My precious aran afghan is done. Love it. Some hints:

Patch size: Mine differ rather severely in size. Having roughly the same number of stitches and rows helps tremendously when joining the patches. Picture 2nd from the top shows the thing before blocking, first shows it after blocking (or better, while blocking). At the bottom of the page pictures 4-7 from the bottom show an ugly bit (the one with the big patch in the corner) and two versions that are rather okay. Having about 40 different techniques, three different yarn types and at least 40 different Nanikas in terms of mood make all that rather inevitable. My next version will surely be a unicolour afghan consisting only of cable patterns.

Using colour: Making it colourful means, making it really colourful. I had all these pink/purple yarns and very soon saw, without the green the thing just won’t work out for me. Next time (okay, the one after the unicolour version) I’ll preplan the whole thing. Being such an effort this works out nicely.

Attaching the patches: I made a huge effort of kitchenering the whole thing. Then I tried a bit of 3-needle-bind-off and I thought it showed. Pictures 2 and 3 from the bottom show it doesn’t in the end.

Number of patches: My version is huge. I would have had enough with 35 (5x7) or even 28 (4x7) patches.

After having participated in making one of those for our LYS owner, I desperately wanted one for myself. So I made one with gifted yarn. It was much fun. My diary:

I’ll probably need 35 squares (update: to make this sufficiently big, I knitted 40 squares), which are from all parts of this wonderful craft.

One important thing: I started all patches with the same number of stitches. This gives a bit of a math thing, but in the end its very useful for sowing the blanket, as there is not much need to balance hugely differing stitch counts. The only exception are the two double knit patches, because I’m rather loose with double knitting.

Since I’m not just taking patches from the original GAAA Book, I’ll give the links to the patterns here. The numbers start at the bottom of the pictures, first lowest, last highest. Abbreviation are GAAA for Great American Aran Afghan, GNAA for Great North American Afghan, GAA for Great American Afghan. Where possible I’m linking the actual patch, if not, it’s just part of the general pattern book.

• N° 01: GAAA Dana Hurt
• N° 02: GAAA Ann Strong
• N° 03: Woolen Collectibles January Square
• N° 04: Twining Trees
• N° 05: GAAA Hanna Burns
• N° 06: GAAA Ginette Belanger
• N° 07: GAAA Judie Sumner (modification by me by accident; 2 bugs still missing)
• N° 08: GAA Traci Bunkers
• N° 09: GAA Diane Zangl (Link as N°8)
• N° 10: GAA Maureen Egan Emlet (Link as N°8)
• N° 11: GAA Bette Anne Lampers (Link as N°8) changed that one quite heavily in terms of technique: The border was knitted on as I went; in order of having the seam stitches display nicely, I picked up the stitches in purl in the right side and in knit on the wrong sides)
• N° 12: GAA Joan Schrouder (Link as N°8)
• N° 13: GAAA Janet Martin
• N° 14: Maku Flo DF-Topflappen Mohn my first doubleknitting where the seam stitches worked out.
• N° 15: GAAA Dagmara Berztiss
• N° 16: GNAA Michele Wyman
• N° 17: GAAA Ada Fenick
• N° 18: GNAA Leigh Witchel (link as N°16)
• N° 19: GNAA Pam Allen (link as N°16)
• N° 20: GAAA Meredith K. Morioka
• N° 21: GAAA Barbara Selesnick
• N° 22: GAA Eugene Beugler (Link a N°8)
• N° 23: GAAA Georgia Vincent
• N° 24: GNAA Debbie New
• N° 25: My own design, middle part taken from Fleur de Lys pattern by Sarah Bradberry (Link to pattern seems to be broken down, it did work for me though)
• N° 26: GAA Sally Melville (Link a N°8)
• N° 27: GAAA Jay Campbell
• N° 28: GAA Julie Weissenberger (Link a N°8) (I mirrored the branches)
• N° 29: maku-flo DF-Topflappen Beetle (This decides that the afghan will be my own, since I drive a Beetle)
• N° 30: GNAA Sue Flanders (link as N°16)
• N° 31: GAA Nancy Bush (link as N° 8)
• N° 32: GNAA Anna Zillborg (link as N° 16)
• N° 33: KAL Weekly Square #16 Lisa Marie Grytten (Autumn leaves)
• N° 34: Mauerblümchen - Wallflower Deborah 9
• N° 35: GAA Kathy Zimmermann (link as N° 8)
• N° 36: GAA Lily Chin (link as N° 8)
• N° 37: Lucky 4-Leaf Afghan 12’’block Margaret McInnis (some adjusting from me to make it a bit wider and - well - more gardeny looking)
• N° 38: Victorian Patchwork Sarah Bradburry
• N° 39: December Aran Afghan Square Wollen Collectibles (changed the side cable to a trellis thing)
• N° 40: GAAA Tipsy Cable Marian Tabler (very long, that one!)

Update March 3, 2014: For my own bookkeeping: I’ve got 30 squares now, so ten are left to do. Out of those I need two stranded or otherwise coloured ones. (tick)The other eight have to be four pinkish and four purple (reconsidered that one, since the border will have a healthy amount of blue-purple in it an I will have only left a smallish amout of pink for the border, so it’s one pink, one or two purple, two green, one light-pink, three coloured, one, max. two blue-purple). One of the remaining patches will have to have a significant amount of green in it in order to balance the thing (tick, two green ones and two with green in it). There will have to be at least one mosaic knitting one, since I haven’t done that before (tick).

Considering the borders, I will make them in garter stitch and use all the colours I used in the afghan once with a slightly longer bit in the dark blue-violet as a finishing touch.

As for the needle sizes, I knitted all in size 4.0mm except for the double knitting, where I took the smallest size I could lay my hands on, and the stranded bits, where I took size 3mm.

Update March 9: All but two done, one determined, one still to be decided among about three options. First possible layout with some unblocked squares and two yarn balls for squares done. Love it! Unfortunately picture doesn’t show by far the richness of the colours and the gardeny feel of it. I’ll love wrapping myself in it.

Update April 5, 2015: Very thrilled, because I’m two seams away from having all this sowing done. I’m really meticulous, doing it all in Kitchener stitch in order to have neat seams and make the corners meet precisely. Actually it’s a bit ruminant, however, it’s also itchy for the fingers because I keep pricking myself with the needle. The math geek in me just counted that in the end I will have kitchenered 3,350 stitches together and only 500 are left to do. Mad? Mad :) But the result will be worth it, since the patches are not all exactly the same size and the sowing is done in a way that I will be able to block all the kinks out, once the thing is done. I’m really looking forward to do the edging, I have to admit I’m a bit fed up with kitchenering. Fortunately it’s quite chilly in here so I don’t mind all that blanket on me.

Update April 6, 2015: Sowing is done, done, done. Can’t say how happy I am. The picture is of the thing unblocked yet. So it’s edging and done.

Update May 13, 2015: Edging was endless, still, I did the entire blanket by purling back backwards in order not to have to turn the thing constantly. After having washed and blocked it today, I consider it finished, although there still is the lining to do. Don’t know when I’ll do that, but it’s going to take a while, so I’m using the blanket as it is for the time being.