Knitting Today: Square Five of the Midwinter Blanket

 Life has gotten ahead of me.  Again.  Finally I finished knitting Square Five just as the Knit A Long is about to end.  Here is the square on the blocking board. Now that I look at it spread out, it may be that there are more errors than one. Oh well.  It is a blanket.

You can see that I am using up the yarn that I have in the bin!  These colors do not match any of the other colors but it is a blanket.  Mostly the people using it will be asleep so color coordination does not probably matter.

This morning I cast on for Square Six, which is the final pattern.  Tomorrow is the day the wind-up of the Knit A Long happens with instructions on how to sew all the squares together and how to knit a border.  I will watch the instructions even though I am not making an entire Midwinter Blanket. I believe I have mentioned I am just adding these squares to the already-in-progress Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan which I had started months ago to use up all the Hilda Yates yarn.  Making progress!!

Knitting Today: Midwinter Blanket Square Two

 A few months ago I decided that the time had come to really go to town on using up yarn in the yarn closet.  When the yarn is all gone then I can plan new knitting projects and buy new yarn with a clear conscience.  I have a feeling it will take me two years to complete this use-up-the-yarn project but I am confirmed in my idea to do it.  

Since I had a fair amount of the Hilda Yates yarn still in a bin I decided to make another Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan.  I may have mentioned this before.  So I got started.  I started in with Square One which is a striped garter stitch block and planned to just knit as far as I got in the 63 squares from the book until the yarn ran out.

At one point I decided I did not need to knit every one of the blocks in order but could pass on the ones I did not like very much.  I knitted most of the squares up to number 12 then the Martin Storey Midwinter Blanket Make A Long was hatched out by the Rowan yarn company. There are six squares in that blanket.  The reindeer below is the second square.

You will notice that I am actually blocking this square, along with the garter stripe square (Number One in Barbara Walker's book), something I rarely do.  Because garter stitch is a square stitch, that square is supposed to actually be square and so is how all the squares in the book are to be blocked.

The reindeer came out okay but is not stellar.  It was meant to be knit either stranded or stranded and intarsia combined. I did not want to bother with the intarsia and all the hanging balls or bobbins of yarn which will explain the nasty vertical lines of blue yarn showing through the white.  Since I have such a high tolerance for error, I am just letting it go and will not re-knit the square.  It is just a blanket and will lie on a bed or over a chair after all.  

There is a lot to learn in knitting and even in these two squares.  I suppose I will need to do better in staggering the floats on the back of the next Martin Storey square so we won't have this mess again.  Still, I like it well enough to just leave this one.  At least, I think I do. We shall see.  Square 3 will be released this Thursday.  I think we are expecting it to be a heavy weather day so I can happily stay home and knit.  We shall see.

New House: Guest Room

Another bit of progress this past week...the guest room is looking up.  Dear One installed the fan and light installed.  Now the bed is about ready.

Until the weekend we had a large stack of blankets, quilts, and afghans piled neatly beside the fireplace in the living room.  We had gotten word that perhaps the living room furniture was coming soon so I needed to do something with that pile.  Dear One felt that it would be reasonable to put them in the dumpster because "it is too hot for them here and we don't need them."  Well,  since I had personally made most of them, and was emotionally tied to them,  PLUS the possibility that someone at some time in the future might need them, it made me think of what to do with them to get them out of the living room.

Long ago I read a book, maybe Little House on the Prairie or some other book of that same wonderful ilk, where the mom stacked all the extra quilts on the bed that was saved for when the Grandma came to visit.  When Grandma came the quilts were stored elsewhere for the time frame of the visit then returned to the bed.

This is what I did.  There are eight blankets on the bed.

The top blanket is the Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan taken from the book by the same name.  It is a wonderful book.  There are sixty-three different squares to knit. I learned a ton as I was knitting the blocks even though I have been knitting for years.  Anyone who wants a great project should look for the book.  I found it at a knitting store but it is available on Amazon for $20.00.

Underneath that afghan is a blanket I knit on the Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine using cotton yarn. It is a pretty good blanket.  You cannot see it at all.  You CAN see the blue and white gingham border from a tree of life quilt I made for my mother-in-law which I took back after her death.  Sadly it took on a bit of damage in storage but still, if someone was desperately cold, I am convinced they would not mind the discoloration.

