More like guidelines, really.

I’ve given up on writing the pattern (in the traditional sense) for the baby blanket that I designed. Instead, I've got some guidelines:
NOTE: What follows are the guidelines for how I made THIS blanket. Underneath I've written other guidelines should I do it again. You might want to check those before you cast on.

Cast on 102 stitches using the provisional method. (Even though the pattern calls for multiples of 4, plus 1. I added an extra stitch so that I could slip one on each side to make it easier to picking up stitches along the edge later.)
Knit using the center pattern Heatherbee's Honeycomb pattern for a lot of rows (probably 200).
Pick up stitches around the blanket such that you end up with 101 stitches on each side.
Knit 40 rounds, at the edges yo, knit, yo.
Ending with 181 stitches on each side. Don’t end at a corner. I ended 72 stitches in from the corner.

Cast on 17 stitches using the provisional method on a different needle. Knit the edging perpendicular to the blanket. For every one stitch on the blanket edge knit two rows of the edging.

WARNING THE FOLLOWING HAS NOT BEEN TESTED SINCE I WROTE IT OUT SO PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

The edging (based on No. 3. For Grace McGregor):
1 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
2 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
3 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 2
4 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
5 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k4, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 3
6 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
7 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 4
8 :bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
9 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k6, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
10:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
11:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k2
12:sl 1, p7, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
13:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k 3
14:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
15:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 4
16:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
17:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k4, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
18:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
19:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k6, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 2
20:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
21:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 12, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k3
22:sl1, p8, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
23:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 13, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k4
24:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
25:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 14, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
26:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
27:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 11, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k2
28:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
29:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 10, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k3
30:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
31:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 9, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k4
32:bind off 4, p 6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
33:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k8, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
34:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
35:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k7, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k2
36:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
37:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 8, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
38:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
39:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 9, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, k, yo, ssk, yo, k4
40:bind off 4, p 6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
41:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 10, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k1
42:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
43:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 11, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
44:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
45:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k13, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
46:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
47:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k12, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
48:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
49:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k11, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k
50:sl1, p6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
51:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k5, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
52:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
53:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
54:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
55:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
56:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
57:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k
58:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
59:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2to,yo, k2
60:sl1, p7, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
61:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 5, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
62:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
63:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 4, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
64:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
65:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k
66:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
67:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
68:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
69:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
70:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
71:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
72:bind off 4, p6,k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket

Except for the corners. I created a corner pattern to fit in with the edging.

SAME WARNING AS ABOVE.

The Corner pattern (based on No. 3. For Grace McGregor):
1 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
2 :sl 1, p 13, w/t, (you should have 3 sts on the right needle)
3 :sl 1, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
4 :sl1, p 15, w/t, (4 sts left on needle)
5 :sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k3
6 :sl 1, p 16, w/t
7 :sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k4
8 :bind off 4, k 14, w/t
9 :sl 1, p 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
10:sl1, p 13, w/t
11:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
12:sl 1, p 15, w/t
13:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k3
14:sl 1, p 16, w/t
15:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, yo, k, yo, k4
16:bind off 4, p 6, k, p 6 w/t
17:sl 1, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
18:sl1, p 13, w/t
19:sl1, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
20:sl1, p 16, pick up wrap and knit,
21:k, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
22:sl 1, p 16, pick up and knit,
23:k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
24:bind off 4, p 6, k, p 6, pick up and knit,
25:k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k,
26:sl1, p 13, pickup and k,
27:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
28:sl1, p 15, pick up and knit,
29:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
30:sl1, p 16, pickup and knit
31:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
32:bind off 4, p 13, pick up and knit
33:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k1
34:sl1, p 14, pick up and knit
35:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
36:sl1, p 15, pick up and knit,
37:yo, k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
38:sl1, p 17, yo, k2tog, k into blanket edge stitch,
39:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo,k4
40:bind off 4, p 5, k, p 7, yo, k2tog, purl into blanket

When I got back to where I started on the edging, I grafted the two ends together.

Then wash,

I like to use Soak, but any no rinse wool-wash will do.

block,

I got to use my blocking wires!

and take an artistic picture BEFORE you give it away. (It's really easy to forget the last part.)

I remembered to take this picture 15 minutes before I was supposed to give it away.

