The Knitting Fiend

I also showed off my “work in progress” — the afghan I began last week. I’m making it in panels. Only five more panels to go!

This is such a large amount of knitting, it’s tempting to finish off the loose ends and just stop at a scarf. (Oh, and if someone wants to know how to knit this “scarf”, leave a comment, and I’ll write up the pattern. I’ve never written it up even though Teddy is wearing the garter stitch version on my hand knit beret page.)

Anyway, in this case, it’s an accident, the afghan panel is just the right width and length for a quite a nice scarf.

My plan was to have a zig-zag hem and stripes on the afghan. To obtain this effect, I’m increasing on either side of a stitches in the middle, and decreasing on each edge. However, it also causes the fabric to lie on a bias. This dramatically reduces the tendency for stockinette to curl. Plus, the scarf folds naturally between the increases in the center. When folded, the panel ends up looking like a cool bias knit scarf. The bottom curls a little, but the sides don’t.

Still, I absolutely, positively, need an afghan. So, this isn’t going to be a scarf. Five more panels will _ be _ made!

Fortunately, knitting the afghan in panels makes it a good take along project. I knit quite a few rows during the 2 hours long knitting guild meeting last Thursday. (This was held in Knitche! in Downers Grove, Illinois. It’s a wonderful yarn store. I need to take photographs and show you what the other knitters are knitting, plus Knitche’s nice chatting nook, the fireplace and the yarn!)