Mango, so you don't want to sit by your pool, sipping a margarita while knitting an afghan? :-) I'll include a link to an afghan pattern book. This book has 67 different patterns, all made with yarn from the Plymouth Yarn Company. Naturally, other yarns could be substituted... Just click on any individual photo and you'll get a popup of a larger photo, and it will also show what yarn was used, how many balls/skeins you will need, and what size needles are used. In this book there are some patterns for afghans that are made in strips, others made in squares, and most are made "in one piece." As others have said, it would be great to knit something to give to a shelter or hospital. When I first found this book on that very web page, I wanted to buy it but it was out of stock. So, I checked Amazon and got a brand new book for a lot less than what's shown on that web site. You can find this on eBay, too. There are plenty of web sites where you can download free patterns, such as Knit Picks and lots of other yarn company web sites. Even though you say there are other family members who knit baby things, every hospital and shelter could use little baby booties, caps, etc. And everyone needs at least one cozy knitted scarf, for when they travel to a colder clime. Here is a link that might be useful: 67 Knitted Afghans

I love the one you posted that was a ripple but not the 'ubiquitous ripple'. I also love the Aran one. I've received several afghans over the years and I've loved them all. The baby sized ones are in the linen closet for grandchildren-to-come. I keep one (totally doesn't go with anything in my house) in my bedroom closet for an extra blanket when I want one. DD keeps one in her room and another in the TV room. (and wants the one I keep in my room for herself) I cherish all of them because they were made with so much love. My cousin (now a father of 3) still has the one I made for him as a bar mitvah present. Having said all that, I'd go for an ivory or cream, since it would be easier for the couple to keep it somewhere visible, rather than tucking it away somewhere. They're lucky to have someone in their lives who'd put so much of herself into a gift for them. Story of one of the baby ones: my mother or aunt mentioned to an long-time friend of my grandmother's that I was expecting. My grandmother had been gone 20 years by then. The friend knitted and sent to me two lovely baby sweaters. I thanked her via letter, telling her how much it meant to me that a friend of my grandmother's would think of me at this time in my life. She wrote back and invited us to stay with her the next time we went to California, and we went and visited her. She passed about a year after the visit, when I was expecting my second. I sent a letter of sympathy to her sister (who'd I never met), telling her the story of the sweaters and how much it meant to me and that I'd saved them and would be using them for my on-the-way child. Her response was to send a baby afghan! I will treasure it and look forward to someday using it for their children. And it still makes me happy inside to think that my grandmother had had such special loving friends in her life.

Another vote for having a list of one's own postings; your profile page would be a good place, and is currently underused anyway. It would also be helpful to have the USENET protocol of the choice between collapsing and expanding threads, wherein you can see the names of all posters to a particular thread and the dates of each of their posts (but you'd have to click on the name to read what they posted). This is another way of "following" posters whose comments you are particularly interested in. Yes to a better search feature; Google currently works better than GW's. Yes to previews appearing at the end of the thread. No's to liking, quoting and signature files.

Did you buy that package of pictures? I was going to do the deer but saw it was locked not one of the freebies. I like the Teazel app better it is easier and has better options. I may give a few of the others a try too. I have found using a stylus is easier for me than my fingers, I am more precise with it than my shaking fingers lol.