Customer Reviews

Herrschner's Blue-Ribbon Afghans (Crochet Treasury)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book really does have some wonderful afghan patterns in it and I would highly recommend it to anyone. However, I have a word of caution regarding the "Blue Star" afghan pictured on the cover. I made this afghan from a kit from Herrschners and it came out wonderfully. But I have had several people e-mail me saying that the version of the pattern in this book has a couple serious mistakes in it -- not to mention that the instructions are more concise (and less clear) than the kit version. I think that Leisure Arts messed it up in the editing process. I wouldn't let this keep me from buying the book (in fact, I do own it and still recommend it), but I wanted to let people know that this particular pattern has problems. My e-mail address is above if any of you out there have already started it and run into problems -- I'm always happy to help if I can.

I snagged this book at my local craft store when I saw the Herrschner's label. Thumbing through it, I saw dozens of beautiful, unique afghans, most of them crochet. Two-thirds of the book is dedicated to adult afghans, which as one reviewer pointed out will take some time to make. I am in the process of making the Afghan-Stitch Aran, which has cable, diagonal, and diamond patterns worked in the stitches. What I liked about this book is the myriad of styles and the easy instructions. There is something for everybody.

Included are two Christmas afghans. The first pattern was the deciding factor in buying Blue-Ribbon Afghans. It is a several-paneled piece, done in the Christmas colors, with braided fringe and simple embroidery. In the panels themselves, are Christmas trees, candy canes, and stars. You'll have to get the book (or check it out in your local craft store) to see what I'm talking about. The last third is dedicated to baby afghans, which are cute. But I prefer the Annie's Attic designs because of their uniqueness. At the very end of the book are general instructions for knitting, crochet, and finishing touches. This is an excellent book for the intermidiate to advanced crocheter/knitter.

I've been Crocheting for over ten years but a friend wanted me to make the Irish Lattis pattern. And I found a ton of mistakes. The way they have the pattern written does not match the picture at all and they tell you that the wrong side of the afghan is the right side sometimes. I wouldn't suggest getting this book unless you have a little more experience and can easily fix the problems otherwise you might get very confused with the instructions. I'm assuming since that pattern is so off there are mistakes in the other designs as well.

I LOVE a lot of these patterns, and the first I have tried is the cover "Blue Star". A group of friends and I are all making it. It's a good thing we're working together, because we have found 3 LARGE errors in it that aren't in the company's "corrections". Even though we've notified them of these errors, they don't seem to have made it into the official set of corrections. It's frustrating to have to rip a lot of things out because of editing issues.

MOST of these afghans are crochet, a few knit, and several are "afghan stitch" or tunisian.

These are gorgeous afghans, but keep in mind, they are "Blue Ribbon" afghans. They will take you a little longer than the "Quick" afghans, but the result will be worth it.

I've made 7 afghans from this book--each one turned out beautifully. The baby afghan with the hearts is lovely. I enjoyed making it so much that I enlarged the pattern and made a full-size afghan for my niece. I anticipate doing at least 4-5 more from this book. Worth every penny and more!

This book was well worth the money I spent. The pictures are very helpful and the directions have been relatively easy to follow. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in different patterns. These afghans are not ones you see in every pattern book in the store.

I have done the Blue Star pattern and, as others have discovered, it has lots of errors. Am working on the the first panel of the Stained Glass pattern and the instructions for this also has serious errors besides being just plain poorly written. There is not enough detail for the stitches in all of the different areas etc of the pattern. It is obvious from the pictures that the stitches are different but it is too hard to determine what the stitch sequence should be and they really aren't given in the pattern instructions. I am probably going to have to start all over and determine from the pictures what color goes where for the areas from one triangle to another because the instructions provided do not produce the color pattern in the picture and it is not an eye pleasing pattern that is produced following the instructions. This is a lot of wasted yarn because I hide ends well. It has taken several weeks to get this far so I have wasted a lot of time also. Given the frequency of errors in pattern instructions, the very least they could do is follow the lead of other publishers and either include a sheet with the correcting information with the book or have a place on their website where the correct patterns are available. Even more importantly they should quit selling a book with so many errors. Level of difficulty indicated with three yarn balls has, so far in my experience, indicated that the difficulty is related as much to the problems with the pattern instructions as to the pattern itself.

Beautiful afghans and great easy to follow intructions. Different levels of crochet for the beginner, intermediate and advanced crocheter. I highly recommend this book !

The afghans are beautiful. They are rated from beginner through advanced. I have not had a chance to make one as yet but directions seem to be complete and clear. I am so impressed that I am buying a copy for my daughter.