Afghan Made on My USM

The USM (Ultimate Sweater Machine…previously called the Incredible Sweater Machine…previously called the Bond Knitting Machine) is a non-electric single-needle-bed knitting machine created in 1981, in the UK, by Roger Curry. The company is no longer in business, so if my machine ever breaks, the only way I might find parts would be on e-Bay or other such sites. It’s a very sturdy machine, thankfully, so I probably should have it as long as I need it (keeping in mind that as I write this, I’m almost 69 years old).

I created this afghan for my mom’s 86th birthday, in 2009. It’s another item I got back when she passed away in 2014, a few months before her 91st birthday.

Mom’s favorite colors were blue and white. She loved patterns like those used on Delftware, and the Willow Pattern (or Blue Willow). She also love Windmills, so many of the gifts she received from friends and family, for birthdays and Christmas, were similar to the items you can see HERE. Before she passed away, she had given away many of those knickknacks, but my sister Cindi (author Little Sister, on this Blog) has a few of them that she reclaimed after Mom’s funeral. I think my brother Gary (who still lives in Valdez, Alaska) took a couple of them, as well.

Mom also loved soft textiles, which made me think of creating this special afghan for her. She used it a LOT–especially when she was confined to a nursing home for the last three years of her life.

Here’s the afghan during construction, on my USM. That blue & white mug in the background was a gift from her to me, by the way. 🙂 While knitting with the machine, you see the back (purl side) of a project, so this looks slightly different than the second picture, which is of the front (knit side).

 

The afghan is about 6′ in length and nearly 5′ wide. Here it is on the office chair I use when working at my knitting machine these days. Notice that the finished afghan sports a scalloped crochet border.

Despite the lacy look of this pattern and the softness of the yarn (it’s Red Heart 100% acrylic Super Saver), this afghan is very warm and comfy…one of my favorites to curl up with while reading a good book (on my Kindle Fire). 🙂

The second picture was taken about an hour before I typed this out. That means the afghan is almost exactly nine years old, since I gave it to Mom on October 10, 2009, and today is October 9, 2018.

6 Replies to “Afghan Made on My USM”

  1. Thank you, Sweetheart! Does Emmy still have her pillowghan? I’m going to turn you into an Author here, so if you ever want to, you can write an article about those sometime, or just post pictures in another comment here, if you like. 🙂

    1. The cream colored one- yep! Although to be honest, I think we’d all forgotten you gave it Em! It’s a fixture on our couch, lol. I may take you up on the author part. Got some family tales floating around in the noggin.

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