Friday, February 29, 2008

GAAA - Hurt Square

I actually finished this square last week but live has been too busy for me to even think about taking pictures. I made the same mistake several times on this one on the right cable with the yarn overs. I think it was just lapses in concentration but after I finally finished I had to take a week off from cables in general. Here's the final square:


Overall I think it's very pretty and will look great in the afghan but it came out a little long for me. Thankfully I'll block everything out to size later.

Pattern: The Great American Aran Afghan - Dana Hurt square
Yarn: Plymouth Encore color 7357 worsted weight
Needles: size 7 US (4.5 mm)
Notions: cable needle & 2 stitch markers
Size before blocking: 10" x 13.5"
Time frame: about a week and a half due to all the mistakes I made

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

GAAA - Belanger Square

Life has been crazy. I'm already working on the Burns square for about a week now and I forgot to post a picture of my finished Belanger square.


Very pretty. I'm really focused on working these cables lately. I like the point where the pattern starts to get intuitive and I can just relax with it. The cables kept me interested while I got a break on the bobble sections.

Pattern: The Great American Aran Afghan - Ginette Belanger square
Yarn: Plymouth Encore color 7357 worsted weight
Needles: size 6 US (4mm)
Notions: cable needle & 2 stitch markers
Size before blocking: 11.5" x 12"
Time frame: about a week

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Working on the GAAA

Since one of my 2008 resolutions was to finish The Great American Aran Afghan I decided to cast on a square this past weekend. It didn't seem right that I made a resolution and then not do anything to meet that goal in January.

It's been a while since I've worked on a GAAA square so I started up with one of the easiest squares. This is my progress after 3 nights of knitting on the Belanger square:



So pretty! Every time I work on a GAAA square I realize again and again that I love cables!

I tried to schedule this out so that it's an attainable goal for finishing this year. I have 11 months and 20 squares left, not including this square. That comes to 2 squares a month leaving one full month to the border and seaming to finish. The problem is this isn't the only project that I would like to make this year. I have a hoodie and a pullover that I'd like to make for my son's birthday in May, plus at ton of other projects that don't have deadlines (unless you count the sweater for my father that he would like for Christmas - no pattern or yarn chosen for that yet).

I thought about just working on these on the weekends giving me about 88 days but I'm averaging around 5 days per square for the easy ones and that makes 100 days at the very least. If I switched it and just worked squares Mon-Fri with other projects filling my weekends I would have plenty of time to finish but I'm afraid I'll get bored and feel like it's a chore to work on.

Blech!

Until I find a nice little organized schedule for myself (wow - I am so anal) I'm going to finish this square, work a little on my lace scarf and then start another square. I'm thinking that the lace will be a nice break while I regroup, pick the next square and do the prep work of color coding. I like to take my time with that part so this may be an unofficial schedule for me for now . . .

Monday, February 4, 2008

Super Bowl Champs!

I have to take a minute to say that my heart completely stopped for the last 4 minutes of the game last night. I couldn't knit - I couldn't breathe. It was that exciting. Finally we were rewarded with a TOUCHDOWN!


My husband and I have been Giants fans for a long time. While we were living in Chicago we saw them play the Vikings and the Packers. It was tough being a fan of a visiting team but we had a great time. Over the years they haven't been a good team, it's so nice that they're really growing together now.

Normally the Super Bowl is a blow out and just boring to watch. Last night's game was the best I have ever seen. It was close the entire night and every play was important. Great job guys!

Oh - and I actually started my 4th GAAA square this weekend and I'm about 1/2 way done. Pictures tomorrow.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Finished Object - Baby Cables Bootie Socks


DSC00736, originally uploaded by Angela & Gerald.

This was a list minute project that was an add-on to my second Pea Pod Sweater Baby Set. We had some left over yarn and I though why not.

I think I messed them up but I'm not sure where. They look ridiculously huge in person (matches the abnormally huge hat I knit to match - forgot to start decreasing in the right section). It's the six month size but I'm not going to pass any judgements until I knit another size. The 3 month size looks adorable.

Free Pattern: Baby Cables Bootie Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Grass

Needles: US size 2 DPNs

Timeframe: Just a couple days