CROCHET AFGHANS TO GIVE ----Reviewed by Bobbie Connolly
6 designs by Kathy Wesley
American School of Needlework
(c) 1997 $6.95 CP

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Afghans are afghans are afghans.....that's what I thought. How many variations are there on blocks, ripples or panels? To my surprise, there are more out there than I thought. This book has 6 very unique designs to work with and depending upon your color choices, the variety seems endless. Stitches used are very easy - nothing out of the ordinary here. They're all listed at the beginning of the book along with instructions for making fringe and conversion to English terms, if necessary. (You know - the double crochet is really a single crochet, etc.) The yarn used is worsted weight so there shouldn't be any surprises with gauge either. The first afghan they reference is striped, working horizontally, The stripes are of 2 rows each using 2 different colors, and interspersed with a single row of a third color. Number 2 is an interesting effect, similar to MAM styles, but each panel has 24 rows of one color, then switching to a second color for 24 rows and finally to a third for 24 rows. This pattern is repeated a second time in the panel creating a panel effect which looks "shorter" than it really is. The third afghan uses motifs in 2 main colors as its base which are put together in panels and edged in a third color. The motifs are actually made with 3 shades of a color creating a shimmery effect with yarn. A very pretty diamond pattern is created that is not usually seen in afghans.

Flowers in squares make up the fourth afghan in this book. There are blocks of 4 squares each and in each square is a flower design with a background of another color - in this case alternating blocks with green and blue. The colors for the flowers are yellow, purple, red and orange. With a little imagination I could see this as a very, very colorful piece! Bright, bold ripples are the theme for number 5, separated by black and I like this effect. The colors are very bright and seem to jump out at you. A couple of cluster stitches are also used to create a popcorn effect which adds to the boldness of this afghan - very impressive! Lastly we have a MAM style with, what almost looks like, cogs linked together through the panels. All panels have the same color repetition of these "cogs" and they are all worked at once - not individual motifs. The panels have an off white border and give it quite a nice effect. You could definitely not have each panel the same and find a wonderful way to use up all that scrap yarn on this one!! All in all I do like this book for the uniqueness of the patterns. I don't think the color choices were that great to show off the work however, with just a little imagination, there are some beautiful afghans here just waiting to be created!

Reviewed by Bobbie Connolly for Crochet Partners BobbieC@Juno.com || http://www.4w.com/pages/connolly The reviewer's addresses were accurate when posted. If you're trying to reach reviewer and address is no longer correct, please try one of the very fine internet search engines. Bobbie is also web master for the Project Linus Home Page. http://www.4w.com/pages/connolly/linus/htm http:/members.aol.com/blankets