What progress will we make this coming week?  I wonder.

Progress

Every day a little more progress happens on the way to emptying the garage and filling the house!  Today's photo is of the guest bedroom.  Well, mostly just the bed.

Last week we had a big pile of folded blankets in the living room beside the fireplace.  Dear One was agitating towards throwing them away because "it is hot here. We don't need them."  Well, that was not a good comment to make. Especially since more than half of the blankets were ones I labored on for ages.  I have a real emotional attachment to them.

What to do, what to do?  A thought crossed my mind.  Years ago I was reading a book...probably not Little House on the Prairie but a book along those lines.  The mom in the house stored the unused quilts on a bed that was saved for when Grandma came to visit.  When Grandma did arrive, the quilts were stored elsewhere for the duration of the visit.

This little guy watches over the guest room.  My sister gave this to me from a seafood restaurant near her office.  I love it.

Our guest bed is just such a bed!  There are currently eight blankets stored on the bed.  The top one is the Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan with sixty-three different patterns.  It was a wonderful blanket to knit.  I learned so much even though I have been knitting for years.

One of the things I learned is that the final step - sewing the squares together - needs to be done as carefully and thoughtfully as the knitting itself was done instead of slapped together fast to show some off the squares in a blanket rather than a pile of squares.  Some day before I die I hope to take the afghan apart and re-sew it together properly. In the meantime, it looks nice enough on the bed. In my opinion.  AND it is not in danger of going out the door in the big dumpster bin..

Knitting: Latticed Cable Hat--my own creation, sort of...

Recently we had some young women in our home.  One of them had a nice winter hat.  The other had ear muffs.  This was not enough protection for Vermont winters so I suggested knitting her a hat.  We had the Barbara Walker Learn to Knit Afghan blanket on our couch.  I asked if there was a pattern she liked.  She liked the yellow latticed cable block. I like that one, too.  She wanted it in blue.

When I was out the next day I did not find a good blue 100 percent wool yarn so I purchased some Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn in a nice blue worsted weight.  I already had some US size 7 circular needles and I was certain I had double pointed needles, too.  (Well, I did, but one was gray plastic, and three were blue metal.  Since I am accustomed to knitting with five dpns I used the circular needle for the fifth needle. It worked, but was a little awkward...Pretty soon I am going to get some nice Brittany birch dpns in US size 7...before I knit another hat. I LOVE their needles!)

To turn a flat pattern into a knit-in-the-round was not something I had ever done so I had to do some hunting around the internet...at Ravelry for some sizing help and other places for the change-flat-to-round help.

Putting it all together I came up with this plan:

Cast on 88 stitches and knit 2, purl 2 for one inch. 3

Next round knit and increase 12 stitches to 100 stitches.

At that point work 2 pattern repeats (16 rounds plus 16 rounds) then begin the crown decreases.

Round 1: Knit round 1 of the Barbara Walker pattern again.
Round 2:  (P2together, K4, P2tog, P2), repeat around...80 stitches.
Round 3: Knit the knits and purl the purls
Round 4: P1, (FPC, BPS, P2tog), repeat around...70 stitches.  (this is an effort to continue the main hat pattern in the decreases...not as successful as I had hoped.)
Round 5: Knit the knits and purl the purls
Round 6: Knit the knits and purl the purls
Round 7. (K2tog, P2, K2tog, P1), repeat around
Round 8: Knit the knits and purl the purls
Round 9: Knit the knits and purl the purls
Round 10: (K1, P2tog, K1, P1), repeat around
Round 11: (K1, P1), around...40 stitches
Round 12: (K2tog, K1, P1), around...30 stitches
Round 13: (K2, P1), around
Round 14: (K2tog, P1), around...20 stitches
Round 15: K2tog around...10 stitches
Round 16: K2tog around...5 stitches

Fasten off and weave in ends.

FPC is a front purl cross
BPC is a back purl cross

If I make this again I will fiddle around with the decreases by working eight more rounds of the main hat to give a little more length to the hat....which will almost certainly change at lest the first few rounds of these decreases....

