simple squares

Now that I've knit further on my double moss stitch baby blanket, the squares that are delineated by eyelet rows and columns are clearer. And I like what I see so far. It's a very simple knit, made more interesting by the tweedy effect of the two colours in the 2ply yarn. My plan is to continue until I run short of yarn. And I'm curious to see how it looks after washing and blocking. Fingers still crossed.

Next? I've been looking at a skein of baby alpaca that was a gift from the Purple Purl on the TTC Knitalong a few weeks ago. A little pair of mittens, I think!

putting stash yarn to good use

Saturday morning found me tidying up. Then sitting in front of my yarn cupboard surrounded by stash yarn. With my Hey Teach cardigan finished - just needing buttons and a model for photography - I was ready for a new project. In one bag from my Mom were skeins of Briggs & Little Anniversary Twist, a 2 ply wool with plies of light and dark blue twisted together. Mom purchased the yarn from the ends bin at the mill last November. And she had rewound four skeins and started a fifth. But there was nothing on needles and no hints as to what she had in mind.

With over a thousand yards of wool I decided on a baby blanket for the Warm Hands Network. There are hundreds of blanket, shawl and afghan patterns in the Ravelry databases. And I've lost many hours looking at them all, but I wanted something simple, mostly solid, reversible and a pattern that would keep it's shape. So I'm winging it. Double moss stitch pattern overall, with the border and inner squares divided by rows and columns of eyelets. Fingers crossed that it works out as nicely as I'm visualising it!

throwing away the reading glasses

Lots of errands over the last couple of days. Yesterday saw me at my Optometrist's office before work, after dropping off yearbooks, and posting toner cartridges for recycling. Increasingly I've depended on reading glasses for near viewing - contacts only corrected for distance viewing. A few weeks ago I saw a TV ad for progressive contacts ... "throw away your reading glasses" it prompted. I called my optometrist and she ordered a trial pair, with a three month money back guarantee. And they are AWESOME! I can knit on 2mm needles without reading glasses! Consequently I'm getting down to business with my second Red Rocket sock. Almost to the heel now and on a roll.

a second square

Here's the second blanket square. Once washed and blocked the yarn really softens, leaving the square with little stiffness and substance. And leaving me less convinced that this wool is suitable. Typically I knit blankets with worsted weight yarn, but for these little squares I chose to double strand a 4ply fingering weight yarn. I'm worried now that these are too flimsy to be combined in a blanket with sturdier squares. Hmmm. Better think on this a bit. Maybe try a square in worsted weight and see how it compares?

Yes I can!

Blanket Square No2 for the Warm Hands Network is halfway knit. It's a pretty little lace pattern from Marilyn Muller with a garter stitch edge. Says Raveler Knitacious "You know, knitting these squares really does improve your knitting - you have to figure out the tension, center your design, then knit and block!" She's right. These little squares are surprisingly enjoyable.

Finishing my Hey Teach cardigan is taking longer. Threading the needle through each of the bars between the ladders of knit stitches is finicky and time consuming - but patience is paying off in spades. A third of the way up and I'm stunned at the invisibility of the resulting seam. Imagine that! All my fears were for nought. 

  Enough yarn?  Yes. 

  Able to maintain the pattern on decreasing rows?  Yes.

  Can I finish the cardigan nicely?  Definitely, yes!

my new trick

Last night I put off finishing my Hey Teach cardigan until today. My excuses? Too tired. Fed up from work. Might be tricky and time consuming. Better to start fresh in the morning. All valid excuses, but really the delay may have been more to do with anticipatory anxiety. I wasn't confident I could do the seaming well - afraid I'd wreck the sweater and then be frustrated and disappointed.

This morning it was time to go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And as it so often goes, the hardest thing was getting started. With the cardigan pieces spread across the counter, and this tutorial on screen, I learned how to seam using mattress stitch. Looks knitted together, Gavin says. My best seam ever.

summer days

These first days of summer have been hot and humid. So humid that after two days the pieces of my Hey Teach cardigan still aren't dry. But they're nearly dry this morning, so tonight I'll finish it up. Starting with the shoulder seams, then the neckline ribbing and finally the button bands. Can't wait to finish!

While waiting, I've knit a blanket square. A fellow Raveler is

collecting 10x10" squares for baby blankets for the Warm Hands Network. My first square is based on Lorena's 2009 March Afghan Square. A blanket is quite an undertaking, but a 10x10" square doesn't take much time at all. A fun little project!