“One of the reasons I love designing and knitting afghans is the wonderful flexibility they offer,” says renowned knitwear designer Martin Storey and author of the book AFGHAN KNITS. Here are five more motives for giving your knitting needles a chance to play with an afghan pattern (or seven!):

1Because the patterns are so straightforward, you can go to town on a great range of textured stitches or brilliant color ways, or a combination of the two.

2Projects composed of afghan squares or strips are so portable, you can knit on trains, boats, and planes, on your lunch break or on the beach, all with your knitting project fitting conveniently into a small bag.

3For knitting addicts, there’s room to play, for novice knitters, nothing could be simpler.

4With size, the sky is the limit! It is easy to change a small project into a…