Christmas Afghan After Nearly Seven Years

All 63 afghan squares for the Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Book afghan were completed by October of this year.  Several weeks ago I started sewing them together.  For the first row (nine squares) I used the Mattress Stitch.  It looked really good.  It took a LONG time to complete one strip.  Shortly after starting the second strip (of seven) I realized I was unlikely to get the afghan put together before Christmas, which was my plan.  In fact, this has been going to be a Christmas present for Dear One every year since I started it when we began work on the addition to the log cabin.  The addition actually became the addition to the house when we tore down the log cabin and put a new house on the foundation to match the addition.

So -  I started doing a whip stitch to connect the squares of the blanket.  As of yesterday I still had two tall piles of squares ready to stitch.  When I went to bed last night it looked like I was not going to complete the afghan again this year for Christmas as only two strips had been sewn together.  Before falling off to sleep I mentioned to Heavenly Father that if I woke up in the night I would get up and work on the sewing project.  At 1:37 AM I awoke.  I got up for relief then went back to bed.  Having been in bed fifteen minutes (and not falling instantly back to sleep) I looked at the clock: 2:00 AM.  OK.  When Heavenly Father answers a prayer it seemed like I ought to accept His goodness and comply so out I crawled, put on a shirt, and went upstairs.

At 6:30 AM I came downstairs after having completed listening to one of  Janet Evanovich novels (The Heist), AND after completely sewing together the squares. ONE SMALL PROBLEM!!!!  Four squares are missing.  I KNOW I finished knitting them in October.  Where are they?

Once again I went into search mode.  I have emptied and reorganized five bags and two boxes of knitting projects and yarn.  I have looked behind the couch upstairs.  I have looked in the workroom where they were stored for quite a while.  As I was writing, it crossed my mind that they may have fallen behind the tall bookcase that Betty and Peter gave me to help me with my organization plan last summer.  I had made a lovely stack of squares and placed them out of the way on the stop shelf but then moved them to show them off to someone a few months ago.  Just goes to show that bragging is a very bad idea.

Now I will go look behind the bookcase.  Which will be a rather large problem but I really want to finish the afghan for THIS Christmas. I have so many other projects that are started that need to go into finish mode in the new year, and maybe even the end of this year....One project I just discovered again while in hunt mode this morning was the Plus-Sign Quilt I started when the Relief Society began working on it, probably five years ago.  There is some possibility that I can whip that into shape within a week or two.

After checking behind the bookcase in the workroom I have to dash out to pick up the remaining ingredients I need for Christmas dinner; to return a Redbox movie(Mission Impossible version whatever...); and to visit our friends in the nursing home with some cute little stockings full of Hugs and Kisses.

No four squares.  Well, some time they will turn up.

A Kitchen Disaster

Some days are like this one.  So busy.  Too many things to do.  So much on the mind.  Running here. Running there. Trying to get everything done at this hectic time of year.  Just goes to show!

A friend was going out of town for several weeks so I stopped in to say hello and goodbye and safe travels.  So wonderful to see her and visit for a while. Off to several stores for some supplies and tools to use in making Christmas gifts.  One thing I rarely do is stop for fast food.  Today I did.  I think it rotted my brain as well as swelled my waist.

When I returned home Christmas cards were ready to stamp then get to the post office before the cut-off time.  A couple more stops at local stores then home again.  I was so tired I did not make supper for Dear One.  Instead I took a tiny nap in the rocking chair.

When I awoke I was alone in the living room so I made up some nice-ish fried potatoes for him to snack on then decided I really had to get the elderly apples into a pot for applesauce before there was nothing left but compost.  After putting the apples on to cook I immediately took the peels and other debris (orange peels and pepperoncini stems along with a couple of egg shells that were waiting in a bowl) out to the compost pile, feeling very virtuous that the apple chankings, at least, were not staying around in the kitchen for any time at all.

Returning to the house I went to the computer to prepare the pamphlet for the memorial service for a friend then printed a copy to see if it looked ok.  While I was upstairs I was drawn to the pile of afghan squares for the Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan I have been working on for more than six years and which I had started sewing together a couple of weeks ago. 

