Not a square 'Granny square'

Some early experimentation: hasn't worked! My granny square ain't square - sob.

Experiment: Knit a Stocking stitch mitered square:

Method: Take the garter stitch pattern for mitered square (used below) and swap alternate knit rows for purl.

Result: Irregular diamond shape - see picture.

Conclusion: My knit and purl stitches aren't interchangeable in the way that I thought they were.

So what did I do wrong?

PS. Just got an email from UPS - looks like my wool has now started its journey - but it could be another 6 days before I get it.

Reasons to knit an Afghan

When I said that I was going to knit an Afghan, my mother asked me what one was. To her, an Afghan is someone from Afghanistan or a dog.

In Wikipedia, the relevant definition is that an Afghan is a blanket, wrap, or shawl of coloured wool, knitted or crocheted in geometric shapes.

So why do we want to knit (or crochet) one? Here are some reasons I’ve come across…

* To learn to knit
* For 'swap-ability'
* To contribute to good causes
* To raise awareness
* To complete a big project from lots of satisfying little projects
* To create a gift
* To play with colour
* To play with stitches
* As a ‘stash buster’
* To brighten up a room
* For a picnic
* To master Mattress stitching
* To appreciate the value of blocking
* To experiment
* To inspire
* For fun
* To meet the challenge of knitting something to be seen from both sides
* To design

Do you know any other reasons? Or of any other good examples of blogged afghans?

Blogging about blogging

The wool still ain't here so I've taken to surfing. I'm amazed by how many people knit socks - although I can see that they are in some beautiful wools. I've also taken a shine to some blog gizmos so, forgive me as this is my first blog, I'll be adding probably too many of them to this page. Well I'm enjoying myself, although still on tenterhooks (!) about the wool.

I've joined the UKnitters blog ring... (fingers crossed)

as actually I'm waiting to be approved before all the links etc will work. But see the picture of the union jack flag being knit... I feel more patriotic and connected already!

A package ....

... but not for me. For my dh, how disappointing - I thought that the wool had come. Finally I would get to see whether I like the wool I will be knitting with for the next few months. I'm really not sure about knitting with variegated wool - for which most stitch patterns will be lost in the stripes. I have seen mitered squares recommended - so this will be one of my options. But what other stitch will be a source of fun?

Today my ritual surfing led me to the UKnitters blogring so I'm going to enjoy having a perusal of other UK knitters blogs to see what my local knitting companions are doing with their knitting and their blogs.

While I'm waiting...

The wool could come any day now because I ordered it a week last Friday (16th March). This Friday I finished a Rowan Jake jumper for ds (which knit up quickly in (beginner's yarn!) in 12 days) so now I'm twiddling my thumbs (!)

As a stop gap I've found some wool(*) at a big Woolworths near here and have started to try out stitches in 3" squares. So far I have 6 baby blue and 2 lilac ones. This is a lot of fun but not terribly useful. Racking my brains, I've thought that they might make a dolly's blanket - but then what? Maybe give it to a friend's child or try to sell it on Ebay.

My favourite stitches so far (in right hand column) have been 'bells and bell ropes' - which I choose because of Roger's passion and double moss stitch - which creates a great textured stitch. It means that, if I have to wait much longer, I'll be able to try out edging. This is turning out to be a lot of fun - I might not want to go back to knitting 7" squares.

(*)The only 'wool' that Woolworths had was Patons Fab (DK) - but at £1.75 for 100g, it seemed pretty good value. Both Afghan books I have recommend 100% wool but my swap and my practise (?spelling) wool are both Acrylic. Maybe I'll try wool later...

Waiting for the wool

I've signed up to swap granny squares in a Afghan Friendship swap. I thought I'd give myself the most time possible by joining the swap that ends the latest. Unfortunately I've only found a US supplier of the yarn, which I've now ordered, it's Holly and Ivy Red Heart yarn.

We have to swap one Holly and Ivy 7" square and one matching solid colour (also from Red Heart) with each person in the swap.

The swap starts on 1st June and we've had our first email from the main contact, Jeannie. So far there are 9 of us and Jeanie will take up to 40. She expects that there will be about 20. That number suits me - I'm happy to have the choice of having a smaller blanket or knitting some extra of my own.

Which brings me to my first worry - I'm getting the impression that I'm going to be the only knitter. I can't picture a blanket made up of mostly crochet with just a few knitted squares. I've been enjoying looking at knitting stitch pattern books but not sure which would co-ordinate better with crochet. mmmmmm.