Do You Knit?

We will take a break from the quilting blogosphere to talk briefly about knitting.

I have found most quilters dabble with their ability to knit or crochet. A lot of quilters originally tested the crafting waters with knitting or crocheting as they were too young to use or own a sewing machine.

Although I find quilting to be far more fun, and faster too; I decided to devote a little part of my world to the great knitters in my life.

One of the most talented knitters I have ever met is my husband's grandmother. She creates absolutely amazing pieces of art! This is an afghan she made us for Christmas a few years ago by special request.

And here is one she made for my husband as a child.

I have quite a few afghans lying around the house from various family members. I have one made by my Aunt:

One from my Great-Aunt:

And another from my Uncle:

So I thought I would give it a try myself. I've been knitting scarves for quite some time, simple knits and pearls, nothing fancy.

I created this scarf using a ladder as my muse:
From there I inspired myself to create my first afghan using the same technique. It has a checkered design, knit 10, pearl 10 and I started it about 2 years ago. The amount of time and concentration required to knit one throw blanket is immense, it makes me really appreciate quilting and my sewing machine!I won't even tell you how long it takes me to get from one side of this afghan to the other! Regardless I continue to knit day after day, you know why? Because hard, labor-intensive work builds character, or at least that's what I tell myself!

Here is another project I started quite some time ago. I used fabrics I was not that found of, cut them into strips and started to knit them together into a rug. Although this is pretty difficult and quite a waste of fabric, I find the finished product really adorable. Now I just have to keep going and finish this thing!

What crafting projects do you struggle with?