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Saturday, January 19, 2008

It's Cool to be Square


So, what have I been doing the past few days? Besides making a cute little doggie sweater (as soon as I put the buttons on it, I will put a photo up), I have been making squares. All kinds of squares. These squares will go into at least two different afghans.

The white squares are Aran cables. Seven have been completed so far and there are five more to go. The other squares will all be framed in a wine colored rim and there will be some solid wine colored squares to pull them all together. There will be about 30 - 36 squares to form one huge afghan.

I am using two sources for the square patterns: The Little Box of Knitted Throws for the aran squares and also 200 Knitted Blocks for the rest of the squares.

What's the great thing about squares?
  • You can express yourself with color and/or texture.
  • They are wonderful take along projects - even if you have to add a cable needle.
  • You can test out new stitches without making something big like a sweater or even a scarf. A block is usually not that big and you can see how the stitch will come out without a big time commitment.
  • You can play around with design and stitches. You can put them together the way you want to and if it doesn't work out, pull the pieces apart and redesign or undo the square - they don't take that much time or that much yarn. You can indulge whatever muse is sitting on your shoulder.
  • Great opportunity to use the scrap yarn. A few ounces of leftover yarn can make a square and if you use a stretchy stitch, you can block it even larger.
  • If you want to get started in mission or charity knitting, there are places that will take the squares (such as Warm Up America) you make and turn them into blankets to distribute to those in need. So, if you're a fan of the knitting, but not so much of the sewing, you can have your cake and let someone else have theirs.
The web is full of stitch patterns and patterns that use squares to make afghans, scarves, even jackets - do a search, find a pattern that excites you, and let your imagination go wild!

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