If I were to make this blanket again, I’d make the center square smaller and the stockinette part larger. I’d cast on 82 (20 repeats, plus 1, with an extra so that you can slip a stitch on each edge).
Knit the heatherbee’s honeycomb pattern for 160 rows.
Pick up 81 stitches per side, (a total of 324).
Increase using yo, k, yo on each corner until I got 181, 50 rounds, and do the edging pattern again.

I may eventually come up with charts. I've got them written out, but I haven't found the right charting program yet. If/when I should do so, then I'll think of a name for the pattern. For now it will just be "The baby blanket I designed."

I have decided to call the style: Modern Vintage. It is a style I'm interested in pursuing.

The Age of Brass and Steam

I love this pattern.

 There are different kinds of knitters. There those are who knit to meditate, those who knit for the end product, and those who knit to learn a new process. There may be other types out there, but these are enough for our purposes. I'm a process knitter. I look at some knitting pattern and think “I want to make that.” The product knitters think “I want to have that.” I want to learn a new trick or technique with each new project. But I have found a pattern that I'm willing to make more than once. It’s The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief.

I was going on a trip and needed something simple to knit while talking to people. I ran across this pattern and thought it would suit my hand painted yarn. Trip knitting found. I cast on while on the flight there and bound off a few days later. It was as close to instant gratification as you get with knitting, not counting baby booties. So when, on a Tuesday, I realized I didn’t have a Mother’s day gift for that Sunday I bought pretty green skein of yarn and cast on. It was done and blocked by Saturday, but I’d blocked it crooked. So I reblocked it, and still had it done in time for Mother’s day.

It's fast, easy, but not boring. Perfect!

I’ve not blocked the hand painted one, yet. I’ve a while before I’ll see the friend for whom it’s intended. But, once I’ve given it away, I’ll be sure to post pictures.

I may end up knitting a bunch more of these. I’m so confused; I never want to make the same thing twice. Heck, I'm no stranger to the dreaded second sock syndrome (takes a week to make the first sock, takes a year to make the second, or maybe it never gets made). And now I’ve made two of these shawlettes and want to cast on another.

I think I have a bronze or silver colored yarn that would really bring out the steam punk inherent in the design. To the stash!

Needle exchange

I broke a circular needle. I broke it while working on the baby blanket in the car on the way to visit my Grandmother in Houston. I was upset, not surprised; it’s the third (THIRD!) needle to break while working on this blanket. All of them were Addi turbos, and all of them were bought at the same store*. I think there was a bad batch. All the other Addis I’ve owned have stood up to the intense strain I put on needles. (Although, I must confess I knit so tightly I’ve been known to break yarn, so breaking needles is not impossible in my world.) Fortunately, this needle broke just a few miles away from my Grandmother’s house. I’d have been livid if I still had most of the four hour trip ahead of me.

I am under a self imposed deadline to get the blanket done by April 7th, and I was just starting the edging. I needed a needle the very next day if I was going to get enough knitting done that weekend. So, I looked up the nearest yarn store and decided I’d drag DH and Grandmother there with me the next day. The nearest I found (which wasn’t actually close to my Grandmother’s, but there don’t seem to be any yarn stores on her side of Houston) was Knitting in the Loop. And, although I didn’t know it, I was in for a treat.

It's in a cute little house.

When you enter the shop, on your left is a spot to sit and knit.

It is also a good place to have your Grandmother wait for you to finish exploring.

I saw from their website they hold some exciting classes. There was a tatting class being held when we got there. I wish I'd had the chance to take it. I also saw that they were going to have a dye workshop later in the month.

I love all the different possibilities from the washcloth class.

The house is filled with yarn and yarn lovers.

The wall of needles was extensive and wrapped around into another room.

The knitting books took up a rather long hallway.

I want them all.

Sock yarn!

I loved the use of furniture to hold and display yarn.

The dark wood is a great foil for the colors.

And the funky metal sculptures elevate the yarn on display from decoration to art.

While the amount of yarn, books, and design that went into this store was stunning, even more impressive was the knowledge of the ladies who worked there. They were all amazingly friendly, and the time that they were willing to spend talking through your issues was phenomenal. Sandy spent at least half an hour with me talking over the merits of different corners. And then when I presented my needle killing blanket, she asked, “Honey, why are you so stressed?!”

She was fun, witty, and genuinely interested in getting to the cause of my tight knitting. She diagnosed me as an overachiever and said, “After this blanket, you’ve got to loosen up. Pull on each stitch to give it some room, and then they will slide better. It might make you slower, but the knitting will slide easier, and you won’t end up breaking needles.”

