We have a winner. GAAA

Thanks to lovely K at Nothing But Knit for finding The Great American Aran Afghan for me.  I have just bought it and downloaded it, and cannot wait to get started, as we knitters do.  However, I will finish my Admirals Knot Sweater before starting this project.

All I can hear in my head are the words of Anna Madrigal “You always get what you want, you’re a lot like me.”

Not So Great Afghan…

The Elusive Great American Aran Afghan…

Well, this is becoming more and more interesting as I search for this book or needle in a haystack as it is becoming. So far I am not doing very well, usually shipping is about $45 to $60. One lady on Ravelry had it for sale then when I messaged her she had “given it to a friend”, so that is a closed door on that.

I read on Knitting Paradise that a lady bought it from WHSmiths here in the UK for only £6, I thought WOW, that is a hot lead, but alas on WHSmith site, it does not exist, and she only bought it last year, WTF!.  I have called Waterstones and the lady just could not find it because I did not have an ISBN number, god forbid a boolean search on the site.

In the town, there is a second-hand bookshop that holds vast stocks of old books and magazines, but even he could not get it.

I still have hope, and will keep looking as I am not one to give up easily, and K at NothingBitKnit has been keeping me on my toes with loads help.

The Great American Aran Afghan…

I really want to make this afghan. I have looked high and low in the UK for it at a reasonable price, however, I can only find ones that are priced way out of my budget.  The cheapest was £57.05 plus delivery, which is outrageous.

I have tried Ravelry, and LoveKnitting, but to no avail.  eBay I see again silly prices, and most of the time they are only in the USA, which means on top of the silly price customs charges are added on delivery which is an extra 20% then handling charges for the courier because of the customs charges, so it just keeps getting more expensive as the day goes on.  I know that items can be marked as a “Gift” and there are no customs charges and extras, but getting a seller to do this is hard work.

I even tried the county library and nothing.

Looks like this will be a pipe dream knit that always manages to elude my grasp.

Drops Project

I won a £100 voucher on LoveKnitting.com back in April and decided that I would make myself a sweater for winter. I have lots of ones that I want to make but thought this Drops Admiral’s Braid would be my first one.

I cast on, then realised I was not sure what n edge stitch was, as I have never needed one, so a quick trot about the internet, and hey presto, I now which one of the many I need to use.

Then, starting the pattern rib I read M.1 as make one, as most people would, then when getting to the end of the repeats I was left with 19 stiches on my needle. I re-read the pattern and no, it seems wrong. I then thought that rather than the repeat from * to * 4 times (5 in total) I would remove one of the repeats and be left with 31 stitches.  Looking again at the pattern I noticed that there was a little chart M.1 with 31 stitches. BINGO! I sussed it out, so frogged the lot and am about to start again.

I keep telling myself to read the whole pattern before starting, but my advice seems to fall on my deaf ears, and of course, I screw things up again. Will I ever learn?

Stay tuned for updates.