Now that I have my camera back, and have the USB cord to upload the pictures to my camera, here is a picture of the finished afghan.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I planned to enter this in the Kansas City Irish Fest's knitting contest. The contest theme was cables. My friend Stepheny and I drove to the fest Sunday (it was a busy weekend), and I entered the afghan. There were only three entries in the non-wearable item category, so I was guaranteed to win something. There were two other afghans, one was knit, and the other was crocheted (crochet was accepted as long as the item was cabled).
Yes, that is a 1st place ribbon :) I won a $50 gift certificate to Yarn Shop and More (already spent). I did not win grand prize, but that's okay. It is my understanding that it was a matter of points.Also worth noting, I knit quite a bit of this in the Irish pub I go to. Speaking of which, it is almost time for Rich to start playing, so I had better sign off.
Wednesday evening, I finally finished the cabled afghan I have been working on. My goal was to get it finished before this weekend so I can enter it in the Kansas City Irish Fest's Knitting Competition on Sunday.
Because I knit my cabled afghan on smaller needles with a worsted weight yarn, I knew I would have to do more strips to make it wide enough. Inspired by Anna Dalvi's Burridge Lake Afghan, I decided to do the other half as a mirror image:
Cables from left to right: Braid Cable, Hollow Oak Cable, Six Stitch Cable, Triple Twist Cable, Four Stitch Wave Cable, Celtic Cable, and XOXO Cable.
The XOXO Cable and Hollow Oak Cable are perfectly symmetrical, so I did not need to do anything to those. To get the Braid and Four Stitch Wave cables, I started on another row (I think it was row 5). For the Triple Twist Cable, Celtic Cable and Six Stitch Cable, I just reversed the crossings (ie if the original called for a back cross, I substituted a front cross, etc.)
The afghan is mostly done, but somewhere along the line I made an error in the Six Stitch Cable I did for the other side, so I decided to redo it.
This afternoon I finished the fourth strip of the plaid afghan that I have been working on and seamed it to the others. I am very pleased with how it is turning out. I think one more strip will make it wide enough.
I have also made considerable progress on the Persephone Scarf.
When I signed into Ravelry this evening, I saw I had a new message. So I go to my message box, and I found a request to feature my photo on the page for Cable Throw by Claire Crompton.
This picture has all 8 of the cables called for by the pattern, but it is not wide enough for my liking. I am thinking I will repeat most of the cables and attach them in reverse order so the Ripple and Rock is the center panel.
Now back to the socks.
Well, my favorite barrista called in last Wednesday, so I still do not have my size 8 needles back. I did finish another strip of the plaid afghan and seamed them together. I started the third strip this morning and have finished one pattern repeat so far, and I may be able to finish another pattern repeat this evening. The original pattern calls for five pattern repeats, but I am doing six so it is longer. With the two strips seamed together, it is reasonably wide, so I may only need to do another two strips once I finish the one I am working on.
Before the latest cold snap, I started the Persephone Cable Scarf by SmarieK. I am using Brown Sheep Company Nature Spun in Deep Sea. After working on the cabled afghan, I have become used to cabling without a cable needle by holding the stitches in between my thumb and forefinger. I have tried it a bit, but it does not seem to be working as well, so when I go back to working on the scarf, I will probably resort to my trusty flying bird cable needle.
Last Friday at the pub, I started another pair of socks. I am using Schoeller und Stahl Fortissima Sockotta. While the labels indicated they were the same color, I am wondering if one of the yarns was incorrectly labeled. Looks like they are going to be another pair of Dobby Socks.
Now that the weather has been colder, I have been putting more effort into the two afghans I have been working on. I finished the sixth strip of the cabled throw and seamed the next three strips together.
The original pattern called for a bulkier yarn on bigger needles, but I wanted to use the Red Heart Dusty Teal I had. I think I will need to either repeat most, if not all of the panels, or add a bunch of different ones.
Last Wednesday I left my size eight needles at Hastings where I go for knitting group. Fortunately, my favorite barrista found them and took them home, so I will get them back tomorrow.
In the meantime I have returned my attention to the Plaid Afghan. So far I have two and a half pattern repeats of the second strip done, and I am thinking I can finish the third pattern repeat this evening.
I finished the Celtic Cable panel Friday, and yesterday I managed to sew three of the panels together.
I have not decided which panel I will do next, but I think it will either be the Ripple and Rock or Hollow Oak Cable.
