The cooler weather has gotten me into an afghan making mood, so I have been mulling over a few project ideas. Though I told myself that I was not going to make anything with a lot of squares that would be too fiddly to put together, well, I totally caved when I saw the free pattern called Knitted Patchwork Recipe. I love the idea that this is portable, uses up scraps, and is easy to do. Obviously, this is a long (long, long) term project, but it is perfect for working on in between other crafting projects I always have going on.
The pattern suggests using leftover sock yarn and size 2.75mm (US 2) knitting needles. However, I don’t have a huge amount of sock yarn scraps. I do, though, have a fair amount of sport weight yarn and light worsted, so I will be using those scraps along with a US 5 needle (again, using what I already have).
When I made my very first square, I was baffled at how this was going to be a square when I finished it. I stopped and restarted a few times, and then I just decided to trust the pattern, and of course, it worked. I had my first mitered square, which lead to my second very quickly.
And….now I’m on to my third….I really have other projects I want to work on, but these little squares are so addicting. It’s hard for me to stop. Mine are turning out to be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. My husband asked me how many I will make and how big the afghan will be. I told him I don’t know. He was kind of incredulous, but like I said, this is long term. I may need a 100 or I may not a 1,000. Who knows!? This could turn into a king size blanket or a placement.
is published by Sixth and Spring books and retails for $17.95 in the US and $19.95 in Canada. As the title explains, it include 30 knitted vest designs all using 220 Superwach Cascade yarn in an aran weight, so these are generally on the chunky side.
is authored by Susan Gibbs, owner of