Putting it all together

As you all know, the 64-Crayons Afghan has been my obsession this year. I love how it's worked in strips.  I love how meditative and relaxing it is to knit, and I love how the different colorways of Kureyon play off one another.  As soon as I finished two of the six strips, though, I started fretting about how to join them.  

The pattern calls for you to pickup the slipped stitches along the edge of two strips and join them with a three-needle bind off. That would work, certainly, but Mary and Antonella, the crochet divas, suggested I crochet the strips together.  Everyone knows that I can only know enough crochet to be dangerous, so I decided to try the three needle bind off method. It was okay, but I didn't love the look or the process. I thought maybe I'd like something more substantial in the join, like an I-cord, so I and tried a three needle applied I-cord bind off.  An applied I--cord is a little fiddly, and coupled with the three-needle bind-off aspect, it was decidedly un-fun.  

The strips lay in the shop for a few days while I thought about the options.   Antonella was around last Friday and I mentioned that I might want to try crocheting the strips together.  She is so sweet, and fast, that before I knew it, with a few quick flicks of her wrist she'd joined two strips together more than halfway up.

She showed me how to join two fabrics with a single crochet.  Even I could do it.  It really was faster and easier than the three-needle bind-off.  

We decided that a smooth, even yarn would look better against Kureyon's rustic texture.  After a stint as a shop sample, this will eventually go to my son, Colton, so I let him pick the yarn for the joins.  He chose a great purple that works with all the colors of the Kureyon in the Afghan.  I think the evenness of this yarn really works, and I'm super happy with how it's coming out.

I'll be crocheting more of my strips together at the shop this afternoon at our regular 64-Crayons KAL at 2 p.m. Join us for joining!