Sitting down on the couch beside Dear One who was watching one of his favorite Netflix programs I realized that I had sewn together several squares which were not the same size so I took them apart.  I then rearranged the squares so all similar sizes were together. Now it was time to start sewing the seams.  I was nearly through the second strip when I remembered the applesauce.  It had been about an hour by that time.  At my request Dear One rushed downstairs to see what disaster awaited since he could get there faster than I.

Just as he started down the stairs I finally smelled the applesauce.  What a disaster!  The apples were black as soot and burned an inch and a half up the side of the pan.  There is almost no chance that we will be able to save the pot which we received for a wedding gift nearly forty-three years ago.

Often I can feel philosophical about things that happen.  This time I guess I need that feeling again.  Let me think:  I guess I can say that it is bearable because it is one less pot to take care of. And no leftover applesauce to have to store...

And, no, I am not going to share a photograph of the pot. It is bad enough to share the story.  Showing a picture would put me over the edge.

Just yesterday I was speaking with another dear friend about possible memory loss.  Maybe I spoke too quick...

Barbara Walker Learn to Knit Afghan Square 31

Square 31 is called Twisted Panels.  There are panels of 5, 6, and 10 stitches across the block.  Because this is a mock-cable design in twisted stitches, both left and right twists, it is best to knit this block in a light plain color.

There are multiple ways to knit the left twist and the right twist  For the left twist, I chose to skip one stitch, insert the right hand needle into the back of the second stitch to knit it, then come forward and knit into the skipped stitch then dropped both off the needle at once.  For the right twist, I skipped the first stitch, knitted regularly into the second stitch (keeping that one on the needle) then knitted the skipped stitch and dropped them both off the needle and carried on knitting.  The first few times this was a little awkward but very soon it became automatic and easy.

There were 48 stitches cast on to make this panel of twisted stitch designs.  It took me about twenty-five minutes to knit each pattern repeat.  There were six and three-quarters pattern repeats ( total of 54 rows of knitting).

This pattern is one where I would have appreciated a chart, too.  Having become a chart reader, I find them much easier to knit with fewer errors than a dense line of knit 1, purl one, left twist, right twist verbiage!  Having said that, it was not hard to follow the pattern and it makes a pretty nice block.

 

 

Square 31-Twisted Panels...unblocked.

This was a pretty enjoyable square to knit...easily finished in two days since last night was another wake-up-at-2 AM-and-no-going-back-to-sleep-for-hours night.  I was able to do well over half the block to get it finished before trying to sleep again.

Now:  on to the the cables!  I love cable patterns.  I love the feel of them. I love the spectacle of them.  I love how gorgeous they can be when finished.

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Square 24

Square 24 is called  the Cottage Check block.

Two colors are used for this square, one light, one dark.  There are a  multiple of 4 stitches plus 3.

Cast on 43 stitches.

This square was knit differently from other squares as sometimes the work needed to be turned and knit back and sometimes the work needed to be slid to the other end of the needle.  Because of this a circular needle, preferably a 24-inch circular needle, needed to be used.  A long double-pointed needle could have been used but I did not have one long enough in the correct size for this block so it was a circular needle for me.

Square 24 on the blocking board...bottom side up!

 The square was a little (but ONLY a little...) challenging to knit in that there was no chart and I had to keep my eyes on the book.  Eventually I photocopied the page and held it on my music stand with magnetic strips.

There are twelve rows in each pattern repeat.  Each one took me about thirty minutes to knit.  There were five and a half pattern repeats to make the square.

Barbara Walker Learn to Knit Afghan Project: Square 22

Square 22, called Diagonal Weave, is a simple and rather quick knit.  There are seven and a half pattern repeats.  It is possible to have memorized the pattern by the end of the second repeat making the knitting to take on very speedy progress.

Cast on 47 stitches.

There are 59 rows before binding off in purl.

Square 22: Diagonal Weave hot off the needles.  Notice how it rolls up due to the stockinette stitch background.

