Blood, Sweat & Tears Afghan

(Pattern not yet tested.)
Finished size: approx. 57" x 85".
I am making a weight loss scrapghan of teardrop shaped pieces. Each teardrop represents the blood, sweat and tears that went into losing each lb. I'll make 5 teardrops for each lb. lost. 25 per row and 20 rows. I am using bright and dark colors, but no black, grays, browns/tans, or beige. No white ones either because I am putting them together in white.

I will post the pattern as I go. Here is my progress so far:


Teardrops: worsted weight, scraps of different colors - approx. 7-8 ft. needed for each teardrop
Edging: white, worst weight
Hook: H8 (5.00 mm)

Teardrop - Make 500
Ch. 5, sl to 1st ch. to join.
Rnd 1 - Ch. 2 (1st dc), 15 dcs in ring. Sl in top of 2nd ch to join. Do not fasten off. (16 dcs)
To make tip - Sl in next st. (hdc, dc) in next st. Ch 3, working now into back bumps of those chains, sk 1st ch, sl in next two. Picot made.
Hdc in same st as the (hdc, dc) made previously. Sl next two sts. Fasten off.



"Making Tip of Teardrop." With audio.
Sorry, I'm left-handed and I'm using my camera phone.
Joining the 1st 25 Teardrops Into a Row
The rounded end of the teardrop is the bottom and the pointed tip is the top.
Rnd 1 - Holding a teardrop tip down, join with white to the bottom most sc of teardrop. Ch 1, sc in same st.
Sc in each st around** to its widest point, join with sc to the widest point of 2nd teardrop (tip up). Now continue sc up to the top of the 2nd teardrop.
Place 3 scs into picot, continue edging down other side of 2nd teardrop to its widest point and join 3rd teardrop (tip down).
Keep adding teardrops, alternating tip up/tip down and joining at their wides points until you have joined all 25. Now you have one side of the row edged.
Continue edging the other side of the row in the same manner.
As you reach the joins already made, be sure to join these same sts again with a sc or there will be a noticeable gap in the edging.

Click photo to enlarge.

Rnd 2 - Ch 1, 2 sc's in 2nd sc worked into picot (the very tip of the teardrop).
*Sc next 2 sts, sk 1 st, dc dec in next st and in the st directly across from that one in the 2nd teardrop (these 2 sts are directly above the sts in which the teardrops were connected in the 1st rnd of edging. You will now work around the bottom of the 2nd teardrop:
Sk 1 st, 2 sc's next st. Sc next 2 sts, 2 sc's next st (very bottom of teardrop).
Sc next 2 sts, 2 sc's next st. Sc next st, sk 1 st, dc dec as previously to join next teardrop.
You will now work towards the tip of the 3rd teardrop:
Sk 1 st, sc next st. 2sc into next st (very tip).
Repeat from * until one side of the row is completely edged.
In the following section, you will connect this 2nd row to the 1st as you edge the other side of this row.

**Important Notes: In the first rnd of edging, I placed 2 scs in one st at strategic points in the edging, specifically at the top and when going around the curves on each side so that the edging didn't pucker. Also when I decided exactly where I wanted to join the drops, I counted how many sts away from the tip that was, in my case 5, so that each drop was joined at the same spot. When doing the 2nd rnd of edging there is one sc in each st around, with the exceptions of placing two sc's in the very tip, in the very bottom, 2 sts away from either side of the very bottom (or wherever you need to place them around the curves to keep the edging from puckering), and finally, skipping 1 st before and after each dc dec.

This photo shows the edgings. The top row has 1 rnd and the bottom has two rnds.

Edging the 2nd row and joining it to the 1st row.
Rnd 1 - Work same as Rnd 1 on 1st row.
Rnd 2 - Work same as Rnd 2 on 1st row until one side is edged. Lay the 1st row flat on the table and the 2nd row beneath it. Line up the teardrops bottom to bottom and tip to tip. As you are edging the other side of the 2nd row you will connect it to the lower edge of the 1st row as such: Sl st together the 3 bottom-most sts of the 1st teardrop in row 2 with the 3 bottom-most sts in the 1st teardrop of row 1. Continue edging the 2nd row and when you reach the tip of the 2nd teardrop, sl st together the tips of the 2nd teardrops in each row: Now there are 3 scs worked into the picot of the lower tip and you'll be connecting it to the tip above it which has its 2nd Rnd of edging where there are 2 scs worked into the tip. So insert your hook into the 2nd sc in the picot below and sl st to the first sc in the tip above. Then insert your hook back into the 2nd sc in the picot below and sl st to the 2nd sc in the tip above. Continue edging the 2nd row, joining the bottoms and tips together until the rows are joined.

Join all subsequent rows in the same manner, the 3rd row to the bottom of the 2nd and so on.