Fruit Punch Afghan

            I’m still working on my daughter’s sweater (you can view my progress here: WIP Crochet Sweater), so since I can’t share that with you today, I thought I would share something I’ve made in the past.

            A cousin of mine got married in 2012, and I made this afghan for him and his bride.  I think traditionally, a Bridal afghan is created in white, off-white/cream, etc., but I wanted this to be more personal for them.  Since I wanted it to be a surprise, I did a little recon a few months before their wedding and learned that his bride planned to use a different color dress for each of her attendants, and that they were bright, beautiful colors.  I just so happened to notice this variegated yarn soon after I began my search for yarn colors, which matches some of her bridesmaid’s dress almost perfectly!  It is Red Heart With Love, color: Fruit Punch, and I believe this required 8 full skeins of yarn, and most of a 9^th one.  I think it may have been discontinued though, because I could not find it on the Red Heart website. 

            Here is a close up of the stitches:

The pattern is very simple and flexible.  This is the one I used: The Afghan Squared

It is made holding two strands of yarn together, so even though it is a somewhat open design, it is thicker and very warm.  This pattern is usually completed in several different colors, or a minimum of 2-3 colors, which creates a wonderful affect.  It would be an excellent afghan for your yarn scraps.  However, I was going for colors that would be special to them, and I was pressed for time, so I stayed with one yarn color.  Another thing I love about this pattern—you can continue to crochet until you’ve achieved the size afghan you’d like.  The pattern begins in the center, and you continue to work the sets of 3 dc’s all the way around, increasing in each row.

            I did a simple border around the afghan to finish.  The photos truly do not do justice to the beauty of the afghan.  I had a hard time getting a photo that looked okay for some reason, but you can get an idea here:

            The Fruit Punch yarn is one you just have to see in person.  I hope you enjoyed a view of this afghan and it has inspired you to go create something special as well.  That is one of the things that I find so beautiful about crocheting, or making anything by hand—it’s the ability to create something that is sentimental to the recipient in a number of ways.  When my cousin’s bride opened the afghan, she said it gave her chills because her grandmother had made something for her with similar colors when she was a little girl.  It was a wonderful reward for all the many hours of work that I put forth. 

            If you would like to see more of the crochet ideas I like, view my Crochet board on Pinterest.  Blessings to each of you!