 There are multiple methods for blocking knitted wool projects.  This time, since the pieces are rather small, I have dampened  a bath towel and rolled the piece to be blocked inside and let it sit quietly by itself for one hour.  The advantage to this method is that the wool fibers soften up, relax, and do not get sodden with water so they dry out/block out faster.  If the piece to be blocked needs some serious blocking, i.e. stretching, then the "really wet" method probably is a better bet.

Wet towel with the square rolled up inside.

Diagonal Weave peaking out the end of the towel....

This is a block that I do not particularly like and do not expect I will ever use it beyond this project, but it is rather striking.

Diagonal Weave after an hour in the "dampening" towel, prior to actual blocking.

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan: Square 21

Square 21 is called Florentine Frieze.  It is really a very nice square and not very hard.  Yet again, one has to pay somewhat attention for a while to get the pattern down, but it is possible to do.

 

This square is knit with a multiple of 4 stitches plus 1. Techniques include the knit stitch, slipping stitches with yarn in back and slipping stitches with yarn in back, and purling.

Using two colors, one light, one dark, cast on 45 stitches.

There are twenty rows in the pattern repeat, well really, there are 10 rows in the pattern repeat but you reverse colors on Row 11, so...colors change on Row 1 and Row 11.  The sky is the limit as far as colors.  You could use up scrap yarns on this using any light and dark colors.

Florentine Frieze, Square 21.  Fewer glaring errors than on some of the squares!

The above picture is the square on the blocking board. It is remarkable at how much difference the blocking of a square makes.  I have said it before but every time I marvel at how much better the stitches look and how much closer to "square" each block is after a time on the blocking board.  I still feel so smart to have figured out using  0's, 1's, and 2's in 14-inch straight needles for the blocking wires.

Because there are 70 rows in the square you could have 14 different colors if you chose.  I bet you could make something very interesting.  If I had it to do again, I think I would change every ten rows!

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan: Square 20

This block had me tearing my hair a little bit, but only because I kept starting and stopping due to many other projects and gifts that needed knitting in the between times!

When I sat down to finish it, after a few false starts, tearing back, counting rows, etc, it really ran up rather quickly.  There are two rows where you have to use your slip stitches and the rest are stocking stitch.  Once I recognized that,  my fingers flew through the pattern.

NOTE TO SELF:  Having more than one row counter would be a good idea if you are married to row counters!  It is hard to go back to paper and pencil.  It is also harder to knit if you have to keep counting rows to find out where you are in the pattern --if you have pulled the row counter for another project.

Block 20 Scale Quilting being blocked

This pattern is called Scale Quilting and requires a multiple of 6 stitches plus one.

Cast on 43 stitches.  Purl one row, then knit the set-up row before starting with row 1.

There are twelve rows in the pattern repeat, and despite the obvious error at the beginning of my knitting, it is a rather simple pattern.

It is rare that I have a suggestion for Barbara Walker, in fact, this is the first time, I think, BUT it would be nice if the pattern directions said "insert needle from front under loose B strand of Row 1 (7), and knit TOGETHER with next stitch".  There is no "together" in her directions which, if you do not figure it out, you can end up with 50 or more stitches on your needle.  Ask me how I know...!

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Project, Square 30

This block was a joy to knit.  It is number 30 and is called the Twisted Lattice square.  This stitch could have multiple applications.

The pattern is a multiple of 12 stitches plus 10.

Cast on 46 stitches. 

There are 24 rows in the pattern repeats.  Repeat rows 1-24 twice then rows 1-6 finishing with 54 rows before bind off.

 

As you can tell, this square is being blocked and is on its side rather than straight up and down.  If you turn your head 90 degrees you can see it the way it is supposed to look!

At this stage in my knitting of this project I have decided to go back to where I left off...not being a tremendous fan of slipped-stitch patterns...and will then continue on as Barbara Walker wrote her book. I am sure I will learn many things if I just take them as they come.

Until this point I have used just four colors, two darks and two lights, as Mrs. Walker suggests.  Another one of my "semi-sleep" nights was productive in that I have a good-sized bucket of Bartlettyarns already and have plenty of lights and darks, so from now on I will just use up what I have.  With good fortune I will use up the whole bucket and can then justify going to Hilda Yates' Yarn Sale again this fall!

