Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Settlers of Catan 'ghan! With Free Pattern

Was it the sheep that gave it away?

Congratulations to Katherine, Shoveling Ferret, Deeners and Kicki for correctly guessing the large collection of hexagons I was making were for a Settlers of Catan afghan.

This is an idea that's been spinning around in the back of my mind since last summer. It took me a while to work out a suitable hexagon motif. I originally made all the brick squares with a hexagon that had more airy space in it. After looking at them for a couple of months I decided I didn't like them. I pulled them apart and settled on this more tightly crocheted hexagon which makes me much happier. A permanent price reduction in Vanna's Choice yarn from $5.99 down to $3.99 also helped the project along.



At it's widest point the blanket is about 37 inches across making it a bit small for an afghan. Maybe more like a lapghan? It would be easy to make it bigger just by extending the hexagon motif a few more rounds though. I also think it would make an awesome baby gift for Catan-loving parents-to-be, but with the Vanna's Choice it's fairly heavy. Perhaps it could be made in a sport weight yarn for that purpose instead?

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to have some sort of sheep roaming around on the light green squares. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to do that. I totally adore these sheep buttons from the Button Drawer.


Unfortunately, these cute little guys are $2.45 a piece. Thriftyness won out and I picked up six pre-cut, painted wooden sheep from Micheal's for 39 cents each. Then I bought broach fasteners and glued them to the backs of the sheep. This way my little flock is both moveable and removeable when it comes time to wash the afghan.



I wasn't sure how I should lay out my Catan map. We normally play with the Cities and Knights expansion, but I didn't want to have the single hexagon sticking up at the top that represents the pirates. Instead, I just used the map suggested in the instruction book from the original game.



Finally, for those who have no idea what I'm talking about, check out Settlers of Catan. I learned to play a couple of years ago when my boyfriend's brother gave us a copy of the game. It's a lot of fun and very easy to learn. In some ways it's similar to Monopoly, except you don't have to spend time counting and giving away money. The real game doesn't come with plastic sheep, just cards with pictures of sheep on them, and yet it's still awesome.

Want the Pattern?

It's free, and it's right here! I love to see what others make with my patterns. If you complete a blanket, post a comment and give me a link to a picture of your finished version. If you have any questions about the pattern, post them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

Settlers of Catan Afghan Pattern

Materials

size I/9 (5.5 mm) crochet hook
stitch marker
yarn needle
1 skein of Vanna’s Choice yarn in White, Black, Brick, Mustard, Charcoal Grey, Mustard, Dusty Green and Olive
3 skeins of Vanna’s Choice yarn in Colonial Blue
wooden sheep and 3/4 inch broach fasteners or sheep buttons

Hexagon Motif

Use the following motif and refer to diagram and pictures above to create the required number of hexagons in each colour.

6 sc in a magic ring (pull ring tight or leave a small hole if desired), slip stitch into first stitch, ch 1.
Rnd 1: 2 sc in same space as sl st. 2 sc in each st around, sl st in top of first sc, ch 1. (12 sc)
Rnd 2: in same space as sl st: sc1, ch1, sc1. *sc 1 in next sc, (sc 1, ch1, sc1) in next sc. Rep from * to last sc. Sc 1 in last sc. Join with sl st to top of first sc.
Rnd 3: sl st into next ch-1 sp. Ch 1. (sc 1, ch1, sc1) in same sp as sl st. *sc 1 in each of next 3 sc. (sc 1, ch1, sc 1) in next ch-1 sp. Rep from * to last 3 sc. Join with sl st in top of first sc.
Rnd 4: ch1. Sc 1 in same sp as sl st. *Ch1. Miss next ch-1 sp. 1 sc in each of next 5 sc. Rep from * to last 4 sc. 1 sc in each of last 4 sc. Join with sl st in top of first sc.
Rnd 5: Sl st in next sc and ch-1 sp. Ch1. (sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) in same sp as sl st. *sc 1 in each of next 5 sc. (sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) in next ch-1 sp. Rep from * to last 5 sc. Join with sl st in top of first sc.
Rnd 6: Ch 1. Sc 1 in same sp as sl st. *Ch 1. Miss next ch-1 sp. Sc 1 in each of next 7 sc. Rep from * to last 6 sc. Sc 1 in each of last 6 sc. Join with sl st in top of first sc.
Rnd 7: Sl st in next sc and ch-1 sp. Ch 1. (sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) in same sp as sl st. *Sc 1 in each of next 7 sc. (Sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) in next ch-1 sp. Rep from * to last 6 sc. Sc 1 in each of last 7 sc. Join with sl st in top of first sc.
Rnd 8: Sl st in next ch-1 sp. Ch 1. (Sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) in same sp as sl st. *1 sc in each of next 9 sc. (sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) in next ch-1 space. Rep from * to last 8 sc. 1 sc in each of last 8 sc. Join with sl st in top of first sc. Finish off.

Note: For two colour hexagons begin the pattern with the centre colour and then for Rnd 2 work as follows:

Rnd 2: in same space as sl st: sc1, ch1, sc1. *sc 1 in next sc, (sc 1, ch1, sc1) in next sc. Rep from * to last sc. Sc 1 in last sc. Join outer colour with sl st to top of first sc.

Continue working rnds 3-8 in outer colour.

