Crochet 24 Hour Baby Afghans Book by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss, Published by Leisure Arts
I got my hands on an interesting pattern book called Crochet 24 Hour Baby Afghans. The premise of the book: the authors claim that each of these 16 baby afghan patterns can be crocheted in 24 hours. Want to know more? My book review has more details.
Share Your Experiences With This Book:
I haven't yet crocheted any of the baby afghans presented in this book. Have you? If so, please give us the scoop. Were you able to do it in 24 hours? How'd your baby afghan turn out? Details, please!
Time Frame for Crocheting a Baby Afghan:
I receive occasional emails from new crocheters who ask about how long it takes to make a baby afghan. There isn't a universal answer to this question, but you can get an overall idea of the time frame required by checking out the info experienced crocheters have shared on this page: baby afghan time frame. If you haven't already done so, you're invited to post your opinion too!
Free Patterns for Baby Afghans
I doubt you'd be able to make any of the following patterns in less than 24 hours, but they're still great projects to consider - and the patterns are free:
These unused strands of yarn have a name. Do you know what it is?
Photo © 2010 Amy Solovay, Licensed to About.com, Inc.
I've been working on writing a book review, but I thought I'd take a break from that for a moment to share some musings that just popped into my head.
In my book review, I was going to write the words, "This book is not for the impatient crocheter." Then I stopped, thought about it for a moment, and deleted the sentence -- because I'm not convinced there's any such thing as an impatient crocheter. Is there? What do you think?
In my experience, crochet is not a pastime that truly impatient people stick with for long (if they even start in the first place.) I could be wrong about this; maybe there are plenty of impatient crocheters out there, but if so I have yet to meet them. And the experienced crocheters I know, they all have miles and miles of patience.
Then I started wondering if there's any possibility that crochet makes people patient, or at least significantly contributes to a person's patience levels.
Here's what I'm getting at. I learned to crochet as a child, at a time when I was learning to interact with the world around me. I turned out to be a patient person. I know this because my former colleagues in the textile industry (particularly my subordinates) used to compliment me on it. What I'm wondering: would I have turned out to be this patient even if I hadn't learned how to crochet as a child? I don't know, but truthfully, I doubt it!
So I'm wondering this: to what degree did crochet influence my patience levels?
I'll probably never know the definitive answers to these questions, but it sure is interesting to think about.
What do you think: is there a correlation between crochet skills and patience levels? Can patience be learned, or cultivated? And if so, do you think crochet can help with that?

Crocheted Baby Booties - Photo © Erica Jackofsky
Babies are the perfect excuse to pick up a crochet hook and get started on an exciting new project.
Pictured here: Erica Jackofsky's cute baby booties; because of their unique construction, she calls them "tootsie wraps." She's shared the free crochet pattern plus a tutorial for assembling the baby booties.
More Free Patterns for Baby
Our main directory of free baby patterns features many more designs for little ones. You'll find ideas for many different types of patterns, from bibs to baby blankets.