Crocheted Afghans: 25 Throws, Wraps and Afghans to Crochet

Crocheted Afghans: 25 Throws, Wraps and Afghans to Crochet

A delicious book of afghans by a very fine British designer whose name is not sufficiently familiar in the US.  There are twenty-five projects in this book, making it a primer that takes one from simple shapes and textures to ever more creative and rich projects.  Griffiths has the artistry to take great old traditions like gingham cloth, American indian patterns, log cabin and patchwork quilts,, tartan plaids and even landscape art, and turn them into exciting crochet. With a sure sense of color and design, she takes the reader through a varied terrain that includes African Beads, Kelim carpets, and Ikat textiles. Each afghan is rendered as a water color painting, and I have a hunch they were painted by the author. This would be an even better book if the designs were also shown as stitch diagrams, but alas, they are not. Directions are crisp, with a little more know-how assumed than some Americans will be comfortable with. (For an amusing example, check out the Amazon reviewer of this book who was upset because the brand of yarn used is one she couldn't buy locally.) Photos are excellent, with fully satisfying, lip-smacking stitch closeups. There's always a wealth of afghan books to choose from, but not so many of this quality; it sets a high standard and maintains it through all the projects. 

--Dora Ohrenstein