Knitting Today: Updated Blocking Board

One afghan square on the homemade blocking board is such a pretty thing.  The job gets done.   Having said that, with a pile of 25 or so squares to block, and looking at the size of the blocking board, it seemed like I could put three more squares on the board.  The blocking should be accomplished much more rapidly.

In some ways, this does not have to happen quickly because I have perhaps 30 more squares to knit, but...once I started the blocking, I have been so pleased with the results that I wanted more gratification!  Why have I not blocked anything all these years?  Oh, wait...I did not have a blocking board.  AND I did not think it was that important.  Now I do.

This morning I found my husband's T-Square and drew three more squares on the blocking board, thus I can now block four squares at once.  Nice!

Since taking this picture, I have gone back to the bedroom and smoothed out the blue and natural block as best I could and straightened out the line on the light blue and dark blue square by adding another row of pins where the straightening needed to be. I am hopeful that both blocks will be more nearly perfect by they time they completely dry.

Knitting Today: The Blocking Board Project

Many knitting patterns end with the words: "weave in ends and block".  I always weave in the ends and but usually leave it at that.  The Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan project has changed all that.

Recently some friends decided they wanted to knit the same afghan and learn all the stitches. This seemed like such a good idea that I decided to go back to the beginning of the book and read the introductory parts again so I could be a real mentor to these friends.  I found two things of particular interest:

 1. Barbara Walker seems to encourage knitting a gauge swatch!  What?!!! For an afghan square?  

In looking at my box of afghan blocks I discovered that knitting a gauge swatch would have been a very good idea.  At least one of the blocks will have to be re-knit because it is about 14 by 14 inches instead of the 10 by 10 inches that the garter stitch block is...the garter stitch block (Block #1) being the one by which all other blocks should be measured.

Box of completed Barbara Walker Learn to Knit Afghan squares

You will notice particularly that the stocking stitch square is rolled up like a scroll! 

SO...

2.  Blocking really does matter!  When I measured the blocks that I had completed they were all over the place in terms of sizes.

So blocking here we come...  I have blocking wires.  Somewhere stored carefully away.  The other night I was in a semi-sleep state (sadly, a rather frequent situation) when it occurred to me that 14-inch straight knitting needles would make great blocking wires for 10 by 10 inch afghan squares!

Having realized this, I went to one of my knitting needle stashes and found a pair of US size 0 needles and a pair of US size 1 needles in the 14-inch length.  This made me very happy.  Immediately threading the size 0's through one side I realized that even though these are metal needles, I should probably get another pair of size 1 needles as the size 0 needles will become curvey needles instead of straight needles if much stress is put on them for very long!  I will have to be very careful which sides of the squares I use to insert those very slim needles...

Homemade Blocking Board!

So, since I needed a blocking board, and did not have the money to purchase one, I looked around the house for something that could be used.  Several people suggested pinning the blocks to an extra bed.  Knowing myself, and my proclivity for failing to pick up EVERY LAST PIN, I decided that would not work for my family and friends who come to visit and stay overnight.

Some years ago we purchased a very nice elliptical trainer and the pads to go underneath to protect our nice floors.  There were several left over so one of them because the blocking board.  I marked out 10 by 10, 11 by 11, and 12 by 12 inch squares thinking that one of those sizes would work.  It turned out that 10 by 10 was what we needed.

 An essential part of blocking is to dampen the knitted wool for some little time before attaching it to a blocking board.  Here I had the block already "wired up" sitting between two damp washcloths.  After blocking this square I thought I might want to actually soak the squares in a sink of warm water for a while.  That works pretty well, too, but takes longer to dry out.

This  photo shows the block wired and installed on the blocking board.  It has not yet had its ends woven in...that will be coming soon!

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Projects, Square 27 and Square 28

These squares look really complicated.  They are not.  A little attention to detail does not go amiss, however!

Square 27 is called Wickerwork.  It is worked with Right Twists and Left Twists which are quite simple.  Barbara gives two methods to knit these twists so you can choose your poison.

Cast on 48 stitches which is a multiple of 8 stitches.

Square 27:  Wickerwork

Square 28 is called Twining Rib Pattern.  This also has Right Twists and Left Twists.  They are easy.  It does help to have a row counter to keep you on the straight and narrow.

