Resistance is Futile

If you visit regularly, you know I’ve been on a bit of a protracted afghan streak.

It started innocently enough and at the time seemed nothing more than a practical decision to turn a long-term WIP into a functional FO. With knitting needles in hand, I set about transforming a multi-colored sweater jacket into the Color Check afghan, which is affectionately called the Swafghan.

Little did I know that particular WIP was destined to become far more than an FO. The Swafghan was reversible, cozy, soft and attractive, and from the moment it was completed, it saw daily use. These giddy sensations were the first glimmers of a strange new obsession.



Fast forward to today. I’ve knit eight afghans in the past 18 months. That’s not even close to impressive for many of you, but for me it represents a noteworthy number of finished knits and a steady stream of yarn moving out of the stash and into productive use.

In my world, it takes awhile to move a project from start to finish. I truly am a slow knitter, and this slowness is exacerbated by my swatching tendencies. I like to experiment, so it’s typical for me to have one or two active projects on the needles and many more SIPs (swatches in progress) lurking in the background. Only then, once I find a stitch and yarn combination I like, can I begin to start writing a working pattern. 

So while I was diligently knitting the gemtone and almost neutral Drumlin afghans, I was also swatching to test new stitches and different yarn and color combinations in an effort to maximize what’s in the stash. That behind-the-scenes buzz of activity planted the seeds for a new concept using a fresh reversible stitch.

Then it hit me. The targeted stash skeins were also ideally suited to Drumlin and the fluted ridge stitch executed in two colors instead of just one. (Below: test swatch.)

Uh-oh. 

I’ve never been a particularly patient re-knitter, but this afghan fixation has revealed an unexpected quirk: Apparently my brain makes a subtle but important distinction between reknitting and testing different approaches to the same concept to see how comparatively minor changes alter the look or feel. (Below: front of strip 1.)

The new concept will have to wait just a little bit longer, while I work on a two-tone version of the now-familiar fluted ridge afghan knit in brighter shades. (Below: back of strip 1.)

The evidence seems clear: These actions have all the earmarks of a full-blown afghan addiction.

Resistance is futile.