More Afghans

In this year of knitting afghans, I've slowed down a bit. Well, truth be told, I've come to a screeching halt! (Did you hear it?) I won't be reaching my goal of knitting afghans for most of the people on my Christmas list. I'd better think of a new plan. I have a good excuse, though. I moved at the end of July which took up a LOT of time and continues to do so, and I wrote some poetry, as I mentioned earlier, and I've been doing some other mental health-oriented stuff. Oh, yeah, and there's the jewelry, which I can write more about later.

I have knitted two afghans recently, as my step-sister is about to have a daughter, and a friend of mine just had a baby boy. So, I've made two teeny-tiny afghans. The neat thing about these is that they can be finished within a few days! The one for my step-sister is a hooded blanket in pink, and the other has a chevron pattern in a variegated blue. I've made both before, but I like them both, so I was interested in doing them again. I'm not sure why I'm so attached to the idea of a hooded blanket, but alas, I am! I'm not ever sure how useful they are, but I just like them!



I'm wanting projects these days that are quick. I can't help it. I find that with having to decorate a new home in the midst of work and other endeavors, both fun and not-so-fun, I want my projects to be quick and dirty, as they say. Although, I'm itching to make another big afghan. I'm not sure what pattern I want to do this time. I feel behind in my work (and I just this moment remembered that I still haven't finished afghan #3--oops! Maybe I need to get cracking on that one!)

More later.

Thanks for reading.

:)
Tracey

Another Afghan!

Okay, so this afghan-knitting exercise is more time-consuming than I had initially thought it would be. This is only the second one I've finished since starting this project in January. The good news is that I'm almost finished with the third one, which was the second one I started!

Actually, I LOVE this pattern! Once I got the hang of it, I thought it looked really cool. This afghan was made for my cousin's wedding present. I can't wait till she gets it, because I think she'll love it! I wanted to have an orange in it, instead of the purple, but I couldn't find yarn that I liked, and since purple is my favorite color, I decided to go with the purple after all.

One of the things I love about knitting is that there isn't much too it. This pattern looks pretty complicated (I think), but it's really not. It's about using knit-stitches and slip stitches. That's it. Pretty simple. The entire project was supposed to take me ten hours, but it definitely took longer than that.... I thought I was a pretty fast knitter, but maybe not so much! lol Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't really have ten hours a week to dedicate to any craft, let along completing an afghan. In doing this particular pattern, I decided to add an extra stripe, so that the afghan begins and ends in green. For some reason, I thought this would be a good idea. And, ultimately, I really like it and am glad I did it.

I've thought about doing another afghan of this pattern this year, but I think I'll not do that, as this year is about trying various different patterns for afghans. Maybe next year, I can make one like this for someone who isn't family, because there are plenty of patterns out there, just so I don't have to make the same pattern for multiple family members, who will conceivably visit each other and see the same afghan! Too much thought needs to go into this....

Soon, hopefully, I'll be finishing up the third afghan. There are several other patterns that I want to try out, so I can start in on those patterns when I'm through.

...although, I'm moving soon, and I have some knitting ideas for decorating my new home, especially since it's my first very own piece of American soil!

If anyone has any neat patterns for cool afghans or throws, please let me know. If anyone is interested in this pattern, please drop me a line. I'm happy to share!

Thanks for reading!

:)
Tracey

Afghans-- A Knitting Project 2008

For 2008, I decided in January that I would make as many afghans as I could to give away as presents. When one considers working full time and going to school full time and whatever other experiences life has to offer, this can be a pretty daunting task! In fact, I've finished only one afghan so far-- in three months! Now, I'm in the middle of two others. And, by "in the middle" I mean I'm almost finished one and little more than 1/4 of the way through the second.



I'd like to talk a little about the first one, and I'll talk about the others as I finish them. Before this, I've only knitted one adult afghan (I've knitted multiple baby afghans, because they can be finished in about an afternoon sometimes.) This one afghan was one I made as a Christmas present for my ex's mother. I remember it to be beautiful when I finished, and I remember how much she loved it. The pattern is completed in the round, so I start off with 8 stitches in the center of the piece and ended with nearly 1000 stitches on the exterior edge! Very cool design, as the afghan itself appears to be square, but it's rounded, too. I love it. And, it's mine. The rest I do for this year will be for presents for others.

The interesting part of knitting (and any craft I do) is what happens emotionally for me, especially when I'm making something for someone else, because I usually have the reason for the knitting in mind throughout the entire project. During this project, I thought that I would think about the last time I used this pattern (I don't tend to do the same project more than once--usually--unless it's something I really like and really want to do again). In some ways, I expected this experience to one of emotional growth, as I was in a difficult situation during the first knitting of this pattern. In some ways, I think I was looking for catharsis in this pattern. Remember, it took me three months to complete this project, doing a little on it almost every day. It occurred to me that I don't remember anything about knitting the first one. This is a relatively large project, and I don't remember any of it from the first time. This time around, there are certain images that will remind me of the knitting of the afghan; when I look at or sit under this warm blanket, I will reflect back on where I was, what the cats were doing, etc., while I was working on it. But, I have no such memories of the first time I worked this project. In some ways, I'm glad that I did this one a second time simply so I could have the memories that I seem to be missing from the first time. I have a pic of the first afghan, included here, as proof that there was a first iteration of this project, but even in looking at a photo of it, I can remember THAT I did it, but I don't remember the actual doing. Maybe there's some catharsis in that.

Just a note that the cats playing by the afghan in this last pic are mine. Cosette is the tabby mix who is on the ladder--she's more than two years older now, so quite a bit bigger! Novalis is the Persian/Siamese mix at the foot of the ladder.

The two projects that I'm working on currently are for two upcoming events. One of my friends is turning 40 this year, and I'm making her an afghan in blue and brown blocks to help her celebrate the event. The other one is an afghan for my cousin who is getting married this weekend. The plan is for it to match with her new condo. I'm not sure if I've accomplished that goal, but we'll see when it's in her home! I'll give updates when I've finished those. I'm intending to make another for a friend's June birthday when another friend is turning 50. I'm not yet sure which new pattern I'm going to try, but I've got lots of interesting ones to choose from. There are a couple of patterns I'm interested in trying out, but one is going to be for an aunt of mine, and another may be for my mother. We'll see. My friend has given me specific colors to use, so I'm looking for a pattern that will work with the color scheme she's chosen. If anyone has any suggestions for cool knitting patterns for afghans, I welcome the input. Also, if anyone is interested in patterns for afghans I make during this year, I'm happy to share!

Thanks for reading.

:)
Tracey