The (New) Fire Square

Well, if you happened to catch my last blog post, you know I am a creepy woman-child who spends hours creating artistic masterpieces about age-inappropriate cartoons.  Such as Avatar: The Last Airbender.

My last attempt at the fire square was less than successful.  My previous post details the problems I had, but to sum up, basically the width of the square was not consistent and the cluster stitch the pattern calls for was too big for the single crochet in the background color, causing wrinkles.  But I learned from my mistakes!
Instead of the cluster stitch, I first tried doing the whole pattern in single crochet.  After a few rows, I wasn't happy with the way it looked.  I wanted my lines to look sharper, so I pulled it out and tried again.  I used hdc this time, but only for the edges of the lines.  I still used sc for the inside of the lines.  It was a little tedious to figure out which stitch to use, but in the end, it gave me defined lines that were wrinkle free!

Another tactic I used to sharpen my lines was pulling the last stitch of the each color very tight.  That way, it was more likely to be covered by the stitch above it, and wouldn't stand out as much.  It's hard to explain, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

This stitch, I accidentally didn't pull tight.  Notice how big it is in comparison to those before it.

As a result, part of the red stitch shows through when I add my next row.

I ripped it all out and made that stitch smaller...

...making the red stitch far less visible!

As for my width problems, I just made more of an effort to keep the tension consistent, especially when I pulled the black yarn taut at the beginning and end of each row.  The middle of the square is still thinner than the top and bottom, but I'm sure when I connect all four squares together, it will pull the stitches tighter over time and won't be noticeable.

The other main thing I changed with this square was the hook size.  I used an I instead of a K, as the pattern calls for.  Most people who finished this blanket on Ravelry reported it was big enough for a double bed.  That's huge.  I don't want mine quite that big, and I also wanted to save a bit on yarn.  My finished square was 28" x 27", not exactly a complete square.  You can see it below with the beginning of the air square (also to be restarted), which I started a long time ago with the required size hook.

Since all of my squares will be 27" tall, that would make the blanket 4 1/2 feet tall without the connecting rows or the border.  I think the blanket will be plenty big with the I hook, without being HUGE like it would have been with the K.

Anyway, doesn't it look cool?  I think it looks cool.  I didn't keep track of how many hours it took me, but I finished it in about two weeks.  The red yarn was Red Heart Soft, color Wine, and the black... well I bought it too long ago to remember.  Sorry.  

It was a good project to ease myself back into crocheting after being burnt out from all those Christmas afghans.  Easy, but still interesting.  Speaking of Christmas afghans, I promise, I'll post my family's reactions to getting them soon.  Unfortunately, the awesome pictures are all on my sister's computer in high resolution, so we haven't emailed or put them on a CD or anything.  I steal them soon and post, I promise!

Friend me on Ravelry:  http://www.ravelry.com/people/cpaigef

This project on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/cpaigef/avatar-the-four-elements

Link to this pattern: http://kimby77.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/avatar-the-four-elements/