Mason Dixon KAL

I've broken every rule I set down for myself and started on my log cabin sampler afghan. I just couldn't help myself. I am determined to take it slow and not abandon my many other WIPs, though...(famous last words...?)



Here it is so far - details of the whole plan on my blog. My thanks to you KAL posters for several tips I'm now taking advantage of, like starting each row with a slipped stitch pwise, and not binding off at the end of strips. I would probably have thought of those things halfway through on my own, and not been able to use them. Thanks to you guys, I started off on the right foot, and so far am very happy with my results.

It really is too much fun to do this!

A few other notes:

1. Has anyone tried doing a log cabin with only one or two ridges of garter to each strip (and starting with a suitably small center square)? I'm sure quilters don't generally do this because it would be insane to cut so many tiny strips, but for knitters it would be as easy as wide strips, and more fun to change color more often. I don't want to do it in my current sampler as the think the difference in stripe widths would be too jarring, but I don't think I'll be able to resist trying it in a dishcloth or something soon.

2. How many others are now dying to make a mitered square blanket according to the pattern in Francie (of the polymer clay metres)'s ATC? The one where the metres all point upwards instead of interlocking (I can't explain it; look back at her post - it's the ATC in the upper right). I don't know when I'll get to it -- it may be years -- but someday I'm going to make that!

3. I'm about to take a short trip, and so naturally began to think about travel projects. I hate to have to lug pattern books and lots of yarn, but I also can't stand the idea of being without knitting if I finish a current project too soon.... (I should also point out here that I'm a very slow and occasional sock knitter, because I seem to suffer unduly from Second Sock Syndrome.) So it occured to me that many of the Mason-Dixon projects make for perfect travel knitting. Not only are the warshcloths, bibs, burp cloths, afghan squares and even bathmats quick and portable, but you can get appropriate yarn for them just about anywhere (even the tiny town in the middle of nowhere [Glenn, MI] that I'm traveling to has a nearby Walmart with a craft section carrying Peaches & Cream!). So, I copied the patterns, in a version abbreviated for myself, onto 3x5 cards (it only took a few), and am packing these with just a few basic notions and size 6 and 13 circular needles (for P&C, either singly or tripled). It's the lightest knitting packing I've managed yet! Moreover, I can leave some or all of what I knit behind as gifts to my hostess (a.k.a. Mom, who likes a good dishcloth as much as anybody). And, inspired by Knitty, I plan to finger-knit on the plane...