Crochet Southwest Stripe Afghan Pattern

I am very inspired by the USA Southwest colour palette and cultural designs that originate from the Southwest. In fact, if you have noticed in some of our videos, there are paintings on our home that we picked up years ago, not originals, but giclee format, of Tim Yanke's work, inspired by the Southwest.

Of all states, if I had to move to the USA, I would choose New Mexico. For those who follow along with me, you have heard me say this several times before. In my opinion, one of the prettiest states. There is a sense of cultural and barren features of New Mexico. Mixed in are the flavours of Southwest culture.

So, this Crochet Southwest Stripe Afghan has stolen my heart because of its design. But I did wonder, how did they do it? Is there graphghan work at play? Exactly what did the Yarnspirations Designer do? You know that if a seasoned crocheter like me is wondering how it was designed, others will wonder how you made it, too, because it's a conversational piece.

Using the flavourful colours over Caron Simply Soft, this afghan is a bit of an optical illusion. Once you see the free pattern, you will understand why I am questioning construction. So, for those who need help visualizing the pattern, let me explain.

The afghan isn't one solid piece from side to side. It consists of panels. If you notice the beige line in the middle of the blue section, that is the joining of two panels. If you follow the afghan across and see a raised ridge directly in the middle between two blue sections, that's the ending of the panel.

So the panel is constructed, starting in the beige area, progressing to the oranges, and finishing in blue. Once you have your strip complete, you do another. The beige sides butt up to each other, and the blue sides butt up together, giving you a fantastic look. But how is that blue section done? 

The blue section uses drop-down stitches when working with blue. I thought for a bit that maybe there was a graphghan work of carrying the blue under the stitch work to create it. Thankfully, not. Kudos to the designer for not overcomplicating this fantastic design.

Even better, the designer has created a diagram for you to follow. Is there anything else cool?

The designer also reveals the multiples for a repeat pattern. It's 15. If you want to change the size, chain in multiples of 15 and then add 2 at the end of the chain to balance it. So the multiple is 15 + 2. I love it when the designer reveals this information.

Request for Help

In row 12, there is a stitch called long half double crochet, which can also be referred to as extended half double crochet.

Insert the hook into the assigned stitch—the crochet diagram with the pattern helps you see the location as well—and go directly through the work. The legs of the stitch encase the edge, and you will need to pull up extra yarn to get the top of the stitch aligned properly.

Insert the hook directly through the assigned stitch so the yarn carries down. You will see the legs dropping down in both the front and back of the project.