A long time ago (before my blogging days) I crocheted Sarah an afghan to take when she went to college. I used Lion Brand's Homespun, Montana Sky and most of the skeins had a problem where glue from the wrapper dripped onto the yarn and ruined the last 5-10 yards of each skein. I wrote to Lion Brand to let them know of the issue and received a package of replacement yarn! The yarn stayed in the stash for years until I found this pattern.
It's a quick knit on size 13 needles with only a two row repeat. I like my afghans wider than patterns are generally written so I increased the number of stitches from 135 to 153. However, the afghan is VERY stretchy and I didn't need to increase the width. In fact, the width (58") is bigger than the length (53") so the blanket gets turned around when used. Homespun is a bulky yarn but this afghan is remarkably lightweight and makes a fantastic all purpose throw.
The skill level for this pattern is listed as intermediate but that's just plain silly. It's a simple and easy beginner pattern. The only problem/warning is to be very careful casting off in order to get an edge that's the same tension as the cast on. I used the general cast off but it's tighter than the cast on. To the casual eye, it's not a glaring inconsistency but it could have been executed better.
My family has more blankets than we can use so it will be a while before I do another one but this is a nice addition to the collection!
Ravelry Project Page - Homespun Stripes Afghan #1Update 4/27/2015: I made this blanket a second time. This time I cast on the number of stitches called for in the pattern and paid close attention to having a loose cast-on and bind-off. Perfection!
Ravelry Project Page - Homespun Stripes Afghan #2
