GAAA Squares One to Six

Pattern: Great American Aran Afghan booklet
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool (worsted weight)
Needles: US Size 8
General Notes: The pattern calls for different size needles for each square. I'm too lazy to keep changing, so they are coming out in different sizes and I will have to do some creative arrangement and maybe add some extra edging here and there. I have short attention span, so this is the perfect project since I only knit each square once. By the time I'm tired of the same stitch pattern I'm done. I'm knitting in the sequence of how the squares appear in the booklet, regardless of level of difficulty.

Square One: designed by Judy Sumner, rated one of the five most challenging squares. I was on the knitlist when Judy Sumner designed this square and posted about her inspirations and progress with Knitters Magazine. At that time she just retired from her medical profession and was "just a knitter". Her husband had kidney transplant. Donor was her daughter who gave birth to twin girls not too long before the surgery. Judy was very close to the girls, and this square reflects the flowers and bugs and hugs and kisses in a child's life. I didn't mind very much knitting the bugs, since this is the only time and it was interesting to see how they came along. Once I got done with this one I knew I could handle this project without too much trouble. This square came out much smaller than the others.

 

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Square Two: designed by Julie Levy, rated one of the easiest squares



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Square Three: designed by Marian Tabler. I couldn't get a good sense of this set of cables. There is a pair of mistakes in the ropes on the sides, but the mistakes match so I didn't bother rip out and reknit the big cables.
 

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Square Four: designed by Meredith Morioka. This is the brightest color that I bought. I hope this square won't stand out too much when all of them put together.



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Square Five: designed by Kathleen Carty, rated one of the five most challenging squares. The cable border is knitted first, increase and decrease to form the corners. The beginning and ending edges are supposed to be grafted together, and I was too lazy for that. You can see the sewn edge on the right hand side. The center section is then picked up along the inside edge of the border, decrease at the diagonal lines and finish in the center of the square.



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Square Six: designed by Vicki Sever. I like the motifs in this square, but look closely you'll find a mistake in the cross in the lower right corner. By the time I realized I missed the cable I was too lazy to rip out the already finished anchor and heart. I take this as my own design.



Here is a closer view at the missed cable.