Great American ARAN Afghan - March 2009

We held our classes for the first two squares of the Great American ARAN Afghan in March. This year about 50 participants are taking these fun and educational classes.

During the class we covered:

Format of the Classes

• Generally, we will not begin work on actual square. Instead, we will practice stitches on SWATCHES.
• Teachers are Carole, Pam, Shelly, Maryann and, sometimes, Pat and Janet. Different teachers will teach each square and that person is the “expert” on that particular square.
• Many weeks will begin class with “Show and Tell”, which is voluntary.
• Each square uses different techniques. Remember, there are many ways to do each stitch, but square designers designate their favorite (usually for a reason).

Format of the Pattern

• Overview
• Picture of square
• “in other words”
• Chart(s)
• Legend – standardized for book
• Knitting school – Mark these pages

Tips and Tricks

• Copy (and enlarge) pattern
• Highlight different stitches in colored marker
• Use stitch markers liberally
• Edge stitches usually are not shown on charts
• Attach dental floss to marker
• Use LIFELINES
• Take “Baby Steps”
• Don’t be afraid to FROG (ripit, ripit)
• RIGHT means REAR
• Use “Sticky Notes” liberally to keep track of stitches, rows or use sticky note as a “ruler”
• Use a magnetic board

Chart Reading Tips

• The chart shows the “public” side (right side-RS) of the work. Since the squares are worked back and forth, every other row will be on the “wrong” side (WS) of your work.
• Note row numbers in the margin.
  If the number is on the right side of the chart, the row is worked from right-to-left across chart.
  If the number is on the left side of the chart, the row is worked from left-to-right across chart.

Square designed by Judy Sumner - Page 2

We worked on a swatch that included the X's and O's cable pattern (chart A), the SPIDER with bobbles (chart C), and the leaves (chart B). This stitches in this "challenging" square will take a bit of time to master.

Square designed by Julie H. Levy on Page 4
We worked on a swatch that included the "Aran Diamond and Bobble". The featured stitches included the unusual 2/1/2 RPC and the bobble, as well as three stitch cables going left and right. The other cables had been covered in the "Square 2 - (square on page 2 of book)" class.