Tag Archive | handknit blankets

1307 Days

When I marked my Playful Stripes blanket as finished last night, Ravelry told me it had been 1307 days since I started it. Definitely my longest WIP ever, and I’m SO happy it’s finally done! The extra blue yarn arrived Friday but I didn’t get around to knitting with it until last night, but I got it all knit up that night. Today was my weave-in-ends day, which took about an hour and a half, and to heck with blocking, I’m calling it done!

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What a fun blanket I have for fall now, or even chilly spring evenings, maybe out on the deck! The yarn is Blue Sky Yarns Organic Cotton Worsted and I used eight colors, probably around 1800 yards or so. I’d have to measure my leftovers to be sure and I don’t care to to do that. It’s super soft but it is fuzzing up and pilling a little, so I’ll probably have to shave it periodically. I’m just so relieved to have this project finished.

Now I can focus on the test knit sock until my review yarn shows up. I’m still feeling like more of a monogamous knitter at the moment, no real urge to cast on something new. Which is even more surprising given that I went to a new LYS yesterday! It’s only been open about two weeks so they’re still building their inventory, which may be why the yarn wasn’t really calling to me. It’s a lovely store, full of squishy couches and beautiful furniture like sideboards and cabinets, so I’m confident it will grow up to be a favorite LYS for that area. It’s a little farther away for me so I won’t get there too often. Yesterday I left with only one skein.

Yep, it’s another skein of Manos del Uruguay Alegria in Locura Fluo! I was tempted to buy all three they had but restrained myself. I have no idea what this will be but it’s easily one of my favorite yarns so I’m delighted to have more. Plus I got a cute little pin to add to my collection!

Hope you all had a good weekend too, whether it was productive or lazy!

Coming out of hibernation

Apr2

Okay, so we met with the architect last night, and walked through the project with him and the contractor, and I’m not currently terrified. I’m a little bit excited even, though it is tempered by the worry of cost. We don’t have a bid yet; that will come after the architect takes all his measurements and draws up the plan. But I like both of them, and more importantly, I trust them to do a good and fair job. So, we’ll figure out the money part and the interrupted routines and all of that as it comes along, but right now, I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.

As I’ve worried about this the last couple of weeks, my knitting has taken a strange turn toward Finish-itis. I currently have only three projects on my needles. Even though I have lots of ideas percolating, I’m eager to finish some more WIPs first. In that spirit, I pulled out my oldest WIP over the weekend, my Playful Stripes blanket. This is where I was the last time I shared progress:

I cast on for this baby in September of 2015, and it’s gone in and out of hibernation a couple of times. This is the last time, I swear! I worked on it all of Sunday and thought I was almost two-thirds gone, which is good since I was low on the main color. I knit and knit and knit and realized I wasn’t really two-thirds through and I was going to run out of yarn. ARGH. That’s fine, it’s still available, I could get more. So I went as far as I could before setting it aside.

I was in the middle of the yellow stripe when I started this weekend. Pretty good, no? This is a beast of a blanket, so huge! (Jack included for scale.) I’m not sure why I’m so low on yarn since I had more than the recommended yardage for the larger size, but I also didn’t check gauge because hello, it’s a blanket? Big blankets are fine by me! I’ve ordered more of the blue and as soon as it arrives, this blanket will be my top priority.

Anyone else dealing with Finish-itis lately?

Review: Appalachian Baby Organic Cotton

Feb6

Last year I got to work with Appalachian Baby Design to review their Organic Cotton yarn, so when another opportunity arose, I accepted with pleasure. This time they offered a pattern as well, so I chose the Boho Baby Blanket, knowing I have a friend expecting a baby late this spring. I’m not usually a fan of knitting blankets, but I make an exception for new babies. They are totally knit-worth small humans, so they get blankets!

I could choose between pink and silver, and indigo and silver, and I chose indigo, thinking it might be the more versatile color. The yarn came beautifully packaged in a gauze bag, along with the pattern printed on sturdy cardstock. It would certainly make an attractive gift! The kit came with four skeins of indigo and two of silver, and one of my favorite things about this yarn is how easy it is to find the center-pull end! (It may not seem that important, but truly, it is.) The pattern was clear and well-written, and I quickly memorized the pattern repeats.

Though I’d originally planned to space out the knitting over two months, this soon became my nightly TV knitting project. I didn’t have to think about the pattern, and the yarn was soft in my hands, so it became kind of soothing. The yarn was rather splitty, but I find that to be true of most cotton yarns, so I could just roll with it.

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The yarn is a 4-ply sport weight, with 194 yards per ball, and I used almost all four indigo balls and about one and a half of the silver. My final product had the correct dimensions, but I only had 13 repeats of the pattern instead of the 17 that were written. Gauge, y’all. Thank goodness it doesn’t matter that much for a blanket!

My finished blanket went in the washer on cool and delicate, then in the dryer, and it came out even softer. I love using easy-care yarns for baby gifts! I also love using yarns without harsh dyes: Appalachian Baby uses a low-impact, earth-friendly dying process that I feel good about using for a baby.

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I just love the wavy chevron stitch! What a perfectly cozy blanket for a new baby boy, right? I probably should wait for a baby shower, but I wish I could give it to her now. If you need some soft cotton for a baby gift, be sure to check out the Appalachian Baby assortment!

Sending a special thank you to Stitchcraft Marketing and Appalachian Baby Design who sent me The Boho Baby Blanket Kit (retail: $73.00) for free. I received no other compensation for this review. All opinions and photos are my own.

A new blanket

Jan8

Along with all the smaller, quicker projects on my needles, I have one more ambitious project: a blanket. Now, it’s a baby blanket, so it’s smaller and hopefully quicker, but still, there’s a reason I don’t make very many blankets. (They take me forever because I get bored. Or I get bored because they take forever. Chicken or egg?) But this one is a review project, and a gift, so I have extra motivation to complete it. I’m making the Boho Baby Blanket by Appalachian Baby Design in Indigo and Silver. It has sixteen pattern repeats, so I did some math and determined that I just need to do two repeats per week to finish on time. And I am right on track!

I usually work on this on the weekend, so that I also have time for my selfish knitting, and I’ve memorized the pattern so that the knitting has sped up. It’s a pretty pattern, and I think the baby’s mom will appreciate it, but I don’t think blankets will ever be my favorite thing to knit!

Raishan Blanket

Aug6

Yesterday was rainy and cool, and I was able to spend it all indoors doing whatever I chose. And mostly I chose to knit and cuddle with puppers, especially Jack.

I watched Southside With You (good movie, man who played Barack was especially great) and The Green Mile (one of our favorites, but the boy watched it for the first time) and Supernatural (not my choice, the girl’s). By the end of day, I was weaving in ends!

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This project took a month and three days, but because I’m not a huge fan of making blankets, it felt like longer. Still, I’m delighted with the finished piece. The photos don’t show how neon-bright the green really is!

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Pattern is Raishan by Laura Cameron, and it was well-written, interesting, and fun to knit. Yarn is Knit Picks Swish Worsted Brights in Sour Apple. I used almost all of seven skeins after making some modifications to the pattern. You can see my Rav page here.

And now, because this is for one twin, I need to knit another baby blanket. I’m doing the same yarn in Razzleberry, a bright blue, but a different pattern. This time I’m doing a garter rib blanket, something simple enough I can take to work for lunch-time knitting, and maybe it will go faster. A girl can dream, right?

Today, the girl is at work and the boys are off getting haircuts, so I have a rare morning with the house to myself. I’m off to knit in peace and quiet!