Random Afghans: A Great Use for Discount Yarns!
Create a random afghan and use up all those discount yarns you couldn't help but buy!
Everyone loves discount yarns. The problem is, discount yarns tend to be a mix and match of colors, weights, and materials. It's almost impossible to find enough discount yarns to make a single project. So if you're like me, you wind up with a huge basket of discount yarns, no two alike, all beautiful in their own way, and all utterly useless.
That's why I was so excited by the idea of a random afghan! A random afghan is a deliberately mismatched, slipshod affair, tied together only by as much unity as you care to give it! Random afghans are great chances to use up discount yarns and let your creative inner child shine through!
What Is It?
A random afghan is exactly what it sounds like: 48 squares, all made from different discount yarns or leftover scraps, sewn together into one big afghan. The end result is a bright, cheerfully mismatched affair. If you're giving this one to charity, aim it at children: they're the ones most likely to appreciate the brightly colored mess you love so much!
The only thing you do have to keep uniform is the squares' sizes. Each square should be 8 inches on all sides. Because your discount yarns are probably all different weights, you'll have to find your own gauge for each one. Blocking can help, too: once you get that wool wet, you can stretch it out or shrink it down a bit to fit your afghan.
I Don't Like Chaos
A true random afghan is exactly that: colors, patterns, and discount yarns selected at random to suit your mood, then thrown together regardless of how they feel about it. If that sounds a little too adventurous to suit you, though, you can still make a random afghan. Just pick some sort of unifying theme. Maybe you'll have five colors integrated throughout, or you'll do a border using all the colors from the afghan. You could also do random colors, but do each square in the same pattern (I think that's pretty boring, though).
The best thing about a random afghan is that you don't have a chance to get bored! Each square whips up quickly, and before you know it you're onto something new. This is not only a great way to use up discount yarns and scraps, it's a perfect opportunity to try a new pattern or style you're nervous about using on, say, a sweater. With random afghans, discount yarns have finally met their match!