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My Most Epic Knit: The Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL 2

The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


3 colors, 48 squares, 2400g of yarn... and 172,800 stitches IN INTARSIA. You call it crazy, I call it epic!!!

This was the 2nd Kaffe Fassett afghan KAL by Rowan. Oh yes, I made the first, and wait -- did I swear off afghans after that one? Fingers in ears and yelling la-la-la-la, here I went again.

Just like the first one, I did NOT follow the color instructions. I don't know what it is with these, but I find the color selections to be positively jarring.


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, blogged by Dayana Knits


The way the afghan works is that there are 24 of the first "grayscale" tumbling blocks square, and 2 x 12 of the two-colored intarsia squares. I thought, why not do the whole thing in the same 3 colors as the tumbling blocks?


Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted, blogged by Dayana Knits


If you'd like to copy me -- go ahead, I'd love to see it! And if intarsia frightens you, I give you 5 tips on how to get started in this blog post.


5 tips to better intarsia, blogged by Dayana Knits


Changing two-color squares to three-color squares required a little finagling.


Get all my square versions for free here.


In some cases I simply re-colored the original patterns, but in other cases, I changed the square significantly. Like this one... sorry Kaffe, but I think you lost your calculator when you designed this one. 😘

The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, blogged by Dayana Knits


In fact, this one was so crazy, I decided to make two different ones. Hey, why not?


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


In some cases it's amazing how changing to 3 colors alters a simple geometric pattern.


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


For other squares, I actually changed the sizes of the motifs -- either to save on ends to weave or to make the intarsia look better. For example, the circles below originally had only one stitch of background width to each motif. Intarsia simply needs MORE than one stitch in each color to look neat,


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


You may be wondering how big this thing is! I actually used a needle one size bigger than called for, because I knew the yarn Pure Wool Superwash Worsted very well after 3 blankets. After making the first one too small, and compensating with extra squares for this one and this one -- hell NO was I going to make this epic into a neverending story!

It's 76" x 96" or about 6 ft x 8 ft. Yay, it's a toe coverer! Here's a 7 lb cat for scale. 😆


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


I used the same technique for sewing as I did for all the other KAL afghans, mattress stitch. Only 12 seams necessary! Just do all of the horizontals, and then link them up with vertical seams. I have pictures of that technique in this post.

**NOTE: Make sure you put all the tumbling blocks in the same direction, they are not symmetrical when flipped 180 degrees!


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


The border was a new type compared to the other KALs: pick up stitches, knit garter and cast-off. The corners were mitered by increasing on the edges.


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


**NOTE: If you increase by K1FB, this technique is not the same if you do it at the beginning of the row versus the end! The pattern says to increase each on each side every other row. No! INSTEAD, increase at the end of each row. This will make your mitered corner prettier and neater to sew.

Picked up borders are really tricky, much like button bands on cardigans. They're terrible when they're tight, they're even worse when they're loose and ruffle. The short edge pick up was perfect. The long edge... not so much. However, after all this work, my tennis elbow kicked in and I had to knit those edges continental to save myself. I know my continental gauge is looser, so I can't say for sure, but my instinct is that the long borders could still do with losing ~30 stitches.

See that pronounced ruffle on the left edge?


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


TRIGGER ALERT! If you are scared of weaving in ends, scroll past the next two pics! 😅  The collateral damage of intarsia is end weaving. I've woven thousands of ends in my life (I actually love intarsia), but I would challenge you to find a project that generates as many ends as this one. To minimize the pain, I tackled the ends in 3 phases:

  1. The center ends of each square after blocking.
  2. The non-border edge ends of each square after seaming.
  3. The border ends of each square after border knitting.

I only remembered to start saving ends for phases 2 and 3... THEY WEIGH 28 GRAMS... more than half a ball, OMG!



The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


Oh and don't forget to make a convenient duct tape diagram on a cheap rug for easy blocking!


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


Another thing I didn't listen to was the organization diagram. They never make sense to me -- I NEED SYMMETRY IN MY LIFE. To do this, I started with pairs close together in the center, which got farther away from each other as they reached the opposite corner. The weirdest motifs (the hypnotic maze square) which I KNEW would look weird but I forced myself to d anyway, I put in the corners. They are just so jarring, the only other choice was the center, but I couldn't take it! I still don't see how that motif goes in this design...


