Lottie & Albert

The Traveling Crochet Afghan

Welcome to the Lottie and Albert blog, and to the free pattern for square number 4 in the Traveling Crochet Afghan!

If you haven’t heard of the Afghan before, it is a year-long crochet along in conjunction with Lion Brand Yarn and the ‘My Life in Yarn’ campaign, and it is bringing together over 49 knit and crochet designers from 7 different countries! Each designer will create a 10”x10” square, add it to the blanket, and then publish the pattern for you to join in with, before sending it on to the next designer.

Starting in January 2020, the traveling afghans (a knit and a crochet version) began in New York with the first squares designed by Alexa of @twoofwands. The crochet afghan has since travelled to Spain and then on to The Netherlands, before reaching me in Gloucestershire, England! You can find full details of the CAL here, including a FAQ section.

If you have come across this later in the year, there is no strict start or finish date, so feel free to join in now! You can find links to the previous (and I’ll add future squares as they are released) here:

#1 - 11/1-1/13 - New York City, USA - Alexandra Tavel of Two of Wands

#2 - 1/15-1/28 - Barcelona, Spain - Cecilia Losada of Mamma DIY

#3 - 1/29-2/11 - Utrecht, The Netherlands - Wilma Westenberg of Wilmade

#4 - 2/12-2/25 - Gloucestershire, UK - Lindsey Newns of Lottie and Albert

#5 - 2/26-3/10 - New Brunswick, Canada - Kimberley Giggie of Lakeside Loops

#6 - 3/11-3/24 - Ontario, Canada - Lee Sartori of Coco Crochet Lee

#7 - 3/25-4/7 - Alberta, Canada - Janine Myska of Knits n' Knots

#8 - 4/8-4/21 - Alberta, Canada - Abigail Ellazar of Knits and Knots by AME

#9 - 4/22-5/5 - California, USA - Arica Presinal of Skeinsnsticks

#10 - 5/6-5/19 - California, USA - Meghan Ballmer of Meghan Makes Do

#11 - 5/20-6/2 - California, USA - Nicole Riley of Nicki's Homemade Crafts

#12 - 6/3-6/16 - Arizona, USA - Bailey Williams of Hooked on Tilly

#13 - 6/17-6/30 - Colorado, USA - Jess Coppom of Make & Do Crew

#14 - 7/1-7/14 - Kansas, USA - Emily Davies of Hooked Hazel

#15 - 7/15-7/28 - Michigan, USA - Jennifer Pionk of A Crocheted Simplicity

#16 - 7/29-8/11 - Michigan, USA - Melissa Fisher of Woods and Wool

#17 - 8/12-8/25 - Ohio, USA - Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts

#18 - 8/26-9/8 - Georgia, USA - Vincent Williams of Visuvio's Crafts

#19 - 9/9-9/22 - North Carolina, USA - Tia Edwards of Simple Things Crochet

#20 - 9/23-10/6 - North Carolina, USA - Ashleigh Kiser of Sewrella

#21 - 10/7-10/20 - North Carolina, USA - Rohn Strong of Rohn Strong

#22 - 10/21-11/3 - Pennsylvania, USA - Jessica Benvenuto of Fly the Distance

#23 - 11/4-11/17 - New York, USA - Brianna Iaropoli of Life and Yarn

#24 - 11/18-12/1 - New York City, USA - Teresa Carter of Debrosse

#25 - 12/2-12/16 - New Jersey, USA - ChiWei Ranck of 1 Dog Woof

My square design

If you made Two of Wands first crochet square, you’ll see that this design uses the same front and back post stitches, but by placing them in a different order you get a completely different pattern! If it looks daunting, don’t be fooled, it’s basically just the same pattern that moves by one every row to create the herringbone pattern.

If you’d like to read more about my design and why I chose this pattern, please do come and find me over at @lottieandalbert on Instagram.

Materials

1/2 skein Lion BrandWool-Ease (weight 4/medium, 197yds/180m, 3oz/85g), or approx 100yds/90m of another worsted weight yarn
6mm crochet hook (J/10)
Wool needle
Scissors

Gauge

10cm (4in) x 10cm (4in) = 12sts x 9 rows worked in pattern

This stitch pattern is a grower when blocked! So Make sure you block your swatch before sizing your hook up or down

Abbreviations

US terms used

ch chain

dc double crochet (UK treble crochet)

fpdc front post double crochet (UK fptc front post treble crochet)

bpdc back post double crochet (UK back post treble crochet)

rep repeat

st(s) stitch(es)

Notes

This pattern uses US terminology
Turning chains counts as stitches throughout
The square is worked flat, turning at the end of each row
The final square is reversible

The Pattern

Using a 6mm hook and worsted (or Aran) weight yarn, Ch34

Row 1 Starting in 4th ch from hook, 31dc in each chain along. (32)

Row 2 ch3, *3fpdc, 3bpdc. Rep from * until 1 st left, dc into top of ch3, turn. (32)

Row 3 ch3, 2fpdc, *3bpdc, 3fpdc. Rep from * until 5 sts remain. 3bpdc, 1fpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 4 ch3, 2bpdc, *3fpdc, 3bpdc. Rep from * until 5 sts remain. 3fpdc, 1bpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 5 ch3, *3bpdc, 3fpdc. Rep from * until 1 st remains, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 6 ch3, 1fpdc, *3bpdc, 3fpdc. Rep from * until 6 sts remain. 3bpdc, 2fpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 7 ch3, 1bpdc, *3fpdc, 3bpdc. Rep from * until 6 sts remain. 3fpdc, 2bpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Rows 8-19 rep rows 2-7 twice.

Row 20 rep row 2.

Row 21 rep row 3.

Row 22 rep row 4.

Row 23 ch3, dc to end of row, fasten off and weave in ends.

I’d love to see your finished squares and blankets! Please do tag me @lottieandalbert on Instagram when you have made yours up!

Lindsey x

#travelingafghans #lionbrandyarn #mylifeinyarn #travelingcrochetafghan