I’m finished joining my afghan squares!  Turns out it is a little smaller than I thought it would be, probably due to my usage of a smaller hook to sc the squares together (which was done on the back of the piece).  I meant to have nice tight joins but I overdid it a bit and it shrunk the overall size of the thing.  I have a feeling it will stretch out with usage — it’s a very heavy blanket!  I still have to add the border, so I’m not finished yet, but I wanted to share my progress with you because I’m excited to be done with joining the squares (usually the most tedious part of afghans, in my opinion).  So here are the pictures!

You can see in that first one where I’ve been sitting on the edge, listening to The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey on iTunes (which is a very good book, by the way).

And there you can see the joins close up!  I think it looks pretty neat, if I do say so myself.  🙂  Now on to put on the border!

My flower sunburst granny square afghan is coming along very slowly, less because of my lack of time to crochet and more because of my lack of yarn funds.  I swear I will never use Berroco Vintage Chunky for a blanket again!  It’s my favorite chunky yarn, and I love everything about it except the price!  It’s $8.50 a hank at the local yarn store, hence the need to pause before restocking.  My previous wavy afghan was made with the it but used a lot less (due both to the pattern and size).  My current afghan should amply cover a double bed, but even so, I feel the desperate need for a cheaper yet similarly soft and washable yarn!  Dear reader, please suggest brands to me!

Here are some [slightly blurry] pics of my progress (thanks, point-and-click camera).  This first pic is of one of my yarn storage bins containing 60 squares and the favored Brittany J hook.  So far I’ve finished 76 out of 120 squares; 120 squares will make a 10 square by 12 square afghan and I plan to add some edging rounds as well.

So that is my progress, what do you think?  Hopefully I will be finishing the squares soon and can lay them all out to piece them together.  I plan on just slip stitching them all together — it seems easier, faster, and almost neater than sewing them.  I will share my progress with you again as soon as it has reached this desired point.  Hopefully you won’t be sick of reading about this afghan by then!