Loop Chain Afghan

This is a very simple afghan, using only two skills throughout its entirety, single crochet and chain, except for the finishing row, which trades the chain for a modified double crochet for finishing. This afghan can easily switch the single crochet stitch for a double crochet stitch. I used single crochet for this instructable, but double crochet make faster results; The first picture here is of a double crochet loop chain afghan. It all depends on your preference. The color pattern I used is:

(G- gray, W- white, and C-color)

GCGCWCWCWC…WCGCG

Each color chunk in the example blanket has two rows, down and back. If you only have scrap yarn, it will look something like the first picture instead of the other three pictures, which are of the example blanket. You can make this blanket with any color pattern you wish, the one shown in this instructable is simply how I did it.

My original format had the pictures directly after the step, so I'm sorry if the wording and setup confuses anybody. I've included the picture number after the steps in parenthesis to help show what is being said for easier understanding.

1. Ch. 12, ch. 8 and slip stitch into 12th chain to make a loop, repeat until there are 14 loops. Ch. 13 and turn. At this point, my afghan was 50 inches long. (Pic. 1-2)

2. Single crochet 12, ch. 8 when loop is reached, repeat until the end. (Pic. 3)

3. Continue in this pattern, switching yarn colors every two rows or as needed, as this can be an easy scrap yarn afghan, until four rows before the desired length is reached.

1. In the last four rows, you will need to lower the ch.8 in small increments. The fourth to last row should have ch.7, third to last with ch.5, and second to last with ch.4. (Pic. 1)

2. The last row must start with you looping together all the chains together, like shown in this picture: (Pic. 2)

You should do this as you go so they don’t unravel before you get there. You will crochet the row as follows:

a. Chain 12

b. Loop the chains (Pic. 3-5)

c. Double crochet, but instead of looping the yarn straight from the skein, the wrapped around piece is from either the ch.4 loop or a chain from the ch.4 loop. This will taper off the loop chain and make it less bulky than any other method to tie it off. It is shown here: (The first picture is through the loop, the second, a chain. I find that using the loop looks better but it’s whichever way you wish to do it.) (Pic. 6-10) Picture 10 shows how smooth the top looks, as the tie-down method is not bulky at all, but is a seamless finish to the chain loop.

d. Repeat until you get to the end.

1. At the end you can choose to make a border, which would be a simple one-three rows of single crochet or one row of double crochet all the way around, with the corner space having three sc or dc instead of one to lay down flat, rather than stick up.

2. For the border pictures above, I used a bright color to show the difference easier. Picture one is two rows of single crochet and picture two is one row of double crochet. I personally prefer single crochet for my afghan borders, but your border preference is the only one that matters on your afghan.

My finished product was 50’’x72’’. It was just perfect to curl up with on the couch while watching TV or reading a book!