Baby Blanket for Lil' Pup

Friends of ours were expecting a very welcome baby whom they nicknamed "lil' pup" due to their respective love of otters and wolves. So my partner picked out an unusual colorway for a baby blanket to look more like an island surrounded by water.

Yarn: Cotton Kings Sultan Deluxe in 17 Mojave Azurite

Yarn Supplier: Hobbii Yarns

Pattern: Tusindfryd Baby Blanket by Sys Fredens

I hadn't been able to find good photos of this pattern laid out flat (potentially a red flag in a pattern) but by reading through the pattern it seemed like it should work. The result at least in my gauge, which tends to be relatively short, wide stiches, were these graceful curving lines of the eyelets, which you just needed to organically spiral out from the center to let the edges lie as expected. I was actually very charmed.

WIP: Mitered Sock Yarn Blanker

I have been reorganizing my craftroom and in the process ran across this long hibernating WIP. I was so excited to see it! I have lots more sock yarn scraps odds and ends to add to it, and quickly added a few more rows.

 Mitered squares are just so deeply satisfying to knit.

It is also very popular with the cat, who seems to know as soon as it has been laid out that it is available for his enjoyment.

Trio Blanket

I cast on this project in January 2020 and finished it up in Nov 2022. Turns out over 3000 yards of fingering weight yarn take a really long time to turn into a blanket if you don't work on it regularly. This was a pattern I had been wanting to make since I had first seen it though, and it is absolutely in my preferred colors.

Pattern: Trio Blanket by Susan Carlson

Yarn: Sheepjes Whirl in Blackberry Mint Chip, Green Tea Tipple, and Peppermint Patty Cake & Queensland Collection Dungarees Fine in Chrysocolla

Yarn Suppliers: Webs & Mind's Eye Yarns

Hook: C / 2.75mm

After knitting the pattern as written, I did a couple of rounds around the outside with the leftover colors I had and a little Queensland Collection Dungarees Fine to give it a more finished look and tuck in the carried yarns on the edge.

Annie at Mind's Eye Yarns had suggested the Queensland Collection Dungarees Fine, and I will absolutely be making more with it. I love that it is a recycled fiber yarn (from jeans!) and it has a great linen-like feel.

FO: Honey Bee Blanket

When I first saw the Honey Bee Blanket pattern, I thought it was so cute that I really wanted to make it, despite not having a clear plan on who I would give it to. The recommended yarn was new to me, but the soft cotton blend seems like it will wash really well and be great for little ones and/or messy lives.

Pattern: Honey Bee Blanket by Gaynor Edwards

Yarn: Scheepjes Stone Washed

Seriously, look how cute this detail is?

I was glad to have been this one, but the comments I had read were NOT kidding about the completely unreasonable amount of weaving in of ends. That last part was a slog, but I am still happy to have made it. No need to do a second though.

From the comments on Ravelry, I was also aware that there were some errors in the original pattern. At this point, errata are up, but I did not have any significant trouble in fudging/figuring things out based on what made sense.

My only major complaint about the pattern is that because it is so open ended about the mixed color blocks, I was not sure about exactly how much I would need. I just went with the recommended amounts, but still have a bunch of leftovers.

Trio Blanket

A while back, I had started a trio blanket with 3 skeins of Scheepjes Whirl, and I can see why people find this yarn so addictive. The very slow color transitions are meditative with pleasant milestones every time you reach a "fuzzbuzz."

 

Minerology Part 4

Compared with Minerology Part 3, Part 4 took forever! The motifs in the corners were fine, but between the winter holidays, the end of the quarter and starting back up at work after the New Year, I found it really challenging to sit down with enough concentration to assemble the corners. Once that was done though, it was smooth sailing.

 I am still loving all of the detail and texture of this project. And in the next part there are elephants!

Minerology Part 3

Part 3 of the D'Histoire Naturelle has been a delight. I am looking forward to the next set of instructions.

While Parts 1&2 had those wonderful bee and butterfly details, Part 3 is all about the leaf detail for me.

I am not the only one in my house obsessed with the Scheepjes CAL.

 Both with this this year's D'Histoire Naturelle and last year's Rozeta, I have struggled with cat-thievery. All of which is very strange, since normally Boris is not that interested in random balls of yarn. When it comes to Scheepjes though, he is constantly trying to walk off with my balls of yarn to bite and bunny kick. Not even my loose ends on the project are safe, as he will try to chew on them if not watched. Strange!

FO: Almost Twilight Rozeta

In my excitement about starting the 2020 Scheepjes CAL, I realized that I had never posted pictures of the finished 2019 Scheepjes CAL: Rozeta. Oops!

I had loved the Twilight colorway, but this kit was sold out everywhere by the time I went to go purchase it. Fortunately Webs had all the "stained glass" colors, so found a good color match for the base color in the Valley Yarns Huntington line, to make sure the that the fiber match was good. Note: these yarns have a fairly different construction and a slight weight difference. It wasn't a perfect match but it worked for my purposes.

