Expert: Marla - 1/15/2009

Question
Hi Marla
I am trying to crochet an afghan for my friend's baby. I am on the edging portion and am having a hard time trying to understand the pattern. I finished the body a long time ago and am now trying to start the edging and can't figure out where I am and how to start.
It reads: RND 1: Ch 1, do not turn;sc in top of last dc on last row, work 119 sc evenly spaced across end of rows (I don't understand where they mean in regards to the end of the rows);sc in free loop of first ch
Thank you for your help with this.
This pattern is from a Leisure Arts leaflet #3015 titled "Absolutely Gorgeous Baby Afghans" and I am doing #2 pattern)
Thanks again
Sara


Answer
Hi Sara!
Thanks for asking. It seems the instructions never include a picture of how to crochet a border, at least not in the ones I have seen. I have a lot of Leisure Arts leaflets, and several are for baby afghans, bur unfortunately I don’t have this one. I looked through previous leaflets, thinking this may be a repeat, but couldn’t find it. But I did find a picture of it on the Internet, so I can see the afghan. Are the beginning and end rows double crochet? It looks like it is to me.
You should be at the corner of the afghan right now since you have finished. According to the instructions, you chain once, and continue to crochet on the side. You are now going to work in rounds, crocheting on the same side of the afghan until the instructions say differently. You’ll be turning your afghan sideways when you get to each corner. When you turn your afghan sideways to crochet on the edge,  you can see a space or gap between the chain stitch (the one that counts as the first double crochet) and the next dc on that same row, and then the space between the last two double crochets at the end of each row. Single crochets and the turning chains for the sc  have smaller spaces. These spaces are what you want to crochet in. When the instructions say “in top of last dc on last row”, I think they mean that 3-chain stitch you made that counts as the first double crochet at the beginning of each row.
Sometimes a picture is much more meaningful than instructions. I just discovered today some instructions that show a picture of crocheting a border. I have never seen it before! Go to the website crochetpatterncentral.com then on the left click on “instruction directory” then click on borders. This will get you to a new website. Then scroll down and it will show you a picture of how to crochet around a border. This may make it more clearly to you. I have gone to crochetpatterncentral before, but not too much with the links. Anyway, I hope this helps. That is a pretty afghan. A baby is going to be really happy and nice and warm. Please let me know if you need anything else! Now.I will be away from my computer for a few days, though, and may not be able to read my e-mails until Tuesday.

Marla