First Afghan - The Pattern

Once the decision to make an afghan was made it was time to find the right pattern. Anything with a monstrously long row is out of the question! I KNOW I won’t stick with it if it takes forever to complete a row. Squares are also out, since the thought of weaving in all those ends is enough to give me an eye tic - not to mention having to sew them all together! I hate sewing! Strips I think I could manage. Each one would be a relatively minor time commitment, and finishing each one would give me that satisfaction I need. Plus, I could crochet them together instead of sewing. We’re only talking about 9 strips – I think I could do it!


When I first learned to knit and crochet, I spent many afternoons in the yarn department of AC Moore and Michaels searching for fashionable clothing patterns, and I remembered seeing something called a “Mile A Minute” afghan. Hey now - that sounds right up my alley! I should have that baby done in no time flat! One for each of us! ;-)

Way back when I was only interested in clothing patterns and I scoffed at the thought of making an afghan, It seemed to me that the Mile A Minute was everywhere I looked (mocking me!). But now that I wanted it, I was finding the one I had pictured in my head to be rather elusive - Who knew there were so many iterations of the Mile A Minute! I’m starting to feel a bit like Goldilocks – “this one has too many skinny strips” or “to much like a granny square” – I was looking for one that was “just right”! I finally found it right on my own bookshelf: Crochet for Today