finished object Lap blanket

I always say I'm a slow knitter. And to some degree I am and to a larger degree, I don't spend a lot of my free time kniting. Heck, some people would say, I have no free time. And it is sort of true that I don't have a lot of free time as I have two children that keep me hopping, as well as tons of other things, but as I found out this month, if I make a point to knit while I wait for my girls to finish showering, instead of checking facebook or pinterest I will actually get things done!

What did I get done? Well a lap blanket!

At one point, I realized I was running out of yarn, and I wasn't sure it was long enough. But I had a great coupon and bought another set (for less than $10!) but then I worried that maybe I should just end it there. Usually if I get to fretting about a project, I'll stop working on it for a while. And I did that with this project and decided to weave in the ends, while I thought. And I asked on facebook how long people thought such blankets should be. In the end, I decided to add one more color repeat. And Monday night I finished binding off (and weaving in the few ends that were left). I decided then that I should do a single crochet all the way around because it was curling. After trying several times, and not being satisfied with how a crochet edging looked, I decided to scrap that part. So last night, I declared the project finished.

As you may recall--the blue, green and purples, are all Vanna's choice yarn. And I used just a little over 1 skein of each. The white is Loops and Threads, and is whatever was left on the skein I already had. Probably most of one. I used US size 8 needles, and the pattern is Chevron baby blanket. I didn't modify except to add length.

Now, all I need to do, is write up care instructions and get it delivered!

Next up sweaters for my girls.

blanket progress

The big debate I had today was--write about my knitting or actually knit. And I love the project I'm working on, and it is going well, so writing about it wasn't first priority and then I thought--Hey I can show it off!

As you might recall I am working on a lap sized blanket for a member of my book club who is undergoing chemo. I'm using the Chevron baby blanket pattern. I'm using Vanna White yarn. Which while not the most cuddly, is affordable and washable. I think if I were going to re-do this I'd think about Berroco Comfort or Knitpicks mighty stitch. This is a fun pattern, and I love the colors I picked out. I hope that my book club friend enjoys it as well.

You might also recall, I set a deadline of Dec 2 for finishing. I started it for real on friday last week--ripped it out almost immediately and started over. And took some pictures to document the process.

This is Saturday--after a sleepover in which I knit during the movie and well past my usual 10pm deadline

Two days ago, I posted a terrible picture color wise to instagram.(took it on my ipad)

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Nov 8, 2015 at 5:26pm PST

Yesterday it looked like this

and shortly before I started writing today:

with my hand for scale

I want to make it longer than the original pattern calls for because I'd like it to cover full stretched out legs. I worried about it being weird shaped given that it is only 28 inches or so wide. But we'll see how it looks as it gets longer. I'm wondering if this is just the first of several of this pattern I'll make, because wow am I really loving just about everything about this project.

feast or famine

I swear my knitting life is feast or famine. Either I can't think of anything I want to knit or I have a bunch of projects or ideas for projects going. The summer of socks was kind of a reaction to that and after doing several plain vanilla socks I feel like I have the knitting feast back.

I finished a small project that is a gift and so I won't say much about it until it hits its recipient. Except that it made me want something like it, so I restarted a project I had finished and ripped out last year.

Then I finally got the girls to decide on colors for the sweaters I want to knit them, and that yarn is currently winging its way here.

THEN, well I started something a little ambitious. Or maybe starting is too strong a word since currently I have 16 stitches on the needle for an informal swatch. If this were a sweater, