Also, I'm making progress on my knitted afghan!
My goal was to have this project done by the end of the holiday season just past so that when I put away my Christmas quilt I had out on the couch, the new knitted afghan could replace it.
Whoops. That looks like another quilt to me rather than the afghan. Yep. Sigh. Didn't get the afghan done on time so this quilt made of Civil War reproduction fabrics will have to do for a while.
I snapped this picture of the afghan strips laid out last week. (Looking at the picture just now, I think I placed the strips in the wrong order, too.) Since then, I've finished the fourth strip and have started on the fifth and last one. (I erroneously mentioned in a previous post that the afghan was made up of four strips. Guess I was having trouble counting that day. It's five strips.)
When I finish knitting this last strip I'm on now, I may need a couple of you to threaten me with whips to keep going and finish the project . . . by sewing the strips together. That's something I'm not looking forward to. It's gonna take some creative thinking to figure out what color yarn to use because I'll be matching blocks of different colors. So just what color do I use so it doesn't show? All the pattern says is "sew strips together." There must be a way to do it. It may take a little experimentation, but I'll figure it out.
36 comments:
I don't even know how to properly end a crocheted dishcloth! No help from me, sorry :)
Oh, and I vaguely recall those strips.....like MONTHS ago. Yep, I'll nag you.
You know that I don't do knitting, But I wanted to tell you again that I really like the wood walls! I have plans to try to do the same type of thing in my house. Only I will be using recycled wood. I will try it out in the new Chicken Hotel and the new work shop (When I get it!). That will give me an idea of what it will look like in the house.
Tom
I love the color choices in your quilt and knitting..beautiful. Now, get busy and get that beauty finished :)
Good for you. I was making myself crochet 2 rows of double crochet on my afghan every night til I ran out of the right colors of scrap acrylic yarn I'd been using. I got enough to finish it on Saturday, so I need to force myself to get going again. It's beautiful.
What a nice knitting project!
It's looking good! Tell you what, don't look at sewing the enire thing at one time...just bag one row and sew it. Then the next. Before you know it the entire thing will be done. Evening knitting is the best. The peaceful motions in knitting nearly rock me to sleep.
You can do it!!! With all of us encouraging you - you'll have it done in no time! Could you use one of the colors that you want to 'highlight' and use that to connect the strips? It would show but it would coordinate.
If you finish it and curl up under the afghan and fall asleep you won't notice what color you sewed it together with, LOL, you will just enjoy being warm and cozy. I am just being sarcastic as I sit here with a Walmart blanket that Bella chewed a hole in to stay warm. Looks beautiful.
I have no idea how you can sew all those strips together so you won't see the yarn you used but I know that You Tube will have someone on there with a tutorial to show you how it's done.
I'll keep hounding you to finish your blanket if you keep hounding me to keep on making a dent in my goal list. Deal?
Oh I really like that Mama Pea :) I think once I get my stuff out of storage I may attempt knitting again. Don't feel bad about the math either...I realized last night that where I thought I needed 6 grannies for this afghan I am working on, apparently my brain was off when I counted, because I actually need 13 lol.
It's such a pretty blanket, you have to finish!!! I would probally pick one color and go with that, so if it shows up all the rows will have the same look maybe? Idk, I don't knit and could never finish such a huge project! Your work is impressive!!!
Carolyn - Aw, gimme a break! I've not been working on the darn thing for months . . . it's only been since . . . (let me go check) . . . well, sometime this last summer. Oooops. Wait. I guess that WAS months ago. Hee-hee.
Tom - Thanks! I particularly like wood paneling on walls as opposed to dry wall because I tend to pound in nails to hang things here, there and everywhere! And the wood is certainly a lot more forgiving than plaster!
Simply Scaife Family - Thank you! And, yes, ma'am, I will keep on it. (If you keep prodding me! :o] )
Ruth - Yep, sometimes we do need a little push to get back into the swing of things. But what better time of year to be working on a knitted or crocheted afghan than now? (It's so dang chilly in here this morning . . . we had terrific winds all night which really cooled everything off . . . that I wanna curl up on the couch and knit, knit, knit all day!)
Melanie - Why, thank you, ma'am! I neglected my knitting needles for several years while quilting but lately it's felt really good to pick them up again. And I really am enjoying working on this afghan. Years ago I knit many afghans for other people but this will be the first one I've ever done for myself. Fun!
Katidids - As much as I love quilting, I've got to admit knitting is truly much more relaxing. You do kinda go into a zone . . . good time for thinking and working out dilemmas in your head! (Not that any of us have any dilemmas [aka problems!] to work through, right?)
Freedom Acres Farm - I hadn't thought of that . . . the strips would be easy to crochet together with a chosen colored yarn showing on top. And crocheting them together would be easier than sewing and/or weaving them together. Hmmmm, must think about that . . .
