Expert: Bea Harrell - 3/8/2008

Question
Hi & thanks in advance for your help!  The afghan pattern I'm working on is made up of a row of single crochet  followed by a row of double crochet with popcorns at intervals.  You do this for 20 rows and wind up with a row of diamond shapes made out of the popcorns.  You do this 5 times to complete the afghan.  I completed the first 25 rows and my diamonds look fine.  Now I'm in the 7th row of the repeat and my diamonds are getting crooked.  I've counted and have the correct number of stitches (179) and the first few popcorns will line up but then they start getting out of alignment.  Does this make sense?  I've ripped this out enough times to have a finished afghan by now!  What am I doing?  The pattern is called Understated Elegance from Leisure Art's Our Best Afghans A to Z.

Answer
Hey Jane!  If you've counted your stitches and it's right, (not to mention all the ripping out!)there is a good chance your pattern is off, or the pattern is reversing it's self (which doesn't sound logical in this case) Wrong pattern are more common than you might think, too! I would suggest placing the popcorns where they actually go, instead of where the pattern says! The fact that you noticed it so quickly, tells me that you know exactly where those popcorn stitches go.(you can use the picture of the afghan if you need something to reference) Just put them where you think they go, and if the rest of the row works out, you'll know it's the pattern!  I sure hope this helps you, because if your stitch count is right this will save you a lot of ripping!


Best Wishes,  Bea