Late last March, my youngest son and I went to California to visit family. During the course of our visit we found ourselves at the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market located at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street.

Like many things L.A., it is conveniently situated near a mall with valet parking, an Apple Store, and a Barnes & Noble. As the iPad had just been released, I was able to negotiate some time in the Needlecraft section of the Barnes & Noble for some time in the Apple Store.

After we had stood in line and gotten our turn to look at the iPad, we headed over to the bookstore, where I pulled from the shelves, all of the crochet titles I didn’t yet own. While there were three titles that tempted me, the one that I ended up purchasing was Melody Griffiths most recent book, Crocheted Afghans.

In this book, Ms. Griffiths uses crochet afghan designs to celebrate and explore textile and craft traditions from various times in history and various cultures around the world. The result is a stunning collection of work that allows the crocheter to develop and learn a variety of skills.

One of the pieces in the book that caught my eye on my initial run through is the one I reference in title of my blog post, African Beads. While I very quickly found myself unable to resist going off on my own color scheme, I very much enjoy the hint of a sculptural texture that is created through the extensive use of a 2dctog stitch. Here is what I worked up this afternoon:

The book has no charts, and the techniques Ms. Griffiths employs are sometimes a new way of looking at an old idea, so it is important to read the written directions very carefully. However, it is well worth the effort.

I am enjoying working on this project very much and expect that the other projects in this book that I want to do will be as rewarding and fun as this is.