MORE WEEKEND AFGHANS - Reviewed by Bobbie Connolly 1/97
#101064 House of White Birches, c. 1996
Designs by Melissa Leapman
8 Pages

• Good Pamphlet, but share the cost and patterns with a friend
• If you're looking for some quick afghans, that don't all look the same, Bobbie recommends this leaflet

My interest was piqued by the title of this publication - an afghan in a weekend was too good to be true. Heaven knows I've carried around afghans in progress for what seems like monthswondering why they were never getting any nearer to completion! I decided to make one of the afghans offered and actually time my work to see how the term "weekend" was defined.

There are seven designs offered in this publication with skills ranging from Beginner to Intermediate. There is nothing very difficult about any of the designs, with the most difficult stitch being the Reverse Single Crochet. I didn't feel overwhelmed at all while reading any of the patterns and was confident they could all be accomplished by any person familiar with crochet.

The designs themselves aren't bad for a limited offering. They are not all the same design and the colors depicted are a nice offering. There is a baby ripple, two striped patterns, a motif pattern, two looser weaves and a very nice pattern using the Long DC stitch, which I plan to try later on ! The patterns use either 1 stand of yarn with a K hook or 2 strands of yarn with an N hook. There is a black and white picture with each pattern, while a color picture of each is on the outside cover. The stitches used and abbreviations are illustrated in the back in case you have a temporary memory lapse!

The pattern I made was on the cover and called Confetti. It consisted of V-stitches and shells repeated throughout. I did use a different yarn then recommended--they used Lion Brand Jiffywhile I chose Natura Deluxe Acrylic -- but I feel it still worked up quite well. It was labeled for a Beginner and I agree with that as it was a very easy pattern to learn, and quickly became habit with no reference back to the book required.

I did make one minor change in the pattern which was not to add the fringe (personal preference). Instead, I worked a few more rows and ended up with an afghan that was about the same size as the pattern.

All in all this pattern took me 13 hours and 35 minutes to complete. In my opinion that is a little longer than what I would expect a "weekend afghan" to take. I don't have 13 hours in a weekend to devote to an afghan but it still worked up fairly quickly. I would recommend this leaflet if you're looking for some quick afghans that don't all look the same. My only notation, again, would be on the title - maybe it should be changed to Afghans In A Week!

Reviewed for Crochet Partners by BobbieC@Juno.com January 1997