Loon in Fog

This pattern is the result of a little homesickness for Ontario. Coincidentally, while developing this pattern, I saw my first loon in Alberta. And, it was my first time seeing one with a chick on its back.

This colour work afghan uses Bernat Premium yarn and a 4.5 mm hook. Afghan will measure roughly 46”x66” and uses 12 skeins of Bernat Premium acrylic yarn (or 9 skeins if you’ve got any worsted weight white, red, and teal in your stash). Any worsted weight yarn and corresponding hook will do (but will alter the final measurements).

Materials:

• 4.5 mm hook, plus optional 4.75 mm hook for the water portion
• Bernat Premium: 1 skein each Grey Marl, Dark Grey, Black.
• Bernat Premium (or any comparable yarn) in scrap quantities: White, Red, Peacock
• Bernat Premium: 3 skeins each Sky Grey and Storm Blue.
• Roughly 10 bobbins (clothespins work well)
• Finishing needle

Stitches:
Ch chain
FHDC foundation half double crochet (optional, can use chain instead)
HDC half double crochet
FLO front loop only
BLO back loop only
SC single crochet (optional, border)
TSC twisted single crochet (optional, border)

Following the Pattern:

Starting chain is not counted as a row. All odd rows are read from right to left. When working an odd row, you’ll be facing the right side (RS). Even rows are read from left to right.

Alternate HDC FLO and BLO every time water colour is used. If you stitch too tightly, this will cause the bottom portion of the afghan to be smaller than the top. I recommend using a slightly larger hook or looser tension, or skipping this special stitch altogether and using a regular HDC instead.

Pattern Notes:

All stitches are HDC or turning chains. The letter in parentheses indicates what colour to use. The colour names are based on Bernat Premium worsted weight yarns purchased in 2023. A substitution table is provided in case you prefer a different brand of yarn; any worsted weight yarn will work.

Special stitch:
Whenever using the water colour (W), alternate front loop and back loop HDC. This requires a looser tension or using a slightly larger hook to keep the afghan square. Alternatively, to avoid any gauge issues, you can use regular HDC throughout and skip the FLO/BLO alternating stitches for the water portion.

If you’re going to do the alternating FLO/BLO, I strongly recommend doing a gauge swatch of each type (one of FLO/BLO, and one of regular HDC) to be sure you can match your bottom-of-afghan gauge to your top-of-afghan gauge. Otherwise, the bottom of your afghan might end up narrower than the top.

Changing Colours:

To change colour, I prefer the method that draws up the final loop of a stitch in the new colour. eg: for five white stitches followed by black, do four normal white stitches, then start the fifth. When all that’s left is drawing the yarn though all loops on the hook, yarn over with black and pull through a black loop. Continue to crochet with black. Unused colours can be carried forward short distances, but adding another bobbin is recommended for anything farther than an inch. This minimises the carried colours showing through.

Both written instructions and a colour chart are provided.