My last afghan squares

16 September 2008

Several weeks ago, I blogged about my sprint toward the finish line of the Knitting Olympics, where I almost achieved my goal of completing my Learn to Knit Afghan during the Summer Olympics. I did complete all the squares by the Sunday the Olympics ended, but the truth of the matter is that I had to re-knit the last two squares.

This afghan is comprised of 63 squares, each a different stitch pattern. They build on each other and the squares get more difficult, in general, as you knit through the book. So it should have come as no surprise to me that the last two squares were hard. But somehow it did, maybe because they didn’t look so difficult in the picture.

Square 62, the penultimate square, is called Decreasing Seamless Square. It’s knit on circular needles from the outside in, in stockinette stitch. By the time I knit this for the last time, I had considerable experience at it, since I’d started it (and gotten fairly far…all the way through once, in fact) at least six times. So without the time pressure of the Olympics, I fairly breezed through it, finishing it on August 29. Here it is:

Square 62: Decreasing Seamless Square

When I took a look at Square 63, called Increasing Seamless Square, the one I finished on August 24 right after the Olympics, I knew it just wasn’t good enough. I’m not sure how I messed it up, but it wasn’t symmetrical. It sort of reminded me of something my young poodle, Kirby, might knit (if he had thumbs). So I did it again. I finished it on August 31.

This one is also knit in the round, but you start from the inside and increase symmetrically as you go. It’s also knit in garter stitch, which means that you have to purl every other row, since it’s knit in the round. (Knitters will understand what I mean; if you’re not a knitter, just take my word for it that having to purl when you’re knitting in the round is a PITA.) It was very tricky starting with eight stitches on double-pointed needles and increasing from there. Anyway, that’s my excuse for the square not being gorgeous. But trust me, it looks way better than it did the first time I knit it.

Here it is:

Square 63 (the final square!): Increasing Seamless Square

Now that all the squares are finished, I have to figure out how many of them I want to use in the finished blanket (which I believe I’ll hang on the wall in our guest room). Then I have to arrange them. Then I have to sew them together (with yarn), then knit a border around the whole thing. It’s probably good that I didn’t really look past completing the squares when I started this project two-and-a-half years ago, because finishing it is going to be a bear. But I’m really looking forward to that achievement!

Tagged with: knitting olympics, learn to knit afghan