The Afghan Cane

📖 The Scoop

The Afghan Cane consists of sixteen polymer clay “granny squares” assembled in a grid, much like a crocheted afghan would be. Unlike the crocheted version, though, we don’t have to create sixteen individual granny squares to make a colorful blanket. Through the magic of polymer color blends, we can generate a multitude of differently-colored squares with a single cane!

Required Skills

The project is geared towards those with some experience in the millefiori technique. If you have these skills:

Skinner Blend
Assembling Canes
Reducing Canes

then you can do this.

Tools and Materials

You will need one package each of three main colors. I used Sculpey III in :
Turquoise
Lime
Violet

Feel free to substitute your own favorite colors. Try to choose fairly vibrant colors, as all of the color-mixing we will be doing will tone them down somewhat.
You will also need a package of White and a package of Black.

Work surface, such as a marble tile, ceramic tile, or plexiglass.
Pasta machine
Clay blade
1.75-inch square cutter (optional)
Clay extruder (optional)

Topics Covered

Preparing the blends
Making the cane components
Building the cane
Reducing and re-assembling the cane

Plus:
How to choose appropriate colors
Granny square anatomy
The theory behind this unconventional use of a Skinner blend
Variations
Resources to help you learn more

Genre: Crafts & Hobbies / Polymer Clay (fancy, right?)