While Miz Kittling Knits: Vienna Blood

 

Since I'm on the verge of finishing another afghan, it dawned on me that I'd better show you the last one I finished. Nothing like taking my own sweet time, is there?

 

I made this afghan for Tucker's mother, who is in a nursing home. Tucker is the woman who comes to the house to cut our hair so Denis and I won't look like Mr. and Mrs. Shaggy. Let me tell you a bit more about this project.

 

 

Once again, I went to my Go-To knitting pattern source, Leisure Arts' Big Book of Quick Knit Afghans. As many of you already know, I choose to make afghans all in one piece because if I had to sew strips together I'd still be working on afghan #1. This book by Leisure Arts indulges my laziness. (In fact, it's indulged me so many times that the pages are coming loose and I have to use a binder clip to keep them all together.)

 

The pattern I used for this afghan is called "Serene", and I certainly felt cool, calm, and collected as I kept my needles clicking every night. Needles? US size 15 circular needles. What yarn was I using? For this afghan, I used three strands of yarn. One strand is Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo 100% acrylic yarn in Soft Navy with two strands of Cascade Yarns' Cartwheel 100% acrylic yarn in a colorway called San Diego. This afghan is machine washable and can be put in the dryer just like all the other afghans I've made.

This isn't the first time I've used a solid color yarn with the Cartwheel multi-color, and I like the effect. It's as though the solid color gives the afghan a good foundation, if that makes sense. Let's take a look.

 

 

 

Tucker came last Monday to cut our hair, and then she took the afghan and went straight to the nursing home to see her mother. Tucker says she loves it, which immediately took care of my nerves.

What was I watching on television while my knitting needles were clacking away? A mystery series called Vienna Blood, which is based on Frank Tallis' historical mystery series.

 

Here's the storyline from IMDb:

"1900s Vienna: a hotbed of philosophy, science, and art, where a clash of cultures and ideas collide in the city's grand cafes and opera houses. Max Liebermann is a brilliant young student of famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. When Max comes into contact with Oskar Rheinhardt, a Detective Inspector struggling with a strange case, he agrees to help him investigate a series of unusual and disturbing murders."

This production is class all the way: costumes, writing, acting, Viennese filming locations, and I enjoyed the odd couple juxtaposition of Max and Oskar. I'm also picking up a lot about the social history of fin de siècle Vienna, too.

If you're in the mood for some historical crime solving, I can certainly recommend Vienna Blood. Now... let me get back to this new afghan I'm making!