This was a really challenging and enjoyable project, and I was sort of sad to see it end. I had never worked with Our Tribe before, but it is delightful. Highly recommended! It is soft and the color graduations are subtle and mesmerizing to work with. It was pleasant to crochet, although it has a slight fuzz that can be challenging to rip out work if you are impatient. I can't say that I minded it though.

Pattern: Rozeta (2019 Scheepjes CAL)

Yarn: Scheepjes Our Tribe and Valley Yarns Huntington

Yarn Supplier: Webs

Hook: 3.75 mm (F)

Minerology Part 1 & 2

I have been so excited to be working on the 2020 Scheepjes CAL: D'Histoire Naturelle that I finished Part 2 only a few days after it came out. Fortunately the 2 weeks until 

I am loving the bee and butterfly details here.

I am working in a Minerology Stone Washed and River Washed kit. In Row 37a I grabbed a different color for the butterfly wings, but just rolled with it. All and all, it has been a delight, and I am looking forward to the next set of instructions being released.

Almost Twilight Rozeta

A friend was planning to do the Scheepjes Rozeta CAL and got me all excited about it as well. Next thing you know, I made a trip to Webs and swatched. The Our Tribe Twilight kits were already sold out, but I was able to get the colors other than Color A (Iris Garden) as individual balls of yarn.

Instead of the Color A in Our Tribe. I picked up some Valley Yarn Huntington in Navy, to provide a similar color and weight, although the texture isn't quite the same.

Rozeta: 1 row short of week 5 completion

The instructions for Week 6 are out, so I have a plan for the rest of my lazy Sunday. So far I am having a lot of fun, and I am already thinking of a second one.

Temperature blanket - July 2018 edition

I have a friend who has been desperately waiting for red to show up more. Red represents an average daily temperture in the 80s *F. Well July 2018 was that time!

2018 temperature blanket - Christmas edition

The temperature blanket for 2018 is fairly large and awkward to travel with at this point. Clearly that hasn't stopped me though.

On the plus side it does keep my lap warm.

Still it was good to make some progress, and I had some fantastic kitty help.

June Progress - Temperature Blanket 2018

The combination of the warmer temperatures in June and the size of the almost half finished blanket stalled the progress on my temperature blanket.

June:

January to June:

With the holiday downtime and cooler temperatures though, I have been making good progress recently though.

May Progress - Temperature Blanket 2018

As mentioned in the April update, May saw the first orange, which represents an average temperature in the 70s Fahrenheit.

I have to say that May looks decidedly 70s living room to me.

And a progress-to-date picture is clearly necessary to how how things are shifting.

March Progress - Temperature Blanket 2018

March progress is looking more steady temperature-wise than February or January.

So year to date, it is looking like this:

Moving right along though.

2018 Temperature Blanket - January Progress

The last few years there has been a movement each January where there is a rush of people making temperature blankets. The idea is simple: do a row for each day representing the day's temperature. With a little math

Here is January:

Looking around the internet, there are a lot variations, both knit and crocheted. With the yarn I had selected though, I ended up going with a simple single crochet blanket with a large enough hook to keep it from being too stiff.

I may have been a little over ambitious, as I started a very generously sized blanket for a queen (or slightly less generously king) bed. From previous blankets though, I know that will get it a lot more use.

Super excited about this project!

Growing Rainbow Blanket

The rainbow blanket strips I had started to piece together have grown so that it comfortably covers a twin mattress.

I still have a couple more rainbow stripes to add on, but this is now big enough to comfortably curl up under if I want to in the evenings on the couch.

Yarny Maine Adventures

For my birthday this year, Salvbard and I took a mini vacation to Maine. We stayed at a beautiful little house thanks to AirBnB. The area was super serene and outside any major town. In fact when we tried a web search for coffee places, we found there was a closer yarn shop than a coffee shop. Priorities! (Actually there were plenty of tiny restaurants that had coffee though, just not specialized coffee shops which makes sense.)

It is no secret that I love the ocean, and I spent some lovely time sitting on the deck, knitting and enjoying the location.

The rainbow blanket is continuing along. Some vacation yarn was acquired at Casco Bay Fibers in Freeport, ME. And it was really nice to get all the extra focused time together.
       

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How much kitchener in garter stich?!

In a stroke of unprecedented luck, it turns out that the (ridge) row gauge for the rainbow pieces exactly matches the stitch gauge for the white in garter stitch. So I can pick up one stitch per ridge, and it is perfect. I find that I love how the alternating horizontal and vertical garter stitch gives it just a little bit of extra structure, avoiding weird stretching.

After knitting the first horizontal panel, I discovered that it really is much, much nicer if I pick up on the second vertical panel and then kitchener in garter stitch rather than another seaming method. It is beautiful, invisible, and not irritating to the touch on the back side.

Remind me again that this is worth it?

Miles of Rainbow Garter Stitch

These days I feel like my brain is falling right out of my head. So I have been knitting a great deal of garter stitch recently, ultimately it will be a blanket amount. It is just about the right speed for me these days. Cast on, knit for 200 garter ridges (which is almost exactly one skein).

Bernat Mosaic has some really lovely color graduations, so that is very entertaining. To preserve the gradual color change and prevent muddiness, I am knitting this at only a few inches wide. Then the strips will be seamed together with neutral colored borders between them.