Mangoes for Breakfast - Afghan

Here is the completed "Mangoes for Breakfast" Afghan. I have completed it for sometime but kept meaning to sew the backing on. I wasn't moving forward on the backing and therefore decided the afghan is now finished! What an easy way to move something from the Unfinished Project pile to the FINISHED pile. This picture was taken on August 29th, 2011 and was given to its intended recipient. She loves the colours!

Here is a detail of the corner.

This afghan measures:

Length 75 inches x Width 62.0 inch

Edging (crocheted) 7/8 inches

Afghan 4 x 5 squares in Log Cabin style.

I am still planning to make/commission a quilt to go under this afghan. I have all the fabric and batting! Someday, someday.

Progress x 17 Months

Finally, an update on my Mangoes For Breakfast afghan.

This afghan has been in the works for at least 17 months. I wasn't happy with my first conception which used multiple other yarns of various colours. At that time I planned to crochet it in squares. The previous squares are pictured back in May 2007.

From the start I wanted a colourful piece with squares within a square. I consider intarsia and mitered squres. In the end I chose the log cabin approach.

Each square measures 18" x 18." I finished 20 squares to cover a double bed. It will be 4 x 5 squares for a finished size of about 75" x 90"

I tried top seamed crochet join, but didn't like the added lines. Instead I am working on a mattress stitch join.

This is a mammoth, heavy project. To help with its structural stability I am making it into a quilt. I have the cotton batting and the cotton fabric for backing.

The fabric I chose was on sale from Fat Quarter Shop dot com. The print is Malibu Monkeys by Erin Michael for Moda Fabrics. The backing fabric is the one with the white background. I think it is a better backing choice and will make the overall finished piece a little less bold. The all yellow fabric is a deeper yellow than the Melody Sunny Yellow of the log cabin squares. I may use the yellow fabric for binding.

I am not certain how much quilting I will have to do to keep this piece together. I planned to use buttons to help with the sandwich process. I will have to see how this works. This is uncharted territory for me!

I likely will sew 4 pillow cases from the remaining fabric to send a long with the finished piece. It is exciting getting near the finish line with this enormous project. The finished result is still a fuzzy image in my mind's eye.

New Afghan

I have started on a new crocheted afghan. I am calling it Mangoes for Breakfast.

I don't think my pictures do justice to the colors; the yellow is more sunny. This all started with the purchase of a yarn on sale called Cotton Big Sport - Mango. This bright colour is much zestier than my usual preference. Understandably, it made me think of mangoes and their golden yellow flesh. My thoughts then took me to memories of a dear friend who has moved halfway across the continent. She loves yellow. Every time she moves she paints her kitchen a glorious yellow colour. Then the idea came to me; why not make her a bright, sunny, glorious afghan that pays tribute to mangoes everywhere and their sunshine yellowness?

I have been inspired by posts elsewhere that celebrate these bright colours. Here are some for you to visit:

• The Knitting Adventuress on blogspot.com ;
• The cover photo for Debbie Bliss's book Home;
• The Prairie Braid Quilt at patchpieces.com;
• Nona's Log Cabin Swatches.

There are actually many more places and people that inspire this project. There are too many to list (and I have lost some of their links - sorry).

I planned to knit these squares. I considered intarsia squares, centre-out mitered squares, and outside-in mitered squares. Unfortunately the yarn I am using is moslty discontinued and of slightly varied weights. I find that crochet is more forgiving of this and that's how I returned to my standard granny square pattern.

Mangoes for Breakfast

Crochet Hooks: 9 mm (N) & 5 mm(H) Yarn: (Main Colour = MC; Contrast Colour = CC) MC 1: Cotton BIG Sport by Idena - Mango, 20 balls, 65% Cotton/35% Acrylic, 100 gm, 80 m, Needle: 7 mm, Tension: 12 sts = 10 cm (4”) MC 2 (or CC): Melody by Patons - Sunny Yellow, 20 balls, 68% Acrylic/32% Nylon, 100 gm, 78 m, Needle : 10mm, Tension: 9sts = 10cm (4") CC: Big Point by Gedifra - Cherry, 1 ball, 60% Cotton/40% Acrylic, 33 m, 50 gm, Needle: 10 mm, Tension: 9 sts x 10 rows CC: Luisa by Gedifra - Cantaloupe, 1 ball, 55% Cotton/ 45% Acrylic, 60 m, 50 gm, Needle: 6 mm; Tension: 14 sts x 18 rows CC: Luisa by Gedifra - Lime, 1 ball, 55% Cotton/ 45% Acrylic, 60 m, 50 gm, Needle: 6 mm; Tension: 14 sts x 18 rows CC: Melissa by Austermann - Tapenade, 4 balls, 33% Acrylic Microfibre/ 33% Cotton/ 28% Nylon/ 6% Polyester, 45 m, 50g, Needle: 5.5-6.0 mm, Tension: 10 st/10 cm CC: Melissa by Austermann - Burgundy Lights, 4 balls, 33% Acrylic Microfibre/ 33% Cotton/ 28% Nylon/ 6% Polyester, 45 m, 50g, Needle: 5.5-6.0 mm, Tension: 10 st/10 cm Afghan size: 8" squares, Double bed, 8 x 10 = 80 squares Pattern: (makes one 8" x 8" square) Start using 9 mm crochet hook Foundation chain: Using CC, ch 4, join with Sl st to form ring Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as DC now and throughout), DC2 in ring, ch 2, *DC 3 in ring, ch 2, repeat from * 3 times, join with Sl st to top of beginning ch 3 Round 2: Ch 3, 1 DC in next st x 2, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 2, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, *1 DC in next st x 3, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 2, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, repeat from * 3 times, join with Sl st to top of beginning ch 3. Round 3: Change to MC 1. Ch 3, 1 DC in next st x 4, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 2, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, *1 DC in next st x 7, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 2, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, repeat from * 3 times, 1 DC in next st x 2, join with Sl st to top of beginning ch 3. Round 4: Ch 3, 1 DC in next st x 6, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 2, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, *1 DC in next st x 11, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 2, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, repeat from * 3 times, 1 DC in next st x 4, join with Sl st to top of beginning ch 3. Round 5: Change to 5 mm crochet hook and MC 2. Ch 3, 1 DC in next st x 8, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 3, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, *1 DC in next st x 15, then DC 2 in ch 2 corner, ch 3, and DC 2 in same ch 2 corner, repeat from * 3 times, 1 DC in next st x 6, join with Sl st to top of beginning ch 3. Round 6: Ch 2, 1 sc in next st x 10, then sc 2 in ch 3 corner, ch 3, and sc 2 in same ch 3 corner, *1 sc in next st x 19, then sc 2 in ch 3 corner, ch 3, and sc 3 in same ch 3 corner, repeat from * 3 times, 1 sc in next st x 8, join with Sl st to top of beginning ch 2. Fasten off. Join the squares using a thin yarn of similar colour to MC 2 using a mattress stitch. I will join my squares in random order using this List Randomizer. The stitches used in this pattern are easy to learn. If you wish to read a tutorial on these stitches go here (left hand & right hand). Abbreviations: ch = chain, DC = double crochet, sc = single crochet, sl st = slip stitch