KAL Progress

June 20, 2014

Hi there!  How are you doing on the Rowan KAL Mystery Afghan?  We have all the clues now and for us behinders, we have one month to catch up, and yeah, I need that month!  While I was happily knitting away, I did get distracted about mid-way and went to some other knitting.  Kidsilk Haze is always the culprit.  But I knew I would come back and now I'm happily back on track.

I did go rogue on a few, personalizing it a bit.  I am sentimental and I dream that one day I will be cuddling with a grandchild and looking for the Owls, Lace Kisses and Little Donuts.  Oh, one can dream!


I made some a few owlies, adapted from this free pattern.
 This one I call "Napa Stripes".  
It was invented when we were driving to Napa for lunch.
I had the yarn, I had the needles, but I had no pattern!

Three of my favorites!
I love knitting French Plait.  Five more to do!

Dots and Dashes was perhaps the easiest one.  I like easy.
OK, so I have one epic fail.  It was too short so I added garter rows!  I'm using it, NO ONE in my family will notice!



I decided to follow Anne's advice and re-block all my squares.  I wanted them to be 8" square and my knitting was not quite perfect enough to fit those dimensions without blocking them correctly.  Here's what I did:  I pinned them to 8x8" on my foam blocking boards.  I had to stretch most of them lengthwise and squish them widthwise to fit those dimensions.  Some of them, like the two above, were a bit rumply.  Next I put them on the grass and doused them with my sprinkler nozzle until they were soaked through.  Then I put them in a shady place and patted them to shape and allowed them to air dry.  Even the most rumply ones patted into shape and looked fine.  I don't know why I was so surprised when they ALL dried to perfect 8" squares.  I have 36 squares now, so just 12 more to go!  I'm really looking forward to seeing all the finished afghans!








I have some exciting news! I have a long plane ride today, and while you're reading this I am on my way to Holmfirth, England, the HQ of Rowan Yarns.  All of the Rowan ambassadors, 14 of us from around the world, will meet at the mill for 5 days of knitting bliss.  None of us have met each other in person, but virtually we know each other pretty well.  I cannot tell you how excited I am to meet in person the other ambassadors, meet the Rowan staff and designers and visit the mill, I don't think I've ever been more excited about a trip!  My dear husband will be a knitting widow for the week and stay home and tend to the garden and the golf.

I've planned several posts while I'm gone.  Come back next week and see how my girlfriend and I found a brilliant way to control our stash by making kits!  I've also got a Very Berry post in store and will definitely be making a Postcards From Holmfirth post!  Bye for now!  PS, don't forget to enter my 5th blogversary giveaway!



The Links

It's never to late to start the afghan.  Download the free patterns here.
Machine washable Rowan Pure Wool Worsted is fantastic to knit.
Boye Blocking squares, I found them at Wallmart.  I love them.


You Might Also Like

3 Comments

  1. Oh how awesome!! Take loads of pictures!! I love the owl squares too!! Definitely doing this. Have fun chicka!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been to the mill before and had a wonderful time. Enjoy and do send some postcards from Holmfirsth!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful selection of colors and of yarn! I'm a follower on Facebook. Rav name is: trishcarp

    ReplyDelete

You make my day when you make a comment!

Labels

afghan Alana Dakos ally pally ambassador Amy Herzog Ankestrick Arte Italica baby Baby Cocktails bakelite baking berry picking Best Friday of the Month best of Ravelry Big Sur blue transferware book review books boutique brook cables California candy child children children's activities Christmas Christmas crafts Christmas knitting cleaning collections cookie cutters cookies cooking craft Crafts crochet cross-stitch day trip decluttering decorating designer spotlight discount diy dog dolls Easter eau de vie Elizabeth Bradley Elizabeth Zimmerman embroidery entertaining Facebook fall fall decorating fall garden family featured first car fit flower arranging flowers free pattern Friday night party group friends funny Fur garden gardening Giants Gifted Hostess give-away giveaway gluten free gourmet group Halloween herbs holiday home how to set up a party group jewelry Kaffe Fassett KAL Kim Hargreaves kitting Knit Picks knitting laundry Le Jacquard Francais Little French Knits Los Altos lunch Mailbu Making Things Marie Wallin Martin Storey menu minimalism money talk mosaic movies my house my patterns my town nails needlepoint needles October challenge Octoberfest ollalie organizing original design outdoor seating owl party prep pear peg dolls pies pomegranates poncho preview quilting recipe recycling redwork review roses Rowan San Francisco Sarah Hatton sewing shawl shopping shower social media softie spring spring garden stash Stitches West summer summer garden summer knitting Sunday Morning Swans Island table setting test test knit Thanksgiving Three Irish Girls TNNA tomatoes top 10 list toys travel tutorial twinning ufo Uncommon Threads vacation Valentine vegetable garden videos wedding winter garden wip Woolfolk yarn yarn for sale Ysolda