Assembly

Sew hexagon motifs together as shown in the map and photos above. My prefered method of joining is the Invisible Weave or Mattress stitch. It’s described really well on page 80 of Debbie Stoller’s The Happy Hooker or you can have glance at this tutorial if you’re interested, although I found the worded description here isn’t quite as clear.

After your hexagons are all sewn together weave in any loose ends. Then I did the following border on my piece:

Border



With Colonial Blue, join with a sl st in any inward corner point.
Rnd 1: Ch 2 and half-double crochet (hdc) in each sc around, placing 3 hdc in every outword corner point sc. Join in top of beginning ch-2 with black.
Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in each hdc around, placing 3 sc in middle hdc of each outward point, ending with a sl st in top of first sc. Finish off and weave in ends.

Sew sheep buttons on Dusty Green hexagons, or glue wooden sheep to 3/4 inch broach fasteners and attach to Dustry green hexagons as desired.

Enjoy!

26 comments:

Deeners said...

Yay! How convenient that I happen to have some Cattan lovin' parents-to-be. This is totally on the "to make" list. Thanks for the pattern. Great idea with the sheep.

Amy S. said...

I know quite a few people who love settlers, so this is a really awesome idea! I'll keep this in mind the next time I need a birthday or Christmas present!

Unknown said...

I am ridiculously proud of myself for guessing correctly. :) Thanks so much for sharing the pattern!
I'll pop a mention up on my blog too!

Anonymous said...

What are the overall dimensions?

amber said...

Chrisdwyer31, it's about 37 inches by 37 inches at its widest point. That's a little small for an afghan since most are about 52 inches wide or more. I guess, technically this is more of a lapghan, but you could easily make each hexagon bigger by extendng the pattern for more rows.

Anonymous said...

OMG!! I Love Catan, I discovered it on the Xbox360 and quickly went out and bought the board game and the expansion packs. My niece and I are avid players. I guess I know what she is getting for Christmas! Thank you so much!

Jake said...

*sigh* Dither long enough, and you get beaten to the punch. I guess I really ought to finish my rather different conception of the same idea now.

charisma said...

oh Amber,
So I finally got onto your blog! YEAH!
My husband will love this! he loves Catan. Have you played Starfarers?

amber said...

Hi Charisma!,

I'm glad the link is finally working! Welcome. We have the two player version of Starfarers and it's a lot of fun. I've never played the larger 4-6 player version. I'm not sure if there's much difference between the two.

My boyfriend is very excited to hear that your husband knows what Catan is. We know so few people that have heard of it.

Aub said...

The Sheep are awesome.

About a year ago, I made my boyfriend a gigantic twin-bed-sized-168-hex Catan afghan consisting of three islands and lots of ocean... I'll definitely be using this one if we ever decide to spawn in the future. Bravo.

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Scarlet said...

Thank you so much for posting this pattern. I finished one and have it posted on my blog with a link to your site as well.

Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

now you have a giant size version of the game (when it's too warm for lapghans). what a fun idea!

eKNITabeth said...

Amber,
if you're not on Ravelry, you should be... some of your patterns are! This pattern needs to be on Ravelry as well!!
e.

Zyle said...

Wow, your CatanGhan is awesome!! I have very fond memories of playing Catan online with my boyfriend way back when he lived in Holland and me in England! I think now that I've got the hang of crochet I'll have to have a go!

Unknown said...

Using the map from the extra players expansion or seafarers should get a slightly large 'ghan. I totally want to make this for Christmas for a friend who loooooves the game. If I do, I will be sure to let you know!

Unknown said...

Er, largeR 'ghan, I meant to say.

Sam said...

This is wonderful! I've been searching for a solid hexagon pattern for the Catanghan I'm making my best friend for Christmas. Thank you so much for posting yours! I'm having some minor problems with increasing the hexagon size though...would you mind horribly creating a post that shows how to do this?

P.S. I'm working with Vanna's Choice colours too, but found that Bernat SuperValue yarn also had the right colours :)

Thanks again for some awesome patterns/posts.

bamboo said...

OMG I am SO making this! Love me some Catan!

Anonymous said...

How many skeins of yarn did you need for this?

Lindsay said...

Is it normal for the hexagons to sort of curl a bit? I'm told that I have to iron them when I'm done before sewing them together. I'm a new crocheter so....I'm just not quite sure.

amber said...

Hi Me, I think the curling is normal. I don't think it's necessary to iron them. Once you start sewing them together the weight will keep them from curling up. Then putting the final border of stitching around the edge of the blanket should help the ones around the edge stay flat. Good luck and have fun stitching!

Lindsay said...

Thank you so much for your response!
I am having fun - but alas no luck. I keep doing something wrong so the pieces don't end up looking like hexagons. I'm not sure what it is and I think I'm following correctly. I'll get it sorted...hopefully.

~T~ said...

Thanks for the inspiration! I made mine with a Seafarers map. It was at least as fun as playing the game...

Tash said...

This is brilliant! I stumbled across it whilst using your spiral baby afghan pattern (which is coming along great by the way!) We started playing Settlers of Catan Risk just last week so this is just awesome :)

Unknown said...

I just started playing Catan two weeks ago and just so happened to find this pattern thanks to tumblr...I'm so excited to get started on this! Thank you for sharing your pattern!