Revelry again....

Watching my place in the queue go up has been addictive. I think I'll miss it when I finally get into Revelry.

* You signed up on September 4, 2007
* You are #30921 on the list.
* 287 people are ahead of you in line.
* 14491 people are behind you in line.
* 66% of the list has been invited so far

Ravelry

Oops missed a few entries. I'm not knitting as much now, so much else is going on. However I've practically got all the squares from my fellow swappers - this will be good to sew up - I'm looking forward to setting out all the squares.

I've knitted about 20 squares of the LTKA and changed 2 of the colours. I'm happier with it now.

Anyway I'm really excited about Ravelry. This is my entry in the queue:

* You signed up on September 4, 2007
* You are #30921 on the list.
* 13189 people are ahead of you in line.
* 5069 people are behind you in line.
* 48% of the list has been invited so far

I guess I'll have to get out my knitting needles so I can join in... what fun!

'bin unwell

No posts because I've been unwell - too unwell to knit for 3 days - just shows ya'

Still some steady progress during convalescence and some more squares received from fellow swappers.

Yesterday, I laid out the squares I've received so far - only a few but starting to create a lovely vision - I'm getting over post-illness blues (in which I was a bit bleak about the idea of all that weaving in and sewing) and now eagerly anticipating seeing the final rug.

It is interesting that several of the squares don't exactly meet the criteria we've been given. Whilst this is mostly differences in size (supposed to be within 1/2" of 7" square) or thread length (supposed to be at least 3"), one has mixed the colours (which I think looks great) and one has sent me a variegated square that is not 'Holly and Ivy' (which sadly I don't think will fit in). I guess this is a simple mistake because I'm not sure why else she would send the wrong colours. Fortunately the complimentary colour is one of the specified ones so I can still have a square from this lady included.

Not Holly & Ivy

 

Shore based sailing in Turkey - with my knitting!

Got back in the middle of the night from a wonderful Sunsail shore based holiday in Turkey. I did a bit of knitting in the bar on the sea front - but I know I looked incongruous and some curious people were asking about it. Just to show that life isn't all knitting, this holiday I did many more activities:

- day sailing on a yacht
- canoeing
- dinghy sailing
- having a Pasha - turkish bath/ massage (my Mum had 3!)
- swimming in the sea
- swimming in the pool
- building sand volcanoes (these have gripped my son's imagination far more than castles)
- coming down waterslides (my son's favourite)
- eating wonderful food!

It was sunny all the time there (about 40) there but here it is pouring with rain.

I've almost finished 2 squares so will post those soon. And, lovely to come home to, I've received 4 packets of squares so will be posting an email to the swap group soon on who I've received from. Fun reading all the swap emails too. Anyway off to unpack and do laundry (yuk). More later ...

The backs

Heather, in the afghan swatch KAL asked about the backs of these squares. I've resigned myself to the fact that they will not be as pretty as the fronts. In particular the border looks a lot better on the front...

 

The first five LTKA squares with borders

First impressions of the finished look - I'm not sure about the red with the purple and green so I may replace it. (I'll have to knit a red cardigan with it instead - what a shame).

 

MOSAIC PATTERNS: #15 Stepped Fret

 

KNIT-PURL COMBINATIONS: #1 Striped Garter Stitch

 

SLIP-STITCH PATTERNS: #17 Woven Tweed

 

TWIST-STITCH PATTERNS: #25 Wave

 

CABLES: #39 Cabled Lattice

 

You might have guessed that I'm knitting a square from each section - I love variety. This has been such a lot of fun so far. I decided to do the border for the first few squares to see how it would look, to work out how to do it and to check how far the wool would go. I might carry on knitting the borders as I go along - I'm getting a kind of masochistic pleasure from the need for maths to space the picked up stitches evenly and the awkwardness of knitting/ purling around the corners. Of course there is the pleasure of seeing the effect of the framed square, only as the square is bound off.

Little and Large

So exciting to get the squares through the post. These are beautiful and I love the way the variegated yarn looks when crocheted this way. I'm not going to post photos of all the squares I receive - I'm intending to only post a photo of the finished afghan - mostly because I don't think I'll be able to keep up with taking photos of all of them as they come through and I want to be even handed.

However I thought I'd post this photo as it shows what happens when different people are contributing to the same project - it makes the job of putting it together more fun! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this comes together - the colours of the solid squares and the variety of the stitch patterns. Such a lot of fun.

 

Headlines

Given it's over a week since I last posted, I thought I'd better at least put in some headlines:

- Have received squares from 2 swappers
- Have sent the last of my squares (by sea, yesterday)
- Have received lots of emails from swappers receiving my squares (after only 8 days!) some were very complementary which made my day
- Have now completed 5 LTKA squares
- Have put a knitted border round 3 of the LTKA squares

It's been too much fun to write a blog!! It is my intention to post photos and some more details - watch this space