I finished the second bathmat last night.
Bathmat II
It fits well - or will when it’s been edged. Now I’ll get started on the duplicate pieces for the thickness. I did notice, last night when I was checking this for size, that it really does need something in the way of non-skid help. I have to think about what to do about that. Otherwise I’m pretty happy with things :) Barb, it’s all your fault - thanks again!
I love cables - short ones, long ones, fat, skinny, twisted and braided - cables are hot stuff in my knitting book. And since I’ve been mulling over ideas for an afghan, I’ve been thinking about incorporating cables!
Simple 3x3 cable
This swatch was done with two strands of sport weight “baby” yarns, a pink boucle and a plain white - both acrylic, on size 10 1/2 needles. I was surprised at how pretty they looked together and that the cable showed nicely despite the boucle. The cables would be easy enough to work while still giving me enough variety to be interesting. These yarns would make a very light colored, but very pretty and feminine afghan (which is odd for me as I am not and have never been a “girl girl”). For some reason, that seems appealing at the moment.
Then there’s this:
Heralds, banners and Dragons anyone?
I had been admiring it in one of my books for a while but doubted that I could actually work it myself. But I decided to give it a try and once I got past the first row (it took three tries) the rest was reasonably clear sailing. Oh there were some minor squalls while I figured out exactly what the pattern was asking for with the odd-stitch number cables (and you can probably see - about 2/3s of the way up where I finally got it) but it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had feared. It did take about 6 hours to do though, and is a bit cluttered looking. I’m thinking if I were to go with this design, I’d lose some of the bobbles - not all, but some. And it was all charted! If I can read this from a chart, I think I’m doing okay :)
The only problem with either of the above ideas is that they won’t work with the Homespun that I have in plentitude. The bulky boucle texture of the yarn would muddle any kind of cable pattern to the point of invisibility. I’m not against making afghans out of something else, but what do I do with the Homespun, then? I’m probably going to have to resign myself to doing something dumb and boring with it.
HUGE cables - would that work, do you think? 8 x 8 cables and bobbles the size of muffins…heheh…I need to think about this :)
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well, that cotton made up nicely- i am sure it is happy in its new home as it has served a useful putpose- it was being used as a dust-catcher on a shelf here and its sad and lonely look was most heartbreaking- excellent work there!
as for the non-skid problem, i can remember my mom using the rubber thingy from a jar lid sewn on the back of a throw rug to put an end to the slip factor- i think she just tacked them on and removed them when she washed the rugs-
ah, homespun- i have masses of it but not enough in the same or even coordinating colors to be useful- sometimes my impuse buys show i have no idea of what i will use them for- thus, my collection of lonely singletons- have you tried a cable with the homespun using some of the ‘railroad tie’ sized needles-
i love the ‘girlie’ combo-
stay happy-
The biggest needles I have are 11s so maybe investing in a pair of 13s or 25s might be something to consider. But you know? I love the “girly” combo too. I love the color and the slightly “blurry” texture. I’m trying to tell myself that it wouldn’t work with the more complex cable pattern - but something in the back of my head insists it wants to try it anyway :)
“Bobbles the size of muffins?” Har, har, har!
Your shiny afghan swatch reminds me of a baby blanket I’ve been working on for years. I’m crocheting it and it consists of hundreds of 2"x2” squares because I wanted it to have a petite and delicate look to it. I’ve worked on it for so long, mostly every time winter rolls around, that when I haul it out, TMK just rolls her eyes. In fact, now that I’ve moved on to “serious” knitting, I now realize I will never get that blankie done.
Ryan - Well, some projects are like that and I seem to recall you saying you didn’t much care for crochet any more. Perhaps it can be re-cycled?
Ixnay on the ecycleray, obbinRay. See, as I said, it consists of manymanymany 2” squares. If I frogged them, I’d end up with manymanymany useless short strands of pink and white acrylic yarn. What really killed the project was the moment I realized I was going to have to sew all those frickin’ little squares together. It was not a good moment, but now TMK and I can both face the upcoming winter knowing I will not, for the first time in 17 years, be hauling that dadblasted bag out of my craft trunk.
Ahh - well, I guess I was thinking of recycling the little tiny squares, but since that would also require sewing them together…
Well, good for you! Doesn’t it feel nice to shed something outdated and useless?
Really huge cables would work with Homespun, honest - but I think you’d get really, really bored with it. Basically, Homespun is meant to be used in stockinette - for all the lovely color changes, you know. Feather & Fan is about as adventuresome as you can get with the stuff.
That being said, I have 6 skeins of plain, dark green Homespun that I’m going to list on eBay soon. I bought them with a sweater for Dylan in mind, but realized it was just too…what’s the word..ummm…“floofy” ....for a boy’s sweater…it would never hold up.
And I’d hate to knit a Homespun Horror to be laughed about at family gatherings forever more…. 
PS - I like the girly combo…I’ll bet you’re trying out those cables with it even as I’m typing this….Hehehehehe
LOL - I didn’t think anyone would ever use that smiley - but it’s certainly appropriate. See tomorrow’s post for the Homespun cable experiment :)
And yes, dammit, I did try the complex cable arrangement in the “girly” yarn but didn’t get very far with it. I still like the yarns, but will find something not-quite-as-complicated to do with them!
The swatch of “Heralds, banners and Dragons” is really neat. You wrote that you had been admiring it in one of my books for a while but doubted that I could actually work it myself.” Mind if I ask which book. I would like to use that myself. I love to do cables too.
