two sides and is very effective when hung as a room divider.

Try Angulate Pattern- 3.50 GBP
You will need a Ravelry account to view this pattern.

From Pat and Steve:
The name of Troy has often been associated with mazes and labyrinths.

This afghan is based on a particular Wall of Troy which used to exist in in Holderness, Humberside. It was unusual because it was a twelve-sided structure .

It measured about 40 feet (12 metres) in diameter. It is known to have been in existence by 1815 and destroyed some time afterwards.

It is very similar to Chartres Cathdral Maze.

Wall of Troy Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
This afghan started its life as a worksheet for pupils in a mathematics classroom. Some pupils were having difficulty identifying the properties of four-sided shapes so we devised a colouring-in sheet for them. Every shape in the patchwork has four sides.

The sheet became an afghan so that it could be used over and over to show the differences between the shapes.

Metafourmosis Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
This design shows one of the thousands of ways that half-and-half squares can be put together.

Squares made in this way form the basis of much of our work with schools and craft groups.

About Turn Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
Dragon Curves are 'curves' created when you fold a strip of paper many times. Chromatic Scale shows the creases in the paper with successive folds. Orange shows folds that go inwards (valley folds), cream represents folds that go outwards (mountain folds).

The long orange line, in the centre, represents where the paper was folded in half. A quarter of the way from each end are the next longest coloured stripes, representing the second fold.
As you continue to fold the strip (which you can only do about six times in real life) more and more creases appear.

Chromatic Scale Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
There is nothing particularly mathematical about The Woolsack. It is a tessellation of 12 large squares, giving a hint of other shadowy squares between them.

It's hidden secret is that it actually has 13 squares and can fold into itself to make cushion.

The Woolsack Pattern- 3.50 GBP

From Pat and Steve:
An optical illusion afghan using illusion knit techniques.

When you look straight at the afghan you see stripes in squares and zigzags. When you look at it from other angles you start to see steps and cubes, sometimes with light tops and sometimes with dark.

Step Up can be made to any size you want, using any yarn. The one shown in the photos was made in DK yarn and measures about 86 cm by 96 cm (34 inches by 38 inches).

There are never more than 20 stitches on the needles at any time but, because the sections are small, the work has to be turned often. Most of the joining is done as you go but there are a few small seams left to be stitched. You also need to be familiar with 3-needle bind off. There are a lot of ends to be darned in.

The instructions begin by leading you stage-by-stage. Once you have learned the method, you can decide for yourself which direction to work and how big to make the afghan.

Although this design is very simple to make it is not recommended for beginners.

Step Up Pattern- 3.50 GBP