Tuesday, 7 May 2013

The present

It was a labour of love.  About 60 hours of work and a few more doing charts from the tiny ones in the book.  I also had to order the wool from the USA because three years ago (I don't know about now) there was no aran weight yarn in a nice golden yellow, it was either neon or pastel.

The starting row, 14 balls of wool and some charts.
 photo Starting_zps8204465e.jpg


If you're consistent when crossing yarns at colour changes you get this sort of ladder effect that untwists when you work back.  Yes, in tunisian crochet every row is actually worked out and back.  196 stitches wide.
 photo Tangled_zps4df69166.jpg

Row 1 was completed within a couple of months of starting the afghan.
 photo FlagsRow1_zps0a2d5bb2.jpg

Row 2 wasn't done until a year later.
 photo NauticalRow2_zps969b825d.jpg

Then it languished.  I wasn't very creative two years ago, Preston was taking its toll on me.

Some time late last year it was pointed out that this year would be Dad's 60th birthday.  What a good reason for finishing!

Row 3:
 photo NauticalRow3_zpsed26a8e5.jpg

The ends:
 photo Ends_zps5b79937a.jpg


Row 4:
 photo FlagsRow4_zpseb5f3757.jpg

Row 5:
 photo Flags5rows_zps8c4a4906.jpg

Row 6:
 photo Row6Flags_zps0b8cd404.jpg

All seven rows done!
 photo FlagsAllDone_zps273717eb.jpg

After weaving in the 200 and something ends I could finally see what I had left.  One tunisian hook and some extra yarn (I had to convert from the originally suggested yarn, so my numbers were a little off)

 photo FlagsLeftovers_zps20f5ec32.jpg

Next was separating the flags.  A little embroidery later:
 photo AllFlagsEdged_zps3ce04b57.jpg

Finally I went around the edge twice doing double-crochet stitch.  It was then washed and hung to air in the Tiree breeze.  It's a little over 3 feet wide and approx 5 foot long.  It's also a dense fabric.
 photo FlagsComplete_zps85342d92.jpg


Madam doglet was not impressed that I moved her bed to take photos!
 photo SadDogFlags_zps84c01547.jpg

Finally, an arty shot of it draped over my rocking chair:
 photo FlagsChair_zps4dae9e8f.jpg

60 hours, about 1.2kg of wool and lots of love.  Oh, and about 8,000 stitches!  Sooooo glad I worked that out after I made it!

That's Dad's present.  It was presented on Saturday and much loved already.  I also darned Dad's gloves that I knit for him about 4 years ago.  Got to love the durability of wool!

TTFN

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