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


I worked on this KAL pretty hard, and I am so impressed that Ute Rehner and MAYBE some other people were able to finish at the pace they set. Bravo! Me? I took 2 months longer and basically converting the east coast of Spain into a sweatshop (where I lost that damn diamonds square on my lap!!)...


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits
Yes, I brought the first Rowan Martin Storey afghan on vacation 😂


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits
Sant Feliu de Guíxols, España


... but nevertheless, this is how I deservedly felt after the last end!!!!!!!!!!


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits


Now to celebrate and crawl under it in exhaustion. 💤


See my Captain Kaffghan on Ravelry


The 2nd Rowan Kaffe Fassett Afghan KAL, knit by Dayana Knits



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Comments

  1. Splendid work, Dayana!

    (ps: only seven pounds? Tiger Shrimp really is a shrimp!)

    -- Gretchen (aka stashdragon)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, we always knew she'd be a shrimpy-shrimp! Officially 6.75 pounds... it's really that she's short more than anything. When she runs through the grass she gets lost in it. Ooops, I just admitted I'm a bad lawn mower. :p

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  2. Fantastic you should be super proud. I am only just coming to the end of the first Kaffe Fasset KAL. I absolutely agree with you on the hypnotic maze square - it does shine out . I love your choice of "colour" - it is perfect. Well Done

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Sara! Ok I am going to send you "Rays of Finishing" from over here in Maine. Go go go!

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  3. Oh wow, brilliant tip re: blocking the squares! This is amazing work.

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    Replies
    1. Hey girrrrl! :) Yes, I learned that from folks in a Rowan KAL thread 3 afghans ago. A HUGE time saver!

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  4. Gorgeous! All of your design changes are spot on. Kaffe is a different animal. Five Gold Stars to you.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I just love tweaking... can't keep my hands off a pattern. :p

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  5. Wonderful work ! For having made a blanket for a Queen bed (simply stitches, not in Intarsia), so I know all the work that this represents !! Congratulation !!!

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    Replies
    1. Bravo, that is a TON of work too, big sheets of stockinette! Would you do another one?

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  6. Your interpretation in black, white and grey looks like Escher's graphic. I'm quite keen on art interpretations in knitting so I've immediately have the association. Congratulations!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, quite a few people have mentioned that and I hadn't thought of it. Yay, all the better!

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  7. This is an amazing feat of knitting. Your version is beautiful! And, no, I'm not tempted to knit it. Not one bit. I know how to do intarsia but...no. Never. Congratulations!

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  8. You did a wonderful job on this, glorious result! I prefer your version by far to the original!! This palette makes a statement that's lost in the original concept where, to me, the contrast colors seem to be at war with the "background". When I saw the 2nd Afghan KAL for the first time, I found it hard to believe the color choices had been made by Kaffe Fassett.

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  9. Phew! That WAS epic. I like your monochrome version better than the original coloured one. Now..what do you do for an encore?!

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  10. M I too have made adaptations , with yarn (I have a stash of 30 yr old shetland yarn in all natural and natural blend shades, some on cone), with needle size and type (Several long haul flights to Oz and NZ, so a small plastic circular needle UK about 5mm, and a max fo 40 sts give or take. ) so the squares are oblong, but all in the same way at 40 x 40. so slight pattern adaptations . I did the 24 tumbling blocks in a single col. Moorit - a brown, that with white marl and again with black marl) and was about to start the pairs in other contrasting pairs of marled yarn, so one would be the reverse of the other . But I like the concept of limiting the same three shades and have enough.

    I have done all the squares for the one you show in brown, just to sew them up, but am stuck on no 7 lace or bead heart in a Martin storey one. It just doesn't sit right. Any ideas?

    So then I can use all the other varieties on another Kal so i will have 4 linked afghans for my 4 adult kids, as heirlooms, less in my stash and a nice feeling inside.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So you want to replace the heart with something else? Maybe use one from the other Martin Storey afghan. I am glad to meet another person who doesn't follow the rules, lol!

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  11. I followed the pattern as written and it was the only thing I worked on for a year, but it got done! Now it sits in a protective bag so it doesn’t get dusty...

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    Replies
    1. Wow, well done! I use mine on the couch... just used it yesterday ☺️

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