Monday, May 11, 2009

Great American Aran Afghan - Janet Martin Block

My computer is still in the shop, but I did cajole my beloved into letting me use his for just a minute (please honey, do you really need to work and earn money to feed and clothe us???).

I had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend and have photos to prove it (!), but that post will have to wait until I have more than just a couple of minutes. In the meantime, I wanted to show what my latest knitting accomplishment is.

This is the Janet Martin block from The Great American Afghan. My knitting guild is doing a group project to enter into the state fair this fall and how could I pass up that opportunity? I think that after it is finished being displayed at the fair we are going to sell raffle tickets for some lucky winner.

When the idea was first presented we were able to look through the pattern book and choose which block we wanted to do. I instantly fell in love with the fish block as it made me think of "fishers of men" and my choice was easy. And then I read about this block and found out that out of the 24 blocks in the book this one is one of the 5 hardest!!! :-O

I learned SO MUCH knitting this and in the end I'm glad I did it. It wasn't so much that it was hard as it was just a lot more involved than anything I've ever done. I quickly learned that I could NOT watch tv while knitting this and really I pretty much needed absolutely silence in order to concentrate.

Right now the block is blocking (I crack myself up!) and that was a comedy in itself. Every time I would put the pins in, then straighten the other side, the pins on the first side would pop out. Keith finally brought in a big piece of cardboard to put under the towel and he helped me to stretch it out.

I doubt that I do another one of these blocks any time soon, but I am very pleased that I did this one.

7 comments:

Le Bleu Bonnet Boutique said...

Absolutely Gorgous!!! Great job!!

Mary said...

That is so beautiful...I am not very crafty so I am super envious of your knitting skills. Please post a picture of the finished afghan when it is done..if all the other squares are as good as yours, you will win the state fair without a doubt.

Brenda said...

love the block! It's beautiful...I think it would be so much fun to do this afgan!

Debby said...

What a beautiful block! And I love the reason you chose this particular block (fishers of men). I'd love to see a picture of the afghan when it's done (and hanging with a blue ribbon).
And I empathasize with the computer in the shop. My sewing machine has been in the shop for more than 8 weeks!

valerie said...

I am very impressed!
Good job Elizabeth.
I've never even tried to knit. If it's anything like
my sewing.....
I never had the patience, but sure admire those
who do.

Ginger said...

You creation is just beautiful! I wish I had the patience and talent to create something so lovely. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I've enjoyed reading yours.

Joansie said...

So glad you are enjoying your Bible study. I've done that before and always looked forward to it.

The block is beautiful. As for the blocking, have you seen those blocking squares (looks like a puzzle) that Webs has. They are foam and keep those pins in place.

Thanks for the nice comment on my blog.