Hemlock Ring Blanket

Friday night I finally got around to blocking the Hemlock Ring Blanket that was finished about a month ago.

I'm sooooo happy with the result! I was worried before blocking that it wouldn't come out looking good. But my worries were for nothing.

I love it so much that I want to keep it. I think it will be great draped over the side of a crib, or tucked around a baby in a stroller. The Cascade 220 superwash is soft and not scratchy--great for keeping a baby warm.

And the edging--totally worth the work! I did the edging that's called for in the initial pattern.

I will definitely be making more of these gorgeous blankets.

Buncha Squares Blanket

Last month, I finished the Bunch Squares Blanket.

For now, anyways. The blanket has gotten lots of use already, and we've come to realize that it would be awesome if it was bigger. Sometime in the vague future, I want to go back and add maybe 6 inches to the top and bottom, and 4 inches to the sides of garter or something. I don't know what yet.

Sock Challenge Update

I finished my second pair of sock challenge socks yesterday. Meet Kai-Mei.

The yarn is Madelinetosh Sock in the color Moreland. I worked these socks on US 1 1/2 (2.5mm).

The 3x3 ribbing on the cuff was fairly boring, and definitely slowed down the progress on these socks, but once I got to the foot my interest picked up and I was able to finish them with fairly good time.

I like that they're mirror images of each other. And I love the saturated color of the yarn.

I also finally got around to taking some FO pics of my first challenge socks, Angee.

I like these ones a lot. More than Kai-Mei, I think.

I'm sad to report that my work blocked Flickr as a social networking site (really??). This limits my ability post interesting posts from work and also diminishes the pleasure I used to get from reading my Bloglines at 3am. Boo!

That went fairly quickly

I made my second visit to East Side Stitchers tonight and finished up the first Angee sock. I was hesitant to go to the sit n knit group because I really don't like getting together with a bunch of strangers. I almost turned around in the parking lot, but the thought of wasting gas forced me inside. And I'm glad I went. I didn't speak very much, but it was nice to sit with a large group and knit.

Once I memorized the lace pattern, the knitting went very quickly. The second sock should be even faster (since I already know the pattern). These iphone pics really don't do the beauty of the color justice. It's such a pleasing teal-y color. The pattern forms a faux-cable braid.

I'm *this* close to being done with the Buncha Squares blanket. I need to weave in ends on 2 more squares (each square has ~16 ends) then I need to sew the squares together. The pattern recipe calls for whip stitch. In my mind, whip stitch doesn't hold as much esteem as matress stitch, but it sure is faster to do, so I'm tempted to use it. I'm also contemplating crocheting them together, but I don't think I'll go this way.

First Challenge Socks

I've chosen the Angee pattern for my first pair of Sock Challenge socks. This pair is relatively simple-looking, compared the other patterns in the book, and I think it will be a good one to ease me into knitting all of the socks in this book.

Like I mentioned last time, I'm using some Dream in Color Smooshy that jumped out to me from the stash. The color is Blue Lagoon and it's a brilliant slightly variegated teal-y blue color. This yarn lives up to it's name--it is indeed smooshy. :) I've used it a few times before (these socks, this shawlette), but I'd forgotten what a pleasure it is to use. I've done a good amount of knitting since the above picture was taken and so far so good!

NOTE: There are some errata in the book. The errata page from Interweave has one of the errata published, but the other is not. The K2tog in the second round of the leg chart should be an SSK.

In other knitting news, I was called last night to share the knitting gospel. To act as a knitevangelist, if you will.



I taught Tamiko to knit! She's well on her way to having a hand-knit dish cloth. :)

Socks in progress...and a personal challenge

So, blogging from work again. Let me just take a second to say that I'm loving the flickr iphone app! So easy to use! In less than a minute I've taken a picture of my project and uploaded to the site. :) Let me also say that I'm impressed with the iphone's camera. Even in low light, the resolution and color of this picture is great.

That's my current sock project, some basic improvised socks. I love the color pattern of the yarn. The way the aqua stands out from the dull browns, greens and grays. I've known all along I would keep these socks for myself (a rare occurance). Think of the blue bits as robin eggs sitting in a nest made out of twigs and leaves (the grey/brown/green parts)--how could I not keep them for myself! The cuff is 2x2 ribbing, the leg has a small ribbing detail which continues along the sides of the foot

And the heel is a basic slipped stitch heel but with the yarn held in front for the slipped stitches. I like the little bars created by using this stitch pattern. :)

These socks are almost done (if I get to more knitting and less blogging, they might actually be done tonight!) and I've decided to give myself a sock-knitting challenge: Knit every* pattern in Cookie A.'s book, Sock Innovation, and use only stash yarn to do it! I've wound of a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy and will start the first pair as soon as the stripey socks are done.

*I made the Eunice socks last year. I may or may not make them again. As of now, this pattern is exempt from the challenge.

First FO of 2010!

A dear friend had a birthday at the beginning of the month and that meant it was time for a hand made gift. I dug into the stash for my Lamb's Pride Worsted in a lovely purple color and zipped through the spiral rib wristwarmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (one of my favorite books). Inspired by these hats, I made a companion for the mitts.

I decided to reverse the rib on the mitts so it spiraled in opposite directions. Not necessary, but I like the symmetrical matchiness of having the each hand's mitt either spiral to the midline or away from it.

I also made a grocery tote using this great tutorial over at Sew Mama Sew. I'd planned on using some lovely floral decor-weight cotton, but this print seemed oh-so appropriate, and it was half the price of the prettier stuff.

I omitted the pocket from the tutorial and there was ample fabric left over to whip up a lunch bag for Raj. I used the same basic directions as the original, just different proportions. I wanted the base to be big enough to fit all the different containers I use to pack his food, so it's something like 6"x7", and 8" tall.

He said his colleagues were amused and impressed by my handiwork. Hehe.

And for your amusement, Butters wrapped up as a gift: