The Big Blanket Has Grown

Two skeins are now knit into the big blanket.   I have a total of seven skeins.....and may really only need four.   What will I do with any leftovers?   Good question.   Bernat Blanket is a nice yarn.....feels velvety like chenille without the "fall apart immediately and waste hours of time" quality that much chenille yarn has.   This is something I ponder as I lay the blanket across me to measure progress.

Ideally, I would make a smaller blanket for someone.   Failing that...maybe a wrap......

One Skein Nearly In!

One skein is nearly knit into the Bernat Blanket Throw.   While this is still not ranking as the most fun knit ever, I am really liking how it is coming out.   This is really what I had in my mind when I bought the yarn.  It is nice to have a plan work!

The Bernat Blanet Throw Progresses!

A Fine Mess!

Okay, so I lived dangerously and knit without stitches markers.   Yes, a 13 x 13 rib should be easy enough not to screw up.  Cue mocking laughter.    Had to rip out.   Though I carefully wound the Bernat Blanket on the skein, it slipped off and made a nasty tangle.   Last night I spent an hour..yes AN HOUR fixing it.   Now I am ready to go again.

This is what the throw looked like before I had to .....rip.......it...........out.   Now it looks like that but a lot shorter.   Is this the easiest yarn to knit?  No.  No, it is not.   Could have been worse to rip out so I am grateful for that.  The feel of the finished fabric is worth knitting with this yarn.

If I don't get really tired of this while working on this project.....maybe I should get the teal and do one for Alison Schaal.   Alison is SO worth it!

Feeling as though there is just too much to do? START A NEW PROJECT

Right now I have a lot of projects that need knitting.   I am not too excited about most of them at the moment.   I made the mistake of looking at Craftsy's yarn sale.   My stash is huge...and I should not put myself into the path of temptations into which I will succumb...easily.  I found this:

Bernat Blanket from the Craftsy Site

A few years back, I used a similar yarn to make a couple of throws.    The yarn has no give so is not a lot of fun to knit...but oh...to use the throw made from it!   I love these colors and did not want to pass up a chance to have a fat velvety throw from this yarn.   The bonus of Bernat Blanket is the skein has a lot of yardage which means fewer ends to conceal.   The previous version of this had little skeins which resulted in a lot of badly behaved ends to weave into the throw.

While the yarn was winging its way to me through USPS, I had time to think about what I wanted to do this time.   This is not a yarn with which I would do intricate patterns.   I wanted to showcase the lushness of the knit.....hmmmm....    Last night, I swatched.  I swatched a couple of needle sizes.  Decided on 11's...and used a knit-on cast-on to make a ribbed throw.  The ribs will be 13 stitches by 13 stitches.   This will give a little textural interest while not choking the beauty of this yarn into a pattern that it does not really want to be.  

This will be a "reward" knitting project.   Do a task....knit on this project.   It will be slow going...but OH S0 WORTH IT!

The Mitten Progresses

The Candyland Mittens are going along slowly.   I finished the "hand" of the first one and let it rest

on top if its knitting bag for several days.   Yesterday, I started the thumb.   I am taking it slowly as I have to both think about what I am doing, and find time when the cat is not taking over my lap.  I am eager to conquer the thumb.   My hope is that the second mitten will go more quickly.   I am taking my time with these as they are for me and I don't have a deadline.   I am enjoying this project so far.  The pattern is mostly a graph.  There is very little text explanation...but very little is needed.  I really recommend this pattern.

I will have yarn leftover, I believe.   I am thinking about working up a matching hat.  Maybe.  It could be a good exercise and would be better than putting the yarn back into the stash....and having it stay there...forever.

Variegated Yarn

Variegated yarns have been popular for a long time.  There has been much discussion - easy to find using Google - on how best to work with the color changes in each skein.    One of my friends is doing a cowl using two skeins, but different dyelots, of the same yarn.  She is switching out the skeins every other row to blend the slightly different dyelot coloration such that they will not drive her crazy.   That is an excellent way to keep the skeins from knitting out blobs of color....also known as pooling.

Sometimes, I want the yarn to pool.  When I knit the thick socks out of a variegated yarn, the pooling gives a very jazzy and striking in a good way effect.   Rob's 2016 socks are an example of this.  If I

had known just how much I was going to like this colorway, I would have bought more when I picked up the two skeins I needed for this pair of socks.

Paton's Canadiana is a very nice acrylic.   As with most things, I liked it even better BEFORE Paton's "improved" the yarn.   This yarn washes and dries well and comes in very nice colors.  This is my go-to choice for people who cannot tolerate wool or for making toys.   I also like some of the Willow Yarns and Plymouth Encore, but Canadiana wears like iron without feeling as though the yarn could be subbed for steel wool.

Not Enough Time for Knitting!

Everyone only has twenty-four hours a day.   My twenty-four hours each day have not been well-organized enough to include an adequate amount of knitting.    The more I knit, the calmer I am.   Calm is good.  

The mittens are moving along nicely.  The first mitten is still in progress.  I am really enjoying this project.   While the colorwork requires a lot of concentration and is very picky, I find it soothing.  

As the work progresses, I am more and more pleased with the colorway that I choose.  Betsy, at Depth of Field, and I looked at the available choices.  We discussed what would work as a light and a dark to provide a nice contrast with the black and the white.   The original pattern colorway is a lot brighter than this.   These colors are a lot more me.   Half the fun of these projects is choosing what colors will work together.   When my choice works well, I am really happy.   It makes me want to do more colorwork.  Good thing...as I have seven Christmas stockings to make this year.

The throw is also coming along.  That needs to be done soon and I don't want to rush it.   There is also a pair of thick socks in progress at work.   I do tend to have multiple things going.   Sometimes a project comes along that I have to do because I really, really want to ... and I have to do it now.

Petunia the Pig...or the medium pig....as the pattern describes it....was too cute not to do for Ana. 

Ana has a birthday coming.  She is now into farm animal.   This pattern is well-written and a fast knit.  The end product is a really cute little pig.

Ana got it yesterday and loved it.   The medium version of the pig is great for little hands.  

This is another "genius" shaping example.  I marvel at the minds that work like this...and I wish that mine did!