Saturday, March 14, 2009

Log Cabins Aren't Built in a Day, You Know...

So I'm still plugging away on my Log Cabin Blanket (instructions from Mason-Dixon Knitting),



but I think I'm going to take a break from that one for a while to work on a few other things I've got going. As you can see, I suddenly started making the blocks narrower. That started with the sort of light olive there, where I was running out of yarn. I decided to go ahead and do the same narrower width for the next three blocks so that it is that way all the way around the square, then go back to the wider blocks and skip that color next time around, since I'm trying to avoid buying any new yarn for this project. It's currently about 2'x3' so about half the size I'd like it to be when finished.

I recently cast on for a pinwheel baby blanket by Genia Planck found here: http://www.knitlist.com/00gift/round-baby-blanket.htm and am making decent progress on it. The yarn itself called for a size 10 needle, but that seemed way too holey, so I am using size 8s and love the gauge I'm getting. A co-worker and his wife are having their first baby, and I thought it'd be a cute gift. Right now it just looks like a hat (kinda like that "artful elegance" (lion brand) blanket I made my friend Christina for her wedding gift last year). You start out with just 5 stitches on dpns, then increase every other row. Here's where I am so far with this one:


It's like a cute little beret, no?

And this pic shows the massive skein of yarn I got at Joanns. It's super soft, and perfect for babies...


I went to knit with some folks last Sunday, and came home with the knitpicks harmony options set. I got it for less than they are selling it online since she's used it a few times. She's a lefty and knits kind of strangely, and the way she knits kept unscrewing her needle tips. Other folks I know that have the same set don't have that problem, and they're all righties, so we're pretty sure it came from her "leftist" knitting methods. I also saw someone knitting a sock from the Patons Stretch Sock yarn, in the same colorway that I had bought and never used, Plum, and it looked so nice and springy that I came home and cast on a sock using a pattern written for the yarn from the Patons website. I am loving it so far, but am still early on...

So that's where I am craft-wise, at the moment. I'm trying to branch out a bit, and am also planning to cast on soon for the Lion Brand Weekend Retreat Cardi that was just featured in the Lion Brand Newsletter. I downloaded the pattern already, and just need to get some good cotton yarn for it. It calls for their recycled cotton yarn, so I'll check that out and if I don't like any of the colors I may go to Bernat Cottontots, which I really like.
That's all for now... guess that's enough to have going at once, don't you think?

Monday, March 2, 2009

Care for a Jelly Baby?

Received an awesome gifty from my friend Amber "the Crochet Fiend" (aka hp5freak on LJ) today in the mail! Totally made my day as I have been sick, headachey, and generally cranky. Amber totally rocks the crochet world and makes the most awesome Harry Potter themed blankets (and yes she does occasionally take commissions, within reason people). She had a little contest on her blog which I won and I couldn't think of a favorite HP quote, but I did think of a few Classic and New Dr Who references of which I'm fond, so I sent her those and let her pick. (She has also done Twilight-themed items as well as awesome commission blankets not related to any of those three fandoms).

Amber does amazing awesome work and I salute her. Here's the awesome blankie I received today...


Amber's Awesome!!!!

About Me

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
This is my place to talk about crafting, what I make, and maybe even why I make it.