Tombstone Livestock - Oh, I know, I know. When I'm curled up under a quilt I've made, I realize that I don't even look at or notice areas where the piecing isn't so very perfect or spots where I wasn't happy with the quilting on it. I picked the yarn for this afghan because it was so soft and would be cozy and comfortable. The afghan will be used for comfort, not display!
Sparkless - Yeah, about that goal list . . . ! How's about you republish it along with notes on how and what's been accomplished? (And do not be ultra-hard on yourself!)
Let's work hard to keep each other movin' along, okay?
Stephanie - Ha! My actual math skills are so notoriously bad that my dear husband is amazed that I can figure out and successfully piece intricate quilt patterns when something as simple as a story problem (you know, if John had three apples . . . ) sends me into a tizzy!
Kelly - Thanks for the nice words! It really hasn't seemed like a HUGE project (Quiet, Carolyn!) because by doing it one strip at a time, finishing each strip has seemed like an accomplishment in itself and makes me eager to start the next one. As soon as I finish this last strip (I'm only on the first block of four in the strip), I'll tackle weaving in all the ends of yarn . . . then get on with sewing/crocheting/whatever all the strips together.
I do so envy your stick-to-it-tiveness! I only have a fruit fly's worth of attention these days which is good for a head band or two. That is going to be so lovely when you're finished - and I know you will finish because we will nag you (in a very loving manner, of course) until it is! I find knitting to be very calming - as long as it doesn't involve a lot of patterns, that is. That quilt, by the way, is drop-dead gorgeous!
Mama Pea - YOU are the most creative soul and have the best ideas so I'm betting that you will figure out how to crochet/knit/sew those squares together to look beautiful. I was thinking along the lines of Freedom Acres Farm's idea..... but sometimes it takes experimenting with a couple of different things to figure out which looks best. Either way, LOVE the colors and the whole idea of a knitted afghan and the 'squares' look nary anything like a Granny Square. (Though I do like Granny Squares too) Looking forward to seeing pics of the completed project..... soon!!!
You could go bold with RED - it's a hot neutral that would go well with all those colors. Otherwise, grey is a also a nice neutral that would blend with those blocks as well.
Guess which I'd go for? :)
Susan - I love your "fruit fly's worth of attention!" I guess we're different on that front. I could happily sit and knit or quilt or read for daaaays! (With frequent potty breaks and intakes of food, of course.)
Thanks for the compliment on my Civil War quilt.
Now get out your cattle prod to keep me on task to finish the afghan.
Lisa - I've been thinking about it so much, I do have an idea in my mind of how to get those strips joined together satisfactorily. Now we just have to see if the theory works!!
Jen - I don't have to guess which you'd go for! So red is a hot neutral, eh? Interesting thought.
Mama Pea: I had the same quandry with a crocheted 'Log Cabin' pattern afghan. Every join is of two different colours. I picked the most neutral of the two and whip stitched them together. The stitches blend on one side and only show up neatly spaced on the other block. It looks good. Just have 4 more strips of 8 blocks to join, then the border of red-orange to match the center of the blocks. Getting excited about finishing. The end is in sight!! I really enjoy your blog. Take care.
Rosalea Hunter - Welcome and thanks for commenting! Yes, I can see you would have run into the same "problem" when putting your Log Cabin pattern together. I think I'll quickly decide how to do mine once I start with a couple of quick experiments. Thanks very much for your input!
That's the worst part about sewing afghan squares together! What color! You could always do a really fancy embroidery stitch in a contrasting color.
Gack! I've been saving this post in my feed for three days, thinking I'll get around to commenting. I love the idea of a knitted patchwork blanket. A bunch of different small projects stitched together. What a great idea!!
IMO, you could ease up on the lady that sets your knitting project deadlines. Life happens. :-)
Leigh - Yeah, I really could always do a really fancy embroidery stitch in a contrasting color . . . but I ain't gonna! I'll try putting the strips together in the way I *think* will work, but if it doesn't, get out your embroidery needle 'cause I'm sending it to you! ;o)
LindaCO - And, oh boy! Has any semblance of a "schedule" or normalcy gone out the window around here lately!!
My plans after dinner tonight are to settle on the couch with a glass of wine, knitting needles, and an audio book on tape. I'm getting close to being half done with the last strip! (Just knitting it, I mean, not putting the strips together. But that will happen, too!
That's a beautiful afghan -- I love the colors! (but I don't envy you sewing together those garter stitch edges) I wish I had some good tips to offer that would make that job easier for you...
Thanks, Ruthie. The border edges are actually done in seed stitch but will have to be treated in much the same way a garter stitch would. Let's see . . . each strip is 5 feet long, so that means four seams . . . hey, that's only 20 feet I have to sew!! (Yikes.)
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