LINDA WALSH'S MUSTGO AFGHAN

We have a dish in our family called MUSTGO SOUP.  Anything in the fridge
more than a few days, must go.  So I plop them all together in a soup pot
with some V-8, which makes great soup stock, and VOILA! "Must Go" soup.

A few years ago, I took the idea into my studio and now make MUSTGO Afghans.
If you are like me, you may have similar or complementary colors in your
stash, so try this idea.  This is what I do with my left overs.


Materials:

Long circular needle - US Size #9 or 10 - or whatever is appropriate to
produce a light, airy fabric.

Miscellaneous yarn of coordinating colors.  How much is enough depends on
how large you want the finished blanket to be.  Mixing weights can produce
nice effects, or you can double lighter weight yarns - it's up to you!

Gauge:

Not critical - again the idea is to produce something that's much less dense
than would be appropriate for a sweater.


Instructions:

Cast on around 300 stitches. 

Knit about 20 rows of garter stitch, picking up a different strand of yarn
for each Row.  Leave a tail at the beginning and end of each Row.  You
should have about 10 garter stitch "ridges" to ensure a firm and uncurling
edge.  Because you are using a circular needle and leaving the yarn-end
tails, you don't have to turn the work around to go back.  Just snip off the
tail (leaving enough for your chosen edge treatment) and go back to the
beginning.  Pick up a new strand of yarn and start across again.  If you are
knitting across in this fashion, note that garter stitch is produced by
ALTERNATING rows of knit and purl.  Garter stitch borders of this width are
personal preferences.  Seed stitch works fine, as well. 

Switch to stocking stitch with a garter (or seed, or whatever) border to
match the ends.  10 ridges on the end balances with 10 garter stitches on
each side and so on.  You can work stocking stitch (or something else, but
keep it simple) for the center.  As before, when you work each Row, pick up
a different strand of yarn, leaving a tail at each end.  Continue working
the rows...border, stocking stitch middle, border...then go back to the
beginning to work for the next Row.  This method of working without turning
is especially convenient when the Afghan gets large and heavy towards the end.

By varying your choice of yarns you can get stripes, random colors, color
families, etc.  Each one, one of a kind!  It is amazing how yarns you might
not think would work together do in a project like this.

When the Afghan is as large as you like, Knit an ending border that matches
the beginning border.  For example, if you used 20 rows of garter stitch to
start, finish by knitting a matching 20 rows of garter stitch.  Bind off
loosely.


Finishing:

This is another step that invites creativity.  Braid the yarn end fringes or
knot them together, macramé style. You could even make a thick edge cord by
twisting them together French-braid style down the length of the Afghan.
Experiment!


The MUSTGO Afghan (c) 1996 by Linda Walsh (repoman@value.net)  Permission is
granted for reproduction of this pattern in on-line pattern collections,
provided this notice remains attached.  Permission is granted for people to
make up this item for charitable donation or sale.