Yahoo!!!

This is starting out to be a most delightful day! The post brought me two items I've been eagerly awaiting.

First of all, my very own Ball Ball T-Shirt!!! Isn't this terrific?

E

Even the back of the t-shirt is fun!

I am so jazzed! I've been a fan of Ball Ball and Friends for quite some time, and I'm delighted now to have this nifty shirt. It's perfectly pomeranian! If you haven't discovered Ball Ball yet, hit the link below on the list of blogs I follow, and you'll be transported to one of the happiest websites you could ever hope to find. And you don't have to be a pom-person to appreciate it. Ball Ball has many friends.

The other goody that arrived in the day's mail was a book I have been hunting for for many years. It's Barbara Walker's Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book, and it was published in 1974. 

I stumbled upon this excellent little book at the library probably around 1980 or thereabout. I had decided I was jolly well going to teach myself to knit one way or another, reasoning that, if little children could knit, there was no reason I couldn't learn. I checked this book out a number of times, and actually made three afghan blocks. Then the book went away somewhere, I couldn't remember its title or author, and though I'd kept an eye out for it through the years, I never managed to track it down. Until now!

Thank goodness I resisted the impulse to discard the blocks I made, because now I can continue the project at last. I used real wool worsted for these blocks, not acrylic. If I finish the afghan as I hope to do, it will be an heirloom quality work. 

Let me show you the three very old and cherished afghan quilt blocks I've been storing for decades:

This first one is "trinity stitch". To make it, you cast on 48 stitches (or any multiple of 4). Rows 1 & 3 (the right side) are simple purl stitches. Row 2 is * (k1, p1, k1) in one stitch, p3 together; and continue repeating from *. Row 4 is * p3 together, (k1, p1, kn1) in one stitch, and repeat from *. It's a fun and satisfying knitting stitch to do.

 
This second block is "lattice with seed stitch". It wasn't especially difficult to do despite its appearance, but because instructions call for 20 rows, I'll not share it here now. Isn't it wonderful, though? And so pretty in the cream-colored wool.

Last I have this mystery square. I call it that because I was sure I had knitted it from instructions in this same book, but now that I have the book in hand and am searching for it, I find it isn't in this collection. So I must have gotten brave and struck out on my own with this, using another stitch collection guide.

I do recall its name, "King Charles Stuart Brocade". It was so named because, at the time of that British monarch's execution, he was actually wearing a vest knitted in this very pattern. Fascinating, eh? 

Well, obviously I have a long way to go if I hope to make an afghan out of these. But at least now I have the resource I need! I think I will probably do only the textured stitch blocks for this project, as I find them more interesting than the two-color mosaic patterns. Originally I had hoped to use only the gray, rose, and cream colors, joining them with black. I love that combination. But we'll see. I've lots of nice wool yarn that I really should use up before I go buying more.

Anyway, that's it for now. I was just so excited about these two arrivals that I had to share. I'm feeling very chatty today, though, and my time is my own, so don't be surprised if I whip out another blog entry in short order.

I hope you're having a wonderful Thursday!