Row on Row of Poppies

This project plan began to form when, in late 2018, I decided I wanted an afghan to go with my planned bedroom decoration, which is to have a poppy theme.

I searched Ravelry for an afghan pattern that would accord well with the poppy print linen fabric I'd bought for my new curtains and bedskirt, and eventually settled on Floret, by Norah Gaughan. Gaughan hasn't specified which species her floral motif is meant to resemble, but I think that even if it's not a poppy it bears a very passable resemblance to one. The pattern is for a lap-sized afghan, but of course given its paneled construction it would be dead easy to enlarge it to the size I wanted.

Next, I chose the worsted yarn. After much looking about, I decided on Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash, in Provence (shade 1975). I would have preferred a cotton yarn, or even a cotton blend, but there didn't seem to be a cotton worsted in the warm poppy red I wanted in existence. I also had some difficulty figuring out how much yarn I needed for my sized-up version of this pattern. I first bought 11 skeins, and then once I got some squares done and became alarmed by my calculations as to how much yarn I was going to go through, I went back to Romni Wools to get two more skeins. In the end I used just under 12 skeins (1200 grams), and will be returning the thirteenth skein I bought for store credit.

And here's the finished afghan. It went together pretty quickly as I was able to knit a square a day. As you can see, I did not use the garter stitch border Gaughan's design calls for, but instead went with a seed stitch and eyelet border. I got the idea as well as some very helpful instructions from this project page after I spied the Ravelry user's lovely mulberry-coloured version in the list of projects for this pattern. I quite agree with her comment that the seed stitch echoes the seeds in the middle of the floral design, and it certainly is a much prettier edging than the original flat garter stitch border. When I blocked the afghan (on my guest room bed mattress, and I had to hope I wouldn't have any surprise guests for a few days!), I put a pin in the point of each scallop, allowing the edges in between to assume their natural curve.

My version has 15 floral squares in it, and since I made the border as wide as that twelfth skein would hold out for, the finished result is roughly 4' x 6', which is perfect. I make all my afghans 4' x 6' as, at that size, they are large enough to comfortably cover most adults and yet small enough not to be cumbersome.

I finished this project with just 10 grams of yarn to spare, which as this project involved new yarn bought specifically for this project, means a stash increase of 10 grams.