Entirely too cute.

Any day now our newest nephew will be born, and in expectation of his arrival, I've been working on a little blanket for him. When we found out my sister- and brother-in-law were expecting, right away I knew that whatever I made would be gender-neutral, not only because it was too early to know the baby's sex, but because I thought the parents would prefer it.

You can almost tell what they're supposed to be.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to make - I've made plenty of hats and stuffed toys for my legion of nieces and nephews, but I was in the mood for something different, so I thought a blanket might be the way to go. And after a good, long Ravelry search, I hit upon just the right one: Villi Pohjola by Terhi Viinikanoja. It was so cute! Knitted abstractions of arctic critters in easy-to-knit squares. The only trick was that the pattern was written in Finnish, so I had one window of my computer open to the pattern text and another window open to Google Translate.

I think this otter is my favorite.

The animals on pattern were a bunny, a reindeer, a brown bear, a badger, a lynx, and a fox. Since this new baby was going to grow up in North Carolina, I decided to modify the pattern to show critters found there. I changed the reindeer to a deer, the brown bear to a black one, the badger to a raccoon, and the lynx to a river otter. All it took was a few sketches on the handy graph the designer supplied and I was in business. The knitting went really quickly as it was stockinette stitch in worsted-weight yarn. Since this was a baby gift, I chose Cascade 220 Superwash for its ease in care. I don't think that new parents are going to want to deal with anything that isn't machine washable.

The fox is pretty cute too.

Once I got the knitting done, the seaming went pretty fast too. I used my favorite seaming tutorial from Twist Collective, and had the blanket put together in short order. Appliqueing the eyes was a different story. I had been putting it off for awhile, because the size of the blanket meant that I was going to have to clean all the mail off my dining room table if I wanted the eyes to look right. Thankfully, a gloomy, rainy day inspired an idea: I'd take the blanket to the coffee shop and work on it there! The tables would be clean, someone else would make hot drinks for me, and I wouldn't have to clean my dining room. Awesome!

And who wouldn't love this sweet bear?

Once all the critters had eyes, it was a lot easier to get going on the noses and mouths. The noses were all done in duplicate stitch (except for the racoon, who doesn't have a nose) and then I used a chain stitch to get nice curves for all the mouths. I improvised the deer's antlers - the pattern called for crocheting them, but my crochet skills are practically non-existent, so I knit them in garter stitch to keep them from curling up. I added some black trim to the fox's ears and called the blanket done. It turned out to be just the right size for a stroller, so I hope he'll get lots of use from it.

I'm not sure the deer is happy to be here.

Well, that's it for now, Friends. I have to get this package in the mail!

In Memoriam

I've been thinking about this post for a couple weeks, since my knitting friend, Jan, died. Her death was unexpected, leaving our group stunned and saddened. Jan was kind and generous, with a quietly sardonic wit. She was devoted to her family, especially her niece. What I didn't know, at least until after she died, is that she was comparatively new to knitting. One of things I'll remember most about her was her willingness to untangle other people's yarn. She spent weeks undoing a pile of yarn barf that anyone else probably would have written off. She will be missed.

The day after we all found out about her passing was our usual Thursday night group get together. Jan's sisters sent over her yarn stash, insisting that Jan's friends have some of her yarn. As we were going through it, many of us noticed that there was a lot of Cascade 220 in there, and so we decided that we would make squares for a blanket to give to the niece that Jan loved so much. For myself, I took a skein of Kentucky Blue Fiber Co. Alpaca 2 ply sport weight. I imagine Jan might have chosen it for its rich color, thinking it would become a really luxurious little accessory.

With that in mind, I searched the Ravelry pattern database for projects that called for 200 yards of sport weight yarn. As soon as I saw the pattern for the Elis cowl, I knew it was just the right thing to make from Jan's yarn. It was a super quick knit: it took me about 2 evenings to finish the knitting and I was able to block it the next day. I love it. It has a soft, elegant drape that makes me wish I had something better than a bunch of printed t-shirts to wear with it.

It still feels strange thinking of Jan in the past tense, like she only missed a couple of knit nights, but she'll be at the next one, knowing that she won't, really. But we all feel that way when someone we care about dies.

Until next time, Friends.

I can't help it.

I finished my Umaro blanket this week and it looks awesome! I'm so happy with it. It's been blocked, and everything. Here's a pic:

Isn't it pretty? It's squishy and soft and heavy and warm. The last few nights I was knitting it, it was keeping my legs and toes warm as I worked. It felt really light, not heavy like the acrylic blanket on the back of the sofa. I just can't say enough good things about it. Here's one more photo, while I'm at it:

I ended up using 12.5 balls of the Cascade Lana Grande, so I still have 7.5 balls left. I've been thinking about knitting up some pillows with it, but varying the stitch pattern or maybe overdyeing it if I decide to do Umaro pattern again.

In sock knitting news, I've just cast on for Lotus, which is a gorgeous lacy pattern. Not nearly as hard to do as it looks, I've been able to complete a full chart repeat since Tuesday evening. That's two days, though I don't really pay attention. Sometimes it feels like the socks just knit themselves and this is just one of those times. The Milo socks felt like they'd never end, but roughly three weeks after I started, they were finished. Bill's wearing them tonight, now that I think about it.

I took this picture this afternoon, while the rain had slowed down a little and there was a little light. This is a little more than half of the first chart repeat and I love how they're coming along. The yarn is Kollage Luscious, which is mostly cotton with a little nylon thrown in for strength. I've worked with this yarn before and I was really pleased with the results. It feels lovely in my hands, creates a nice fabric and has beautifully saturated color.

Here's a close-up of the leafy-looking bit:

Well, I think that's all I've got for now. I've knit up a swatch for a potential pullover sweater, now that the blanket is done. It's getting a soak right now, and if I get gauge with this first swatch, I'll be casting on right away. If it works out, I'll be able to write about it next week sometime. We're painting our living room on Monday, so I may or may not have made much progress on my new projects. We'll just have to cross our fingers. Until next time, then.

Turning the Corner

Since the last time I posted, I've been able to get the heels turned on the Milo socks I'm knitting for my husband. For some reason it feels like it's taken ages to get to this point, but after looking at my Ravelry project page I've come to realize that I've only been working on these socks for 10 days. So, really, pretty remarkable progress for such detail on the legs.

I've also gotten through the second chart repeat on Umaro. It's not much progress there, mostly because I wasn't knitting on it that much. I can't remember what I did with all my time last week.

Sunday was my LYS' Super Bowl Sunday sale, which brings everyone out in droves. It keeps me away until well after lunchtime, because I really dislike crowds. The shop is small enough already: I'm not interested in having to sharpen my elbows to get to the yarn. I got there around 1pm and was pleasantly surprised to see that the bamboo/silk blend yarn (Great Adirondack Bamboo Silk Sport that I can't find a link to) that I'd been eyeing for a month was 50% off. I bought two skeins, though I haven't decided what those 750 yards of sportweight will become. Maybe Damask, maybe something else. I'll have to keep a lookout for a shawlette pattern that will look good in a variegated yarn.

Of note at the sale: they announced they're going out of business. It breaks my heart. I'm not sure what I'll do with all that time I spent there loitering, coveting and sometimes knitting. I might start going to the gym again. At least I've still got a couple months to build up my stash before I have to start looking for a new way to satisfy my habit. There are two other locally-owned shops in the area, but one is way out in the suburbs and the other is on the other side of the Ohio River. Neither feels like home. Maybe one of them could? I can't even begin to think about it until after my shop closes.