4th Afghan Started

I have started the fourth and last afghan.  It is being done in blocks like the others, but the blocks are sewn in a diamond shape, rather than square.  That means that the edge blocks need to be done triangular.  I kept doubting that it was going to come out looking right as I was knitting the first triangular block.  Much to my surprise, it came out looking just like it should, and the size was perfect.  I just couldn't see how it was going to work out as I was knitting it.  I marvel at the designers of these projects.  I can't see it until it is completed, but they must be able to visualize as they go. I am continually amazed at the ability to create such detailed patterns as some of the projects have.  Here is a sample of the three colors and patterns for the blocks of this afghan.

All the edge blocks and the corners will be done in this azure blue and broken rib stitch. This is an edge block.  The corner blocks are the same, but are smaller.

This Cape Cod blue is the main color and alternates with the sky blue blocks. They are done in a Trinity stitch, which is really the exact same stitch as I used in a previous afghan that was called the Blackberry stitch.

There are half as many sky blue blocks as the Cape Cod ones.  These are done in a cabled pattern.

Afghan #3 Complete

I just finished the third afghan.  Only one more to go.  I will get it started later today.  I am anxious to complete all four and find another project to start.  So far, each afghan has been a bit larger than the one before.  I didn't expect this to happen, but because I am using different patterns, they are coming out that way.  This one is similar to the last one because it has repeated color and pattern blocks that are the same size.  This one is a 5x6 blocks, whereas, the last one was just a 4x5 blocks. Although the blocks of the 4x5 were larger, they still made a smaller afghan. I liked most of this pattern, but I was disappointed in one of the block patterns.  It was just a plain stockinette stitch.  The others all had a little texture to them.  I find the stockinette a little too loose looking. The blocks seem to pucker and not hold a solid shape, as do the other patterns. If I ever make this afghan again, I will use a different pattern for the stockinette stitch blocks.  I really liked the berry and blackberry stitches I used in the last afghan.  I probably would substitute the stockinette with one of those stitches.

Again, my camera does not give a true color.  The darker blocks are actually hunter green, instead of black as it appears to be.   The rest of the colors looks right.

Birthday Over

Well, the birthday party is over.  The shirts look great, however, I did have to fix Lexi's.  I had not gotten a good bond on the top of her picture.  I had to use Cheryl's iron to seal it down to prevent it from peeling off.  The temperature was so hot (both, when I was decorating the cakes and when we served them) that the frosting kept melting.  Nothing I could do about it, but overall, I still think they turned out alright.

This is supposed to be Dora.  It is on a black tray, so the brown hair does not show up much.  Also, the mouth melted too much to look like a mouth, but that is what heat will do to frosting.

Joey's Toy Story cake held up to the heat a little better yesterday, but it was a problem earlier when I tried to write on it. The letters kept melting into each other. The toy figures were part of his gift from Grandma.

This is the best picture I have of Joey in his, "I'm three don't mess with me" shirt and his cake.

Lexi with her Dora cake.  The hair shows a little better in this shot, but so does the frosting melting off her arm.

Lexi in her, "I'm two look what I can do" shirt and her black eye that she got the day before from colliding with her father's elbow.

Joey, with his toys from his cake and the monkey I made for him last year for his birthday.

Lexi, kissing the baby doll that I made for her birthday.

Birthday Time

Cheryl likes to have me design tee shirts for Lexi and Joey for their birthdays.  Both of them have their birthdays in June, so she celebrates them together.  That makes it easy for me to do at one time.  I use iron-on fabric sheets for ink jet printers.  It is fast and easy to use the computer to design them and then just print them out and iron them on.  It allows me to use pictures of them, as well as, use print shop for the writing. Here is a view of last year's and this year's results.

This is the best I could get of the shirt for Lexi's "It's Fun To Be One" shirt.

This is her "I'm Two See What I Can Do!" shirt for this year.

Joey in his "Look Who's Two" shirt from last year.

This is his "I'm Three Don't Mess With Me!" shirt for this year.

Their birthday party is going to be this Sat., so I need to get the cakes decorated.  Joey's will be easy because he wants a Toy Story cake.  I am going to frost a regular rectangular cake and just place Toy Story figure toys around the edges of the cake.  Cheryl wants me to make a Dora cake for Lexi.  I have plans to do it using two circular cakes.  I will use the basic idea of making an elephant cake that I learned to do many years ago while I was in college.  It should be cute when I get it finished and I think it will be fun to do.  I will post the results when I get the cakes decorated.