Finished Afghan and Another DAB!

I finished my afghan! While it wasn't as speedy as a pro could have done it (the pattern said it could be finished in 6 hours!), I did manage to finish it within a week. That's speedy for me! You can click on the photo to get a better view. It doesn't show up very well on the photos, but the pattern is a basket weave pattern. I used 4 strands of yarn throughout the whole thing. That's a new one for me. Previously, the most I've used was two strands at once to knit with. Four strands was a challenge, even with the invention that hubby made me.

Again, while there are obvious flaws, I'm pretty happy with it. It coordinates with my color scheme in the living room and now hangs over the edge of my chaise that looks out over the back yard. It will be nice and cozy this winter. Hubby wants one for the TV room in the basement now. He wants team colors, but they aren't my favorite and I've yet to see orange and black yarn, so I told him we may just have to go neutral. Whew!

I also chose my next digital altered book to work on. I hadn't noticed this one before. Artella did add about 15 new books to choose from, but this one was in the old lot. I liked the title and the possibilities of embellishing pages to go along with this theme just jumped out at me. It's going to be a whimsical book, so I'll have lots of fun finding images to go along with it.

I'm going to try and incorporate more of this book than I have with the other books I've done. There are cute little poems and illustrations already in place, so it will be fun to add to these. I've already got some images of little girls to include. As usual, I'll post my progress as it happens.

The zine should be wrapped up by mid-week. I am going to finish painting and touching up the pages this weekend. That will just leave copying and assembling for next week. I'll post a few of my favorite pages before mailing it off. That's it for now.

Finished Project!

I finished my first baby blanket! Yes, there are some flaws and they are noticeable, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I hope Matt and Abbey can overlook the flaws and still see that a lot of love went into making the blanket.

My next knitting project is for my hubby and me. I'm making an afghan with the colors of our living room in it: browns, golds, blues and some purples and greens. The colors don't show up as well on the camera, but that is what is in these skeins. I'm using these huge knitting needles that I mentioned in an earlier post. They are size 50 and are called Speed Stix. The afghan comes from the booklet of speed stix projects. It will be a basket weave pattern. You use 4 strands of yarn at once, and it will take 8 skeins. I managed to get to JoAnn when they were having a 2 for 1 sale on this particular yarn that was called for! I already had 3 skeins, so needed 5 more. I got those this morning and have already started.

Of course, the book says the afghan takes only 6 hours. I don't have 6 uninterrupted hours to spend on it, but I should get it done within the next day or two. I have a few more scarves to knit for Christmas presents, and maybe another afghan as a present. We'll see how fast these speed stix really are. It was a challenge at first to: a) work with such large needles and b) to hold 4 strands at once. Hubby's invention he made for me made that much easier! I have 4 large spools on a holder. The spools all rotate together and each spool holds 1 skein of yarn. It's perfect!

Well, back to work. I wanted to show off my little baby blanket. Now that I've made one, I may get them another one made before I have to send the package. My zine should be wrapped up by the end of the week and ready to mail. Stay tuned for completed pages of that project!