Beryl’s first afghan was The Long and Winding Road. I don’t think Mum would have been able to stick with this one. It was an experiment with technique and very valuable for the information and inspiration it provided but I have to admit it has never been one of my favourites. It is a large rectangular spiral constructed in four sections. It didn’t have the same excitement but it was still an essential stepping stone to other designs.
The Long and Winding Road may look as though it is worked in strips but it is really another use of our basic rules for shapes with 45 degree angles. It is made from four shapes which are very like triangles except that they have bits missing or bits added on at the top, to make them fit together.
Each piece is a series of stripes. In addition to the mathematical rules we set ourselves
we also had one rule on the technical side -
The four pieces were started at their inside edges, which are much smaller than the outer edges. This means it is easier to pull undone or have a change a plan, if necessary.
The Long and Winding Road is also our first example of things not always being what they seem. Is it a pale blue spiral on a dark background? Or a dark spiral on a light background? Or two interlinked spirals?