I'm stitching an afghan. I don't mean a person from Afghanistan.
First thing, for those non-stitchy readers, an afghan is like a blanket, or a bedspread. The one I'm stitching on at the moment is really lovely thick almost woolen fabric. It's divided in to several squares (in this case 20), each of which can be stitched or left blank to create a pattern if desired. The squares are separated by the same fabric, woven slightly differently to give a decorative appearance and a distinct border.
Afghans are somewhat expensive, so although I wanted to stitch one since I first heard of them, I found that I couldn't justify the expense until I found one in a half-price sale which brought the price down to something more reasonable. I bought this one in the summer and, after a lot of deliberation, eventually decided to stitch it on a Christmas theme as a bedspread for us. I've taken advice and been told that they are resilient enough to be washed regularly. I've been working on it since Monday and so far have two squares done.
On the bed - not looking too impressive so far, and I'm leaving off doing the fringeing until the end (on the advice of the instructions which came with it)
The first square, a very simple little Christmas tree which I have also used in a set of napkin rings which I'll be using for Christmas dinner
The second square, a Christmassy elephant that I found online
The fabric itself is 14 count evenweave, and I'm stitching over 2 using all six strands of floss. It's a lot of fun going from something very delicate to something this big and bold. All I can compare it to is going from painting a beautiful flower with a very delicate brush to playing with finger paints. Both are very rewarding, in their own way. Also, this is so much fun, I did start giggling for no reason other than I was having fun stitching it the other day...
Afghans are somewhat expensive, so although I wanted to stitch one since I first heard of them, I found that I couldn't justify the expense until I found one in a half-price sale which brought the price down to something more reasonable. I bought this one in the summer and, after a lot of deliberation, eventually decided to stitch it on a Christmas theme as a bedspread for us. I've taken advice and been told that they are resilient enough to be washed regularly. I've been working on it since Monday and so far have two squares done.
On the bed - not looking too impressive so far, and I'm leaving off doing the fringeing until the end (on the advice of the instructions which came with it)
The first square, a very simple little Christmas tree which I have also used in a set of napkin rings which I'll be using for Christmas dinner
The second square, a Christmassy elephant that I found online
The fabric itself is 14 count evenweave, and I'm stitching over 2 using all six strands of floss. It's a lot of fun going from something very delicate to something this big and bold. All I can compare it to is going from painting a beautiful flower with a very delicate brush to playing with finger paints. Both are very rewarding, in their own way. Also, this is so much fun, I did start giggling for no reason other than I was having fun stitching it the other day...