This is knit in a light blue, which does not show up well.  Cast on 48 stitches...multiple of 6 stitches this time.

When I start blocking these blocks I will show them again. I believe they will be MUCH more attractive at that time. 

This book is so useful and enjoyable.  I do recommend getting your own copy and going to work on knitting your own afghan.  A few weeks before Christmas I decided I would finish this afghan as a "gift" for my husband.  Such a great idea...but no way to pull it off.  Now I am thinking: next Christmas!

Square 28: Twining Rib Pattern

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Project, Square 25 and Square 26

Square 25 is named Wave. It really does look like a wave.  It was pretty easy to knit.  Cast on 44 stitches and uses a multiple of 9 stitches plus 8.

Square 25 Wave

Square 26 is called Twisted Columns and worked rather well.  You will note, yet again, my tolerance for error.  I think this sort makes the block a little bit interesting because one wonders, "How did she do that in a very simple pattern?!"  There is no good answer, but it probably has to do with trying to do more than one thing at once!

This is a two-color design.  Cast on 44 stitches, using a multiple of 10 stitches plus 4.

Cotton Coverlet Knit on the Bond Incredible Sweater Machine

Company is coming.  The quilt on the guest bedroom bed has been through sheet-rocking to ill effect.  A new bed-covering seems to be the thing.  What to do, what to do....

Lovely people gave me two buckets of cotton yarn, much of it variegated.  What ho!  A cotton coverlet knit on my Bond Incredible Sweater Machine which has an extension and parts from the Bond Ultimate Sweater machine!  Now that is a great idea!

SO...I sat down and started.  Because of the size of the bed, the coverlet is being knit in five strips.  Weeks ago I started, casting on 75 stitches for the width of the strips.  After knitting two of them, I thought I would like to make the middle one a bit wider so I cast on 110 stitches for that one.

Central coverlet strips laid out on bed so you cannot see the error at the top!

The rub came when the number of ROWS came into play.  The first one came out just the right length...but alas, I had not written down anyway I could find how many rows it was, so I counted the rows in 10 inches and multiplies by 108, the proposed number of inches LONG I wanted the coverlet and came up with a number...I think 560 rows, so away I went knitting the second strip.

When I held the two strips together the second strip was WAY TOO LONG!  How had my math failed me so badly?!  Well, however it happened, it really did, so I was back to the drawing board with figuring.  Rather than tear out the long strip rows, I cast on the 110 stitches for the middle strip and went to town knitting up the strip as quickly, but consciously as possible as I HATE IT when the carriage comes off the stitch bed or when the stitches come off the stitch bed and have to be replaced...so time-consuming.

The left strip is WAY too long and the center strip too short

Now I have three strips of three DIFFERENT lengths...a pretty kettle of fish.  What to do, what to do (again!)...

What I did:  First I basted one side section together with the middle section with ravel cord.  That was not that enjoyable so I decided to mattress stitch the second side section to the middle.  It took a long time but by the time I finished I had come up with a plan, so I mattress-stitched the first side section to the middle, pulling out the ravel cord as I went.

With the three strips together I could address the different lengths issue.  What I decided to do was to pick up the stitches on the shortest (middle) strip  with a circular needle, in this case a US size 8 needle about 29 inches long, and begin knitting it up to meet the correct length strip using the yarn that I unraveled-as-I-went from the too long section.

Knitting up the center strip to match the correct length right strip

It is working but taking a while.  The rest of the plan is that when I finish that...getting all three strips the same length, I will then return the sewn-together strips to the Bond machine and "seam-as-I-go", which will be somewhat of a bear project as the coverlet is so big, heavy, and awkward, but then when I get to the right number of rows, I will stop knitting.

What was going to be strip four before new plan

So far I have not come up with a plan for the finishing AROUND the coverlet, but I still have the hours of hand-knitting the central section, and the hours knitting the other two strips to figure it out.  I will post that plan when it comes!

Just as I am writing this I remember the Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan project I started a couple of years ago.  Maybe I should have finished that one instead!  Well, if I get this project completed in the next few days, perhaps I can get rolling on Barbara Walker again...