I'm a semi-finalist in the Michael's/Lion Brand Contest!

Just one problem: I don't have it anymore, I made this for my father, who passed away. I'll have to call my stepmom and see if she still has it!

UPDATE: Drove to Tulsa Saturday and got the blanket (and had a nice visit with D') and spent $70 to send it UPS insured to arrive by Thursday. Woo hoo!

UPDATE: Received blanket back in the mail from Lion Brand 7/12/2010 with no explanation as to who won the contest or how I placed. Really, really, weird.

Rambling Rows Afghan - finished!

I finally finished the Rambling Rows Afghan last night. I really enjoyed knitting it because you get to change yarn colors and block sizes often.
By the time you get to the last row, it does get a little tedious, though. In the second pic you can see the decrease lines, which is what keeps it interesting, you're not just knitting squares and rectangles, you're starting out with a multiple of 12 stitches and decreasing down to 2 or 4 stitches to create the shapes. I added an I-cord edging to neaten up the garter stitch edges.
I was trying to do the EZ I-cord out of Opinionated Knitter, but just couldn't get it started, so I switched back to an I-cord pattern I did in the past, the pattern was Seamus from Knitty.com. (The sweater failed miserably because I was unhappy with the way my picked-up stitches looked along the celtic cable edge at the bottom.) I have gotten really fast at picking up stitches now, so it was a good skill improving pattern.

Rambling Rows Afghan - half finished!

The Rambling Rows Afghan from Cottage Creations is half finished! Like every piece I've knit, it's taken longer than I anticipated. However, I feel like I've really gained more mastery over picking up stitches and now I think my necklines are going to look much neater. The garter stitch has been great mindless knitting during football games, soccer practice...etc. I'm using Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn in hopes that it will be low maintenance for my Dad (or, more realistically, for his wife! ;) ).