Another Overdue Post - FO and Thank You

Man, I'm feeling inarticulate. I've just typed, like, seven different starts to this post - each one less sensible than the last. I think the solution is to fall back on some good ol' photos. Let's go with my Hemlock Ring Blanket, shall we?

Despite having received a funny and sweet comment on Ravelry from someone begging me not to block it - I did block it. Well, I already had blocked it by the time I got the comment, but even if I hadn't, I still would have. Am I making any sense? To the point, I love blocking! I didn't especially love crawling around on the floor in circles, attempting to get all the pins even, but I do love the transformative power of a good blocking.

Pinned on the floor, as even as I could manage. (That's an oilcloth table cloth on top of the carpet, btw.)

Center detail while blocking.

Now, it's just waiting for Minnie Purl, whose crib is all set up.


I really enjoyed making this blanket. It's has a wonderful combination of "interesting" rounds and "mindless" rounds with a really tremendous final result. I would definitely recommend it. There are, however, some errors in the pattern. It is my understanding, that there are several write-ups of the pattern. Depending on which one you're working from, the errors are in different places. Luckily there are online forums and knit-alongs where the mistakes are sorted out. Ravelry or Google can help you find them. I was using the pattern linked at Brooklyntweed and there was just one round where the directions were slightly askew. I think it was round 35.

On another topic, I'd like to thank La Fuji Mama for sending me a lovely care package all the way from Japan. She has a fantastic blog. You should check it out. I defy you to read her blog and not come away inspired by color, hungry or wanting to board a plane.

Anyway, back on Valentine's day, she ever-so-casually posted a picture of a Cherry Blossom Kit Kat. I was all, "Sweet, fancy Moses, there's such a thing as Cherry Blossom Kit Kats?" (Apparently, wildly flavored Kit Kats are common in Japan.) Well, Fuji Mama was unbelievably sweet and sent me some! Plus, she included some extra goodies.

Kit Kats and cute stickers from Japan.

She also sent me a gorgeous book of baby and child knitting patterns.

I can't read the Japanese, but the book is so beautiful and inspirational it doesn't even matter. I love just looking at it.

Soooo adorable!

Thank you, Fuji Mama! You are a sweetheart of the highest order!

This Is Still a Knitting Blog

The Hemlock Ring baby blanket came off the needles yesterday and I finished weaving in the ends today. It just needs a really good, severe blocking.

This blanket could have been finished a lot faster but with all the craziness of the move, I didn't get to work on it as often as I normally would have. Also, I had a bit of a situation deciding when to bind off.

I had worked through row 65 of Jared's chart and still had most of my last ball unworked. I didn't know if it was enough yarn to complete the next repeat and the bind off. To be safe, I put in a lifeline before starting the next repeat. Man, that was tedious. The scrap yarn I used was not ideal lifeline material. It was too thick and not smooth enough, but it was the best of the choices that I had easy access to at the time. It was painfully slow both putting in the lifeline and working the row where it was.

Lifeline in place, I got all the way through the next repeat (the last one on the chart) and started the bind off. I was maybe 1/16th of the way through the bind off when I had to admit there simply wasn't enough yarn to finish.

blanket stretched over exercise ball.

So now I needed to make a decision. I could rip back to the lifeline and start the bind off from there. OR, given that I'd gotten all the way through the last repeat and only needed more yarn for the edge, I could work the bind off in a contrasting color.

I contemplated this second option for about a day and a half. On the pro side, a contrasting edge could be really pretty and the blanket would be bigger than if I ripped back. On the con side, I'd have to go buy the new yarn.

Since when is buying yarn a con, you ask? Well, since about November I've been really good about knitting from my stash. I've felt very virtuous and clever every time I've found suitable yarn without having to go buy some. I realized there's lots of wonderful knitting potential sitting right in my stash. I already have the perfect yarn for many of the projects in my queue. To be clear, I have not put myself on a yarn diet. However, limiting myself to stash knitting as much as possible has given me the strength not to buy yarn. I've even passed on some killer yarn sales! It's been a stash-knitting roll and I wasn't sure about breaking it just yet.

From the pictures you can probably see that the edge is not a contrasting color, meaning I did rip back to the lifeline. I'll tell you what sealed my decision. It wasn't my reluctance to buy new yarn. It was that this yarn (Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK in Snowman) was a gift from my mom. She gave it to me the first time she saw me after I'd told her about my pregnancy. How cute is that? I tell her I'm pregnant and the first thing she does is run out and buy me some white yarn with the word "baby" on the ballband.

This blanket is a gift to Minnie Purl from both her mom and her Grammy. Introducing new yarn to the project, even just on the edge, somehow would've spoiled the purity of that.

And also? All the tedium of inserting that darn lifeline wasn't in vain.

Update-o-rama

My Oblique is all done except for buttons! Even without the buttons, I love it and wear it all the time. As soon as I make a run to my favorite button place and get those suckers attached, I'll take and post pictures.

In the meantime, I've started a Hemlock Ring Blanket in some white Cashsoft DK to use as a baby blanket for Minnie Purl.

Doesn't look like much right now, but it'll get there.

I also made the adorable Baby Bonnet from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. This is not for Minnie Purl, but for a sweet baby girl recently born to some of our neighbors.


The white is Cashmerino Aran and the peachy pink is Classic Elite Lush.

It really is a very fast, fun knit. It would have been faster, too, had I not ripped and re-knit various parts of it. I ripped not because I made any mistakes. I was doing everything the pattern told me. I was simply doing it very badly. Things improved on the second pass.

I am going to make one of these for Minnie. But next time, I'm going to omit the garter stitch selvage. If having a garter selvage helps you sew seams or pick up stitches, then by all means do it. But I'm more accustomed to sewing seams and picking up stitches in stockinette, so I found the garter slowed me down.

Finally, I have some very good news to share. We have buyers for our house and we're in escrow! We've actually been in escrow since before Christmas, but I didn't want to say anything until the contingencies had been removed. After haggling over credits, we've come to an agreement and everything is going forward. PHEW! It is a buyer's market, so we didn't get the price we really wanted, but we did get more than our "rock-bottom" price, so we're happy. And it's such a relief to have it sold. We move into the new house in just a few weeks!