Wheel Stitch Afghan

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I'm working on an update to this after realizing that, since the width increases at the same speed as the length, you'll end up with almost a square if the piece gets anywhere near the size of a normal afghan. Of course, this might work well for a lapghan...

·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((º> U P D A T E <º)))><¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·

I found a really nice-looking afghan online based on the wheel stitch, but the afghan was square. I made one in baby size for a present, which you can see in a previous post here.

In some cases, a square afghan or blanket is just what you need, but there are times you want a rectangular one, right?. I liked the wheel stitch, so I decided to write out a pattern for a rectangular afghan using this stitch. I haven't completed the afghan yet, but I will share my progress as it goes along.

Here's what I've come up with so far with some pictures to help you along the way:

Wheel Stitch Afghan
© 2009 Gene Saunders, a.k.a. CrochetDad
Do not redistribute without permission. You may post a link to this article, but don't copy it and call it your own. Thanks!

For yarn, I'm using Red Heart Super Saver in several colors (actually, I'm starting with the left-over yarn from the Baby Blanket I made. The colors are six shades of blue, white, buff and burgundy. You can make this afghan with as little as one color - I'll tell you later how to use only one color without cutting the yarn...

Hook size will depend on the yarn you use and how tight or loose you want the stitches to look.

Notes:

• The afghan is worked in rounds, don't turn unless instructed.
• The finished size is up to you - just keep going until it's the right size
  
• Instructions are in US crochet terms
• These are not instructions on how to crochet
• It is assumed you have basic crochet knowledge

Abbreviations:

ch = chain
sl st = slip stitch
trc = treble crochet
bptrc = back post treble crochet

Afghan:
Rnd 1: This is the foundation round - ch 12, 7 trc in 4th ch from hook, sk 4 ch, sl st in next ch, sk 4 ch,15 trc shell in next ch, sl st in same st as last sl st, 7 trc in same st as first 7 trc shell, sl st in last ch (top of first shell, finish off.

Note: If you're doing a single color version, don't finish off - just keep going

You should have something like this:



Rnd 2: This round is the first half of the wheel stitch. It takes two rounds to complete the stitch.

(Note: If you are doing this in one color, sl st in next 3 sts, then continue with the next ch 3)

Change color, join yarn in top of first trc, ch 3, [yo twice, bptrc in next st, reserving last loop on hook] 4 times, (5 loops on hook) yo and pull through all loops, ch 1 (CornerCluster made). The ch 1 will be referred to later as the “shell anchor” later. Here's what you should have:



Now ch 3, and sl st under loops of current st and next st, like this:



ch 3, [yo twice, bptrc in next st, reserving last loop on hook] 6 times, yo and pull through all loops on hook, ch 1 (SideCluster made) (again, the ch 1 is the "shell anchor" for the next round). Here's what mine looks like at this point:



Now do a ch 3, CornerCluster, ch 3, sl st as before under the loops of the current and next st, ch 3, another SideCluster, ch 3, sl st as before, ch 3, CornerCluster, ch 3, join with a sl st to those two loops as before and you should have something like this at the end of Rnd 2:



Rnd 3:

This is the second half of the Wheel Stitch and you'll be staying with the same color as round 2.

10 bptrc in shell anchor (remember, it's the anchor stitch of the previous round's CornerCluster), sl st in next st (CornerShell made).



6 bptrc in shell next shell anchor (SideShell made). Continue around doing CornerShell in the shell anchor in the corners and SideShell in the shell anchor along the side.
..

..
Continue by repeating Rnd 2 and Rnd 3 with color changes on even rounds.

Beginning of Rnd 4:


SideCluster on Rnd 4:



Completed Rnd 4:



Completed Rnd 5:



Here's what I have so far:



When I get further along, I'll show you how I do the border (we'll end with an even round).

If you're having trouble, please post your comment and I'll try to help.

Wheel Stitch Blanket (a.k.a. Wooleater)

I recently finished this baby-sized (34 inches) blanket for a relative. The stitch is called the wheel stitch, and I've had some nice comments about it. I'm showing the front and back for comparison of the appearance of the stitch. Interesting.

Here's the front:


And here's the back:


The pictures were taken on different days, hence the difference in contrast/brightness.

I made the blanket after becoming interested in the pattern instructions online, which are no longer available. This one's square, but I'm working on a rectangular version. I'll share the results of that soon.



Update:  The instructions for this blanket have been moved and published in a more clear manner.  New Wool Eater Instructions

Shades of Blue Baby Round Ripple

Baby-sized Round Ripple in 4 shades of blue with off-white/gold/green center.

Caron Simply Soft yarn, L (8 mm) crochet hook

The pattern for this afghan is available for free at my Lulu Store:

    lulu.com/crochetdad

My First Amigurumi!

I just finished my first Amigurumi. It's a cute little (6 1/2 inches tall) Bear



I got the free pattern on Crochetville:

• http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31654
  

Earth Tones 9-Pointed Round Ripple

I just completed another round ripple. This one's in "earth tones":


Detail of the points:


This one was a special order for an Etsy customer.

We Found Sunny!

My son, Christopher, has a pet corn snake, "Sunny". During a moment of inattention, Sunny escaped from her cage, although we were pretty certain she was still in the house. She was missing for over a week, so she should have been getting hungry - we feed her about once a week. I was doing a load of laundry and spotted Sunny peaking out of the washing machine! I presume she hadn't been in the washing machine all week, since we had been using it regularly for several days.

She was careful not to expose herself too much as you can see in the shot above.

We waited a very long time, it seemed like a couple of hours, and decided to get her favorite food, a mouse, to persuade her to come out of hinding. As you can see below, she liked that idea!

I won't show the final resolution, in case you're squeamish about a snake devouring a mouse, but suffice it to say, Sunny is now back in her cage.

Hat Update

An update on this hat:

I posted a previous picture of the hat I made on a trip when I forgot to pack a hat. The resulting hat has had a good following with nice comments. I've since updated the brim. This picture is the result. I'll be working on the pattern to satisfy many requests. Thanks to all who encouraged me to "get with it".

If you have a suggestion for a name for the hat, please let me know.