Pattern Review: Yes Yes Shawl by Bernat Design Studio

• Pattern Name: Yes Yes Shawl by Bernat Design Studio

• Link: http://www.yarnspirations.com/pattern/crochet/yes-yes-shawl

• Positives:

It's a fairly complicated pattern considering all things, BUT the extra support from the Yarspirations website as well as having it be one of the challenges that The Crochet Crowd was doing definitely made this pattern almost fool proof.  

• Negatives:

With as much help as there was for this project, I can't pinpoint exactly why I decided to frog my shawl other than the fact that I'm not a shawl person.  Yes, the yarn I used probably wasn't the most ideal, and the weight of it seemed too heavy with what I used, but I thought that maybe I'd put it on my etsy website and sell it, since they seem so easy to construct, but when I realized my heart wasn't in it, suddenly that yarn seemed to be destined to be in another project. 

I've never owned one myself and truthfully, no offense to anyone out there, they aren't something that my demographic usually wears.

Hopefully the next The Crochet Crowd Challenge will be something to spark my interest and I can share more insight into some great patterns. 

 

Pattern Review: Crazy Patchwork Afghan

Pattern name:

TUTORIAL: Crazy Patchwork - Klimt Blankets 

Link: http://gingerschatz.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-crazy-patchwork-klimt-blankets.html

My pattern notes:

Over the last few years I've made two of these popular afghans. One was done with Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in fall colors and one with Caron Simply Soft Yarn in a rainbow pattern. The type of yarn I used didn't seem to make a difference when it came to following the pattern. The sizes were different due to the yarn size but the steps I took to get the squares the correct size to attach to the other ones didn't change.

Positives:

This is an extremely flexible pattern when it comes to arranging the squares and picking colors.

The speed in which this pattern works up is great as well up to the point of needing to attach your squares together. Solid granny squares have been my favorite for a while so I find them come to me easily. 

Negatives:

There is a section where you attach 5 (2 round squares) together to match up with a 10 round square. For some reason the way I was attaching them didn't allow me to line up 5 squares. I used 4 and the pattern still worked but if you're looking to follow the pattern step by step this might be something to spend extra time on.

Because there are a lot of color changes there are a lot of loose ends to tuck in. Not the worst thing I the world when it comes to crocheting but it does slow the process a little.

Final thoughts: 

If you can granny square give this one a try. I'd recommend only using the same size yarn throughout the blanket but other than that the sky is the limit when it comes to this pattern!