Afghan Away! -- Finished Rowan Mystery Afghan KAL 2014

Finishing a 3407.6 yard afghan has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life!  Why yes, it's really all about the RELIEF.  It's like finishing a thesis -- you revel in the fact that you are most certainly not going to be doing that again, no way José, and that is just so dang comforting.  48 squares (all in the same color of Rowan Pure Wool Worsted), an unending length of trim and 80 gajillion mattress stitches later and we're done!  And even better, we are extremely satisfied!

For those of you who don't know, this is a free pattern that was offered by Rowan, a Mystery Afghan KAL designed by Martin Storey.  The pattern will continue to be available even though the KAL is over, and you can always access it here.

Rumor has it that Martin designed the afghan after a vintage patchwork quilt he owned.  As I'm not a patchworky girl, I just went for a single color, the inimitable Hazel.  Is it army green?  Is it brown?  Is that orange in there?!  You decide.

All of my notes on sewing and making a modified trim are in this blog post.  Have a look especially if you want to learn how to use short rows to turn corners in a trim.

But THIS post is about this little baby's trip 'round the world!  Alright, not really around it, but if the afghan had a passport, it would have 3 shiny brand new stamps: England, USA and Canada.

First stop was England.  Specifically, Holmfirth, the home of Rowan.  

Ok, let's stop for a moment and think about how cool this is.  You make an afghan from a Rowan pattern in Rowan yarn, and then you bring it back to the Rowan mothership?  Oh, but that's not all.  THEN you pose with it and the designer of the pattern, of course!

It was such a pleasure to meet Martin.  I love his style.  If I were more daring, I would have cat burglared some of his shirts from his nearby hotel room for my husband.  Every day, a fabulous shirt on that man.  Respect.

Here I am, American bear-hugging him in over-excitement.  This blanket is in his original color scheme.

I had this crazy idea to pose my afghan all over the place in England, like the gnome in that French movie Amélie.

But I really got sidetracked by, well, visiting Rowan, duh.  :)  I'm saving that for another blog post, though.

Next stop, Maine!  My husband had a conference there, so I decided to drop him off there and rent a cottage by the sea.  (You may have seen some of the pictures in my Booknits KAL post.)

What I didn't tell you was that the entire cottage was decorated in lobsters.  V.v.V

Now, it's very likely I'm moving to Maine, so I just want to put this out there:  when you live somewhere with an iconic object, you shouldn't overly showcase that object while you live in that state.  Seriously.  If I were to decorate my Montreal apartment completely in lobsters, I would be very cool.  In Maine?  NO.

I had, oh I don't know, 18 different lobster wall hangings to choose from for my prop?

Later, I had the realization that the very odd color of my afghan was actually identical to the seaweed and stones that revealed themselves every low tide.  It's pretty uncanny, don't you think?

A long time ago (as in that's how long ago this KAL has been going on) I showed you this photo, and how I wanted to replicate it with my afghan:

Gaston Ugalde's "Colorado X"

Well, I would need to knit 480 squares to do it, sheesh, that thing must be enormous!  So I posed my dad, who I think looks awesome.  Especially with the beer.

Hey, put that prop down dad!

The truth is that in addition to its travels, this blanket has been used for everything, all the time.  And do you know what??  The thing looks just as perfectly blocked as when I first laid it out, even after visiting 3 countries in 2 months.  I think Pure Wool Worsted might be perfect for an afghan, hey?

KEEP THAT IN MIND... because I happen to know that another Rowan KAL is coming soon to a website near you!  /devilish laugh/

See my Keepin' It Square on Ravelry

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