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to relax the death grip in which I hold my needles, but I'm still thinking about Sandy’s advice. Once done with the blanket, I’ll try to loosen up. I’m contemplating knitting a hat in continental.

Next time: Another yarn store, this time in Nevada!

*My LYS let me exchange the broken ones for new ones, but I was halfway across Houston with half a circular needle.

Turning a corner

The finished swatch of the lace edging.

I think it turned out well.

I went with the stockinette rather than the original garter. The garter hid the pattern too much. I had to redo the chart a third time; there was a mistake I didn’t catch until I got to the tenth row.

Five repeats of the lace edging per side should add enough lace, without overdoing it. The math is easy enough: 72 rows per repeat divided by 2 (you only attach the edging every other row for it to lay flat), multiplied by 5 repeats equals 180 stitches per side. But then there are the corners. I’ve never turned a corner in knitting before, and designing my own was quite a challenge.

I know of two ways to turn a knitted corner*, easing the boarder** or a short row turn***. The math required to figure out how to ease the pattern worried me. But you only need one extra stitch for a short row corner. I liked that math.

So, I picked up 101 stitches per side around the blanket. I had to fudge a bit, but not much. Then I knit around, and around, and around, yarning over twice per corner until I had 181 stitches per side. Easy, and rather repetitive. Designing the lace corners were neither. Getting your knitting to turn 90 degrees, while keeping the style of the edge, is not the easiest thing in the world.

Working on both projects kept me from going crazy from either. When the lace became too much, I switched to the relaxing stockinette. When the stockinette became too mindless, I worked on getting the corner right (pun intended). I tried out four different corner swatches and charted out at least five other possible corners.

This is the whole lace edging swatch with the four different attempts at a corner.

I finally decided on this one.

It's the closest to the image I had in my head.

I’ve finished the center stockinette, and started the boarder. I'll post pictures of the whole thing once it is done, and given away.

Next time: There is a fabulous LYS in Houston.

*I’m sure there are more.
**When you ease a boarder, instead of picking up a stitch on the center every other row, you pick up the same stitch three times on one side of the corner, four times in the middle, and three times on the other side. Or at least I think that’s how you do it.
*** When working short rows you knit a row and turn before you get to the end. Then you knit back and forth in the center, eventually going back to knitting the whole row. You end up with a section of knitting that has more knitting in the center than at the edges. This can be used for toes and heals in socks, and also for including more space in sweaters for bustier ladies. Here’s a better explanation of short rows by Cat Bordhi.

Uncharted Mess

When last we left our intrepid knitter she was contemplating charts and lace edging. Specifically the No. 3 For Grace McGregor lace edging. From what she could make out peering at the little bitty black and white photo, she thought that it might be the edging she was looking for. There were triangles at the edge and squares in the middle and a zigzag line in between that, should everything else fall into place, it would bring the whole baby blanket together.

… Okay, enough of the third person.

I’d gotten a few lace edge patterns under my belt, so I thought I’d try charting out a really old one and maybe make it better.

Knitted Laces by Lillius Hilt (Needlecraft Vol. XI, No. 1) No. 3 for Grace McGregor if you would like to print out one of your own.

You’ll notice that this is a 72 row repeat. I wasn’t really thinking about that when I started charting it. I figured that out when I had to use three sheets of paper to get it charted.

My first attempt. I included all the knit stitches as lines instead of just leaving them blank.

Something is not right. There are extra stitches at the end that don't match up.

I figured it out when I re-charted it without the lines for knits.

You can see the pattern easier once you strip out the extra stuff.

Once I’d done that, I realized that in the pattern they’d missed a bit. They'd forgotten to include a line of yarn-overs, starting at row 65, and that’s why the stitch count was off.

No extra stitches in boxes.

I haven’t actually test knit the edge because I think it’s going to eat a bunch of yarn. I think I want to do it in stockinette rather than the original garter. I’m fairly sure that it’s the pattern I want to use, but I need to get from 406 stitches (I think, I haven’t picked them up yet) to a multiple of 72 (plus a few extra rows so that the corners lay flat). And I need the repeats to be even around the blanket, and for the corners to turn right… And it is at this point my head explodes and I want to run to the nearest knitting design guru and throw myself on their mercy to please come up with a pattern for me.

