The Great American Aran Afghan (Belanger - Selesnick and Burns)

Yessss.....3 squares done. I'm planning to knit all 24 squares and to deeply enjoy it while I'm at it. Totally forgot that I love cable knitting. It's so long ago. And these squares are ideal for a cable lover. Instead repeating the same all over as you do for a pullover or cardigan, everything changes per 12x12 square. And I LOVE that.

Each of the squares is from a different designer which is just perfect for me. Different designers...different techniques....different looks. Did I mention that I love changes? No? Remind me in that case to tell you next time. Never mind...I probably will do anyway.

First square is from Ginette Belanger. An easy knit. Turned out just lovely and exactly what one needs to get back into knitting after a long long years break. Not too difficult, yet a bit challenging to find your way back into it. And loving every knit ...lol.

The second square is from Barbara Selesnick. It turned out much smaller then the first square so that I was considering to add some more rows to make a 4th heart. In the end I gave it a try as it is, and blocked the square which fixed it pretty much. It’s still a bit smaller, but that won’t be visible once the afghan is assembled.
I think if I wouldn’t use wool and couldn’t block the way wool does, I would have added that 4th heart.

BEFORE:

AFTER

And lastly: Hanna Burns
Beautiful square. Although one thing I didn’t like. The 3 ridges at begin and end are knitted with the same amount of stitches as the cable pattern. Which makes the edge quite wobbly. That’s why I changed it for the upper end. When I came to the 3 ridges I decreased evenly to 54 stitches and that worked better.
The edge got fixed by blocking, but if I would have to do it over, I would start with 54 stitches (or something like that) and increase in the last row to 62.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Did you read I fixed 2 squares with blocking and saw the pics about it??? I freely admit: I was living under a rock ...for YEARS. Totally comfy there. I NEVER grasped the concept of blocking a finished knitted piece completely. And boy does that make a difference. Two of the 3 squares seemed to have a problem. One seemed to be way too short - the other has a fault in charting in the outer ridges. Blocking fixed it. And it's easy as easy can be...once you leave the warm place under the rock that is.
I read blocking only works with natural fibers. But going on the "feel" of the wet wool I assume it will work also on blends with wool be it probably a bit less dramatic. Who knows...lol....certainly not me...yet