I would like to crochet an afghan for a friend and he has a king size bed. how do i adjust a pattern for that?

Question

if i start with a pattern for an afghan it is usually smaller than i need could anyone tell me how to make a regular size pattern into like a king size afghan...i have found many patterns i like but most of them are too small for my friends bed.... how would i make the pattern larger without messing up the original pattern

Answer 1

Somtimes you can just double the pattern but this does not always work.  the best idea is to make up your own pattern... you can use the ones you have found to base your own pattern on... but adjust accordingly to fit the width and length of the king size bed  (measure the bed first so you know how big it needs to be).... also for big projects like that you might want to look for a pattern that you can work in squares so its not so much to hang on to... like a granny square that you can do good size squares (2ftx2ft or something) and then just sew them together

Answer 2

You need to figure out the pattern repeat.  You can do that a number of ways.  You can make a swatch and just calculate out how many stitches are needed for the pattern before the pattern repeats again.  When you do this, make sure you add the turning chain on at the end.

Another option would be to just crochet a starting chain as long as you want it to be and then start the pattern.  (Leave a long tail when you make the slip knot.)  If you have too many chains, just unpick the slip knot and unravel the last few chains.  If you have too few, use the starting chain to make a few more chains.  I have used both of these methods and they work well.  If you do this, keep in mind that sometimes the pattern will make the afghan shorter than the starting chain, especially if it's a ripple pattern.  To prevent you having to unravel and redo, make a swatch and see if it will shorten at all.  You will have to crochet several rows into it to see if it gets smaller.

Answer 3

Have you thought of crocheting squares and then sewing them together to create a large blanket?

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70491A...

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70144A...

If I don't use the squares method in order to make a big afghan,  I have increased the size of a horizontal afghan pattern by  making the beginning chain longer than necessary so the first row repeats are established, I go back after a few rows and just take out the extra chain stitches I didn't use.  Better too many chains than not enough.:)

Answer 4

If it is a fairly simple pattern, maybe you could just double the amount of stitches to start with, and work from there.  Just make the afghan longer to make it fit.