WIP Wednesday...I Might Have a Problem?

Today, I am going to be completely honest. After giving it some some thought a few days ago, I realized that I had a few other WIPs that I hadn't shared yet. WIPs that I had put down off and on for months, years, even decades while being distracted by other, smaller projects. I will share from oldest to newest:

This is an afghan I started sometime in 1992. I was a single mom of one-year-old boy/girl twins, so yeah, I put this down a LOT. For the obvious reasons that goes with being the single mom of twins, and also, over the years, baby blankets with actual deadlines would come up. This was a project for my home, so there was never any sense of needing to get it done. the color of the yarn is royal blue, though it looks slightly more navy blue in the natural light of my house, when not getting the flash treatment of my digital camera. It is almost done--all I need to do is finish the edging.

Also, in the bottom left corner, you might be able to see one of my cats, Romeo, trying to come back to kill the skein of yarn after having been shooed away several times

Close up! I honestly don't remember the yarn I used. I think it was probably Red Heart Super Saver, and I am pretty sure I bought the yarn at K-Mart, back in the days when they still sold yarn.

Here is the magazine where I got the pattern --dated February 1992(!)  Honestly, another reason that so much time has gone by between working on this, is because I would often store it in the back of my closet, or in a drawer--so, "outta sight, outta mind!"

Here's the magazine's photo of the completed afghan. Sorry for the blur.

I know! My cats can't believe it either!  It was not easy taking these photos as Romeo (far left) and Audrey, were VERY interested in the MOTHER of all balls of yarn!

To explain the ball (Okay, maybe I don't really need to explain, to those of you who knit and crochet):  I got to the point in this afghan, where I had used that much yarn in making it, but realized I must've gone off pattern because I was unintentionally increasing and decreasing on the ends....so, time to unravel!

I think Audrey is expecting the ball to speak to her.

It's a criss-cross stitch pattern. Oh, and I'm using Lion Brand Jiffy in Country Green.

I thought maybe you could see the "X's" better in this photo. Meh.

Here's the book where I got the pattern. Copyright 1998.

Here's the photo of the finished product. Sorry for the blur. It was hard to keep the book open to take the photo. 

I would like to say, more often than not, these days, I tend to prefer yarns that are made from natural fibers or at least a blend of natural fibers. 100% acrylic has it's place, but I don't normally buy it much these days --especially not for something that is going to go against your skin like an afghan. I say this, knowing full well that one of my next projects will be an afghan made out of acrylic yarn...but it's softer than the old stuff --really! Also, I have another afghan planned that will be using yarn from my scrap stash, and this will be a combination of acrylics and natural fibers.

This is from a baby blanket pattern. I am using cotton yarn that is not as thick as the pattern called for. I intend to use it as a sort of giant doily for a surface in my home. Other projects kept coming up that had more urgent deadlines --a lot of hats for my kids, nieces, nephews, friends of my kids, and this project ended up getting hidden under a lot of ephemera in the craft area of my bedroom.

Just have the edging to finish.

Here is a photo of the original blanket from the pattern booklet. Apparently, I suck at taking photos of photos.

Here is the booklet containing the pattern.

I am still working on the sweater for my husband:

I got a bit further on the body, and have begun one of the sleeves.

A closer look.

I still have the ear bud drawstring bag to finish, but I haven't worked on that at all since the last time I posted about it, so no progress pics today. I finished the beanie for my son, so you'll see that on Friday.