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A Year of Afghan

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afghan squares ros made meI haven’t written much about it yet, but I’m working on a massive stash-busting project this year that I expect will take me on and off all year to knit: a gigantic (6 foot square, I’m hoping!) strip afghan worked all in Garter Stitch. I’m hoping this will basically eliminate the odd balls in my stash and make me feel a lot better about the amount of yarn in my house. Also, I’ll be really warm next winter.

I’m not the only one with big projects in mind this year. Ros over at RosMadeMe has embarked on a year-long afghan knitting project, too, but she’s knitting individual blocks and sharing them on her blog.

She’s made good progress so far, even though she had a little trouble getting some of her yarn.

Do you have any big projects planned for this year? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo via RosMadeMe.]

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Comments

  1. First – I am trying so very, very hard to avoid sales cause I “need” more yarn. 😉

    Second – Oh help – Do I have projects!? I am trying to finish some I started a year (or more) ago.

    An afghan – keep losing the actual pattern so it has many different bands of stitches! All knitted in dreamy blues and greens of Homespun.

    A skirt – my second and in a reasonable color to wear. Why on earth did i knit the first one in Carolina Blue!?

    A top to match said skirt.

    and two Spring shrugs to finish! one white and one in lavender.

    Whew – now I’m tired…

Have you read?

Stitch Your Favorite Fruit on a Sweater

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.” 

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them. 

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits. 

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves. 

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit. 

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy. 

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]