Reminiscing about the Great American Aran Afghan

The shop is abuzz with excitement about our Great American Aran Afghan Club re-boot. Laura and Jill will be teaching our famous 18 month course, beginning in June, and the talk is all-afghan, all-the-time around here. Jill and I each brought our finished afghans in to display, and all the excitement really has me thinking back to when I made my afghan back in 2007. (Side note - I started teaching this class in January of 2007, which means I was five months pregnant with Ms Mals at the time, and then had a baby right in the middle of the 18 month class! What was I thinking?)

Before I keep going - if you are interested in taking our Afghan Class, either in the store or virtually, you can find more info and register on our website. 

The first time I taught this class, I certainly had experience cabling, and I also had experience reading charts. But I think working through these 20 different squares really cemented some key skills for me. For one, I re-charted each month's square for the class. Unfortunately the book does not present the square instructions in the most easy-to-follow format. Each square's instructions lists all individual chart motifs separately and you have bounce around the page as you work to keep track of each motif's progress. I don't fault the publishers for this, because I understand that in the interest of saving space they had to do it this way. However, it makes following along very difficult, especially for a new chart reader.

So for the class, I take this:

Lots of written gobbledy-gook and individual charts to track ...

And convert it to this:

My custom re-format, aligning all instructions, symbols, and motifs into one page

I created all the cable and chart symbols as .jpgs in Photoshop so that they would exactly match the symbols in the book in case anyone needs to cross-reference (except I color-coded mine to be easier to read). Then I just put all the individual charts into Excel into a nice big chart that shows the entire width of the square. I added all the symbol definitions below the chart for easy reference on one piece of paper (usually). For me, it is SO much easier than having to reference each individual motif, then the symbol map for each cable, then the written definition of each cable, every time you need to work across the row. 

Another skill that was refined and cemented throughout knitting this project is cabling without a cable needle. I started on my first square, and never looked back. In fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've had to use a cable needle in the last 12 years. Our class will teach those interested how to cable without a cable needle (and if you can't join us in class, see my YouTube video on Cabling Without a Cable Needle). 

Here is my afghan after I had assembled all of the squares but had yet to do the border: 

Is a swing set where you display your FO's as well?

And a final image of my finished afghan (apologies for the low light): 

I truly love this blanket, and it is in regular use around my house throughout Fall and Winter. It now looks loved and well-worn, and I don't mind one bit. 

Comments

[Terry]

I got my book and started charting the pineapple/fish square I know I'll do. Two hrs and only 10 of 60+ rows charged for one square. We are so spoiled with patterns now. I applaud anyone which knit a square with these instructions. Not only are the directions involved but not all of the cables are explained. Sarah's charts are very worth price of admission. My Afghan will incorporate some other pineapple cable blocks and Celtic themed ones as intended for a belated housewarming gift for my sister's retirement home in HI. So I won't be doing them all and I am using stash cheap acrilylic because wool is probably not best choice in HI but it can get cool.