It’s WIP Wednesday! Want to join in? Head on over to Tami’s blog to share your own projects.
I’ve been on a blanket kick recently. I finished one baby blanket a week or so ago; designed another one and have it almost finished; and have almost finished making all the big motifs for the Moorish Mosaic Afghan, which I’m doing with burgundy as the master color,
rather than turquoise as shown in the original.
And while I’ve been on this blanket kick, I’ve been obsessively searching the pattern library on Ravelry for unique and challenging and beautiful new projects. Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of the patterns I loved loved loved were not (a) free, or (b) already in my possession. I say “unfortunately,” but when this happens, it usually means I go shopping, which is always a good thing. (Well, my husband would disagree, but I say “pshaw” to that.)
The first afghan I saw which yelled “Make me!” was the Cathedral Rose Window:
I didn’t want to pay $7.00 for the pattern from Annie’s Attic, so I went looking for the booklet in which it was originally published. I found it on Amazon…for $38.00. Its price when initially published was about $10.00, but it’s long been out of print so dealers can charge whatever the market will bear. Hmm….how many patterns were in the booklet? Ten. That made them just under $4.00 apiece. A bargain. So I bought it.
Yay me!
Another eye-catcher on Ravelry was this:
The Stained Glass Window. Are you noticing a theme here? (BTW, the person who made the blanket shown above blogged about it here. Go tell her how gorgeous it is.) Again, I had to search out the book which contained this pattern. Luckily, it’s still in print.
And look, there’s that stunning blanket on the cover. This book has 49 other blankets, all nearly or equally as fabulous as the Stained Glass Window. I can see myself working my way through the book, one blanket at a time. I’m especially taken with Spanish Tiles.
And it’s no wonder…it’s quite similar to the Moorish Mosaic. (The person who made this blanket blogged about it here.)
While I was ditzing about at Barnes & Noble, my search parameters led me to a number of other afghan books. Two of them in particular caught my eye.
40 marvelous and colorful examples of award winning crochet artistry, including half a dozen or so tapestry (or Tunisian) crochet patterns. Tunisian crochet is on my list of things to learn this year, along with Entrelac. (I’m taking an Entrelac class at Stitches South in April, so I’ll be able to cross that one off the list…hmm, I just realized I haven’t written about those plans. Hey! Another blog topic taken care of.)
More award winning crochet artistry is found here:
Again, 48 beautiful patterns in a variety of knit and crochet techniques. Among those that stopped me in my tracks was the Memory Star:
and the Pinwheel:
I could conceivably spend the rest of my life making all these blankets. Color me tickled pink at the depth and breadth of my new afghan library!
Avanta Knits 