Church Auction Afghan

This is the afghan I made for the church auction this year, which is coming up in about one and a half weeks. I love this pattern! I think I had to rip out the first few inches of the first panel at least 4 times, and then again after I had finished the whole strip. I struggled with getting the stitches right until I finally got it after several tries. After that first strip I loosened my tension and found it made a smoother finish, so after I had all the other strips made, I redid the first strip so that they all matched up. I love the way the strips are put together as well as the outside border.

This gives you a closer view of the stitches. These top two pictures are close to the true colors. I don't know why the pictures below look like a different color. I guess it shows I am not the greatest photographer. I just aim and shoot and hope for the best.

 This shows you what the back side looks like. It isn't as nice as the front, but it isn't bad either. It is just different.

When I saw this pattern in a Mary Maxim catalog, I just knew this was the pattern I had to make for the auction. It becomes tougher and tougher to come up with one that will attract the bids and sell as well as the years before. It must be unique, and in colors that might appeal to everyone, which is neutral and can be used in almost every room decor.

In order to get the pattern I had to order the whole kit which included the required yarn and only came in these colors. But the colors were perfect, and the yarn is Caron's Simply Soft. Since I loosened the tension a bit, I did run out of yarn and needed to buy one more skein of each color and only needed a little bit from each one of those. I used what was left to knit more hats for Goodwill so it is still going to charity. I am so glad the kit used yarn that is readily available in the stores and does not have a dye lot. I got the extra at my Walmart.

People often like the feel of Simply Soft as it is really soft and feels a little bit silky. This did make a very dense and somewhat heavy afghan, but will be really warm on the frigid nights we have had in recent weeks. I am looking forward to see what this will bring at the auction. Now, what can I come up with for next year?? Actually, I have already seen at least one new pattern in the catalog that I like so I will probably  be ordering before long.