Two and Almost Three, my Obsession continues

I admit it, when I find something I like to knit, I never just knit one. When I returned to knitting regularly about 12 years ago, even while I was weaving and teaching weaving, I became obsessive. First it was socks, about eight pair right off the bat, then the whole knitting washcloth/dishrag thing. Don't have numbers high enough for that. (I translated that into first baby afghan for Afghanistan this fall. Old habits dye hard.) Then it was baby hats and sweaters, followed by Sirdar Snowflake baby blankets. Skip to the present, I broke from the whole how-many-shawls/scarves-can-I-knit swirl to launch into the dog sweaters. Evidence of that is seen previously here on this blog. Now I am loving the log cabin pattern to knit these baby Afghans to send to the CURE Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. The finished one is second afghan, first log cabin, the WIP (work in Progress) or #3, is pictured still on the needles. I have used up so much stash yarn on these, that I am going to call it a success and not let myself start a third log cabin. I am contemplating doing a smaller one out of my Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, but that after the holidays. Yeah, right.

All things Afghanistan

It started with the Christane Amanpour CNN special, Generation Islam I saw in August while out in Encinitas with Martie. We sat with our knitting one night spellbound. The documentary focuses on a range of efforts being made in Afghanistan and Pakistan to turn young Muslim children away from violent extremism. That naturally put some focus on Greg Mortenson and his intense mission to build schools in Afghanistan.
Bottom line is now I am reading Three Cups of Tea by Mortenson and David O. Relin, and I am knitting wool baby afghans for the Afghans for Afghanistan project. These afghans go to the CURE Hospital in Kabul. This is a great stash buster as the blankets must be wool and darker colors. Warmth is key, and washing may not happen. I knit compulsively. Just how many shawls can I knit? So, this is perfect. The square one is just an overgrown washcloth pattern of mostly my dyed merino. The next one is going to be one big log cabin square. I took the idea from friend Martie. I love the randomness of it.