Knitting Texture: One Motif at a Time

Class Preview

Create custom afghans by mixing and matching your favorite motifs. Join the one and only Laura Nelkin for her sixth Craftsy class, and discover how to create mitered squares and octagons using a toolkit of stunning stitch patterns. Then, learn to bring them together for your own custom projects.

Smarter Swatching & Project Planning

Meet Laura Nelkin and start class with some helpful approaches to selecting your yarn, from weights for the stitches you want to hues that really pop. Then, get a refresher on swatching to make sure you’re using your fiber efficiently. Finish this lesson with Laura’s fun and flexible pattern recipe; it makes mixing and matching stitches easy!

Mitered Squares

Make friends with mitered squares! Laura demonstrates how these knit squares can help join and fill out an afghan, before sharing three different methods for making them. Plus, see how to jazz up your squares for more eye-catching color.

Octagon Basics

What do you get when you use the centered double decrease and asymmetrical decreases? Eye-catching octagonal motifs! See each technique step by step, then move on to slipped stitches, elongated stitches and working a double decrease at the start of a row. Laura even shares how purl ridges and slipped stitches can create incredible texture.

Intricate Octagons

Tackle a fun twist in the classic basket-weave motif. It all starts with cables worked two ways! Laura moves on to even more stitch pattern fun with an elegant leaf motif that floats on a bed of stitches. Want to add lace to your afghan? Make it happen with stellar guidance for the Star Lace motif.

Construction & Finishing Techniques

With all these new motifs, you’ve got enough for a versatile design! Take a detailed look at how to lay out the final design, before Laura explains how your colors and textures will interact. You’ll bring it all together with two methods for joins, and give your afghan an inviting finishing touch with some tasteful border options.

Customization Options

Want to use Laura’s mix-and-match recipe for multiple projects? That’s what it’s made for! Follow along in the final lesson for easy tips sure to save you time. And for even more variety, see how switching out texture in your mitered squares and octagon motifs can make all the difference.