Busy knitting

Knitting knitting knitting!  No sewing, though I think about it.  I've been ordering fabric online so hopefully some sewing will happen soon.  For the past month it has been compulsively, loosing sleep, making muscles sore knitting.  I'd say, that's some knitting.  I stopped short of giving myself pressure ulcers on the fingers and I have NOT invested big bucks in new supplies, so that's good.  Especially since I gave away 2 full trash bags of yarn last winter because I never knit.

I've been wanting to repair a much beloved afghan my Mom made, I've blogged about it before.  I was able to sew up some of the holes, but there are places that just needed to be filled in with stitches.  I googled a description of the afghan and searched through the "images" gallery on the results and there it came: the original pattern for the very same afghan that my Mom knitted up in the early 1950's.  Three dollars and instant PDF, I LOVE this internet age for sewing and crafting!!!!

I've been working on my stitches, trying to nail "flicking" as well as continental style.  I've gotten pretty good at unraveling back to a point and restarting.  Still working on consistent tension.  There is a pile of blocks accumulating, some of different size and many of slightly different appearance but this is the test/learning one.  Then I'll make one or two for gifts, and then I'll go in and fill every missing part of the original.

I don't know why I was never in love with knitting before.  It is so darn soooooooooooothing!

Repairing my Mom's afghan

 I've started work on repairing this afghan my mom knitted.  I'm not sure of when she made it, just that it was my favorite thing to be under if I was sick or very cold.  I suspect very early 70's at the latest, and more likely the 60's.  I'm pretty sure she used a synthetic or synthetic blend fiber, as it has been through the washer and dryer probably close to a hundred times.

I've had it in my possession since the 80's and am a little ashamed of how far I let it deteriorate.  I knew how to do the most basics of knitting, but didn't knit, and it was always on my list of things to do when it started getting holes in the center of some of the flowers and then splitting on some of the seams.  After it passed into my daughter's possession it only got worse until I finally stole it back with the intention of finally mending it.  Strangly enough, I found some supersaver yarn that seems to match the pink extremely well, and the gray is only off enough to see if you hunt hard for it.

I've seamed up the 3 pink squares on this shot already and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I'm using a crochet hook and kind of ladder stitching it back together and it closely resembles the original.

It's parts like this one that have me worried.  I've got double pointed needles and a gizmo called a knook that might help, along with a very close to the original pattern.