So instead of joining an ashram in search of said guru, I took my knitting with me to my parents' place for dinner. While telling my Mom about my current project, she suggested that three colors with three different lace patterns might just be a tad busy.
She asked, "How about doing the middle bit plain?"
I said, "Stockinette? That's easy, and I can increase until I get to the correct number of stitches for the lace edging I want to do? Brilliant!"  (Thanks Mom!)

So that's what I'm doing. I still haven't decided if I'm going to be doing the pattern garter or stockinette edging, but for now I'm going to work on the bit in the middle and let my brain rest.

Living on the edge

When I first started this baby blanket journey, I went searching for lace centers. I came across quite a few edgings that I thought were pretty but I was focused on the center. Now that I’ve found the center and finished it, I’ve been indulging in lace edgings. This is putting the cart before the horse because I want to do a bit in between the center and the edge, but I figured that I’d need to know how many stitches to end the middle bit on.

So I scoured the internet for lace edgings, and boy did I find them. I was drawn to the older patterns. I wanted the traditional look of lace in the nontraditional color I’d picked. I found a great collection in the knitting section of the Antique Pattern Library. I spent quite a while reading old patterns but the Knitted Laces by Lillius Hilt (Needlecraft Vol. XI, No. 1) caught my eye. And of those No. 3 for Grace McGregor, seemed like what I was looking for. But I decided to try out other ones first.

First I tried out the English Wide Lace:

Garter on the left, stockinette on the right.

I did it in both garter stitch and stockinette and adding three garter stitches at the end. The end garter stitches didn’t work out, but I think that the stockinette showed the lace off better.

Then I decided to string all the different possible edgings together.

From right to left: Perfection Leaf Lace, Betsy’s Rose Leaf Lace, Grandmother’s Edging and the last three are variations of Rule 58

I found Rule 58 Lace Edging in Trimmings: A Sample from Piecework on the KnittingDaily site. It wasn’t written out using modern terms. There was "n" for narrow, instead of "k2tog" for knit two together. So, I decided I’d try my hand at interpreting and charting. This was my first foray into creating my own charts.  I may have gone a bit mad, but hey, we're all mad here. Since the style was old, I charted Rule 58 out first including the knit stitches:

The knit stitches are the 'l's.

But I couldn’t see the design very well so I took them out.

So much easier to see the pattern.

I had already played with the Grandmother’s trimming, and liked the way it looked. So I changed the over all pattern from garter stitch to stockinette - that way the design is easier to see.

Stockinette on right, garter on left.

It was nice but there was something missing, so I went back to my inspiration boards. I remembered that No. 3 for Grace McGregor was an edging I’d been interested in. And then the charting exploded.

Next time: So many different charts your head will spin - mine did.

Center found!

I’ve found my center. 

Well, I’ve found the center of the baby blanket. My center requires way more yoga.

It went from being this big about two weeks ago.

To this big, now.

The center is done. The stitch pattern is Heatherbee’s Honeycomb.

Next time: Lace edgings and very old patterns.

Looking for a balanced center.

I’ve been making swatches*. A lot of them. I originally pulled nine different stitch patterns as options for the center of the baby blanket. I just finished my twelfth.

I got a picture of these on the one day it was sunny this week. Pretty, right?

I’m searching for a balance. Balance between how it feels to knit and how it looks, between interesting to knit and not too intricate, between cozy and cool enough for Texas. That's why I've done twelve swatches, but still haven't settled on the right one yet.

Interesting, but it might be a bit much.

Pretty, but the slip stitches would drive me up the wall.

While I was looking up stitch patterns, I came across the KBTH Online Symposium Lace Extravaganza** that suggested one could knit the edging first then decrease to the center. It blew my mind. I’ve been pondering the merits of doing the edging first, and then the center. But I haven’t dug any further since I've a slightly sneaky idea niggling at the back of my head. What if I combine all the swatches and make a lace sampler baby blanket?

I'd need more, but not much.

Since I've finished the first twelve swatches, I’m going to get back to my shawl and let the ideas percolate in my subconscious. By the time I finish another pattern repeat on the shawl, I should have a better idea of what I want to do with the baby blanket. I hope.

This will be huge.

*Knitting up a swatch is what the perfect knitter is supposed to do before a project (not counting scarves). The swatch is a little bit of fabric that tells the perfect knitter if their gauge is correct, if they are using the right needles for the yarn, and if the yarn works with the pattern. That way they don’t end up with a sweater in a yarn that pills and is three sizes too big.
I don't know any perfect knitters. In the real world no knitter I know, myself included, actually wants to do a swatch. Most would prefer to jump right into the pattern, and think of swatching as “that thing I really should have done before I started this #$@%$#@# thing” as they pull out half of a sweater that’s three sizes too big. There are those who do swatch, but most have picked up this habit after ripping out a few too many sweaters.
**It seems to be from 2005 or 2006. I love the internet.

February Resolutions

I’ve been a bit off lately. Not down, just a bit off. There are different possible causes for this feeling. I’ve recently developed a taste for coffee and, since we acquired a single serve coffeemaker, I’ve begun to indulge my taste by having a cup in the morning. It’s not a lot of caffeine, but I’m instantly awake rather than slowly waking up over a cup of tea. Another possible cause is not going to the gym as often as I should. There are a whole bunch of excuses I could site here, but they aren’t important. I’ve not been in over a week, and haven’t even done any yoga since last Tuesday. Add a few parties, and too much rich food, and I guess it makes sense that I’m a bit off.

To fix this feeling, I’m going to start going to the gym every day after work, except Tuesdays when I’ll be doing yoga. I'll actually do some cardio. (I haven’t done cardio in months.) That should work for the body part. For the mental part I’m going to bring the spinning wheel back into the living room and spin at least once a week. I’ll do go to yoga class once or twice a week. And I’ll continue to focus on my shawl, as well as designing the baby blanket.

Cunning hats.

Remember those Jayne hats I mentioned? Well, here they are minus pompoms.

They'd be more cunning if they had pompoms.

Should I ever decide to make a Jayne hat for myself this is absolutely the yarn I’m going to use for it.  (Lamb's Pride bulky in Autumn Harvest, Sunburst Gold and Rust.) It’s a perfect match, and it feels so much better than the acrylic* I used to make DH’s hat. Here’s a picture of his for comparison.

I'd make mine with a bigger pompom.

I made his in October of 2008. I really should get around to making one for myself.

If you are wondering what I'm talking about, check out this Firefly clip. And then go and watch the rest of the series. You're welcome.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. I’ve joined pinterest, and it’s proceeded to eat my brain.

*As long as you aren’t allergic to wool.

Next time: Getting back to my wheel, if my shoulder will allow.

Baby blanket pictures.

I know I promised the necklace pattern, but I needed to share this first. This past weekend I went to L's baby shower. So, now I can show you the pictures of the baby blanket I went on and on about before Christmas.

I wish you could feel how soft it is.

The pattern is Michelle's Baby Blanket. I used Berroco Vintage DK. I was really worried you wouldn't be able to tell that the fleur de lis were fleur de lis, but it blocked out beautifully. It is supposed to be washable*, so I didn't think it would block, but it worked.

See? It's a seed stitch fleur de lis.

I started this blanket August 15th, and finished it December 11th. And, now I'm off to finish cleaning up the necklace pattern from Christmas.


*I'm not going to give soon to be new parents anything that they have to hand wash.

So many dishcloths... ahhhhhhh!

Way back in early September I mentioned I had a few projects to finish before I started Christmas knitting. This one turned into a Christmas gift because it took me so long.

They are Susi's Reading Mitts. I've made them before, but since then they've taken the pattern down, so I did some of it by memory and some of it by guessing. I didn't use the right yarn, and though I thought I'd gotten gauge, I hadn't. For these many reasons I got this far before I realized that they were too small.

Too small. Ouch.

I ripped them out, had a mourning period of about a month, and then started over. I'm going to claim having to start over as the reason why I didn't start on Christmas knitting early enough. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So my Christmas knitting became Christmas crochet. And since I'd learned to make soap the easy way, I thought I'd make dishcloths to go with a bar or two of soap.  Fabulous gift idea, I know.

I used the nubbie scrubbie pattern for the most part.

I made a LOT of them. I think I can make that pattern in my sleep now.

I tried out the Interweave pattern, but I didn't like it as much. They were pretty, but weren't as scrubbie, and took more concentration.

I got tired of those so I tried out the Scrubbie Dots pattern. Lots of ends, I chose poorly on the colors, not my favorite pattern.

 After being thoroughly sick of making dishcloths I decided to make a hotpad for my MIL.

It turned out okay. I think if I'd reversed the colors it would have been better.

But the cool stuff happened when I threw out the patterns.

Next time: The necklace pattern I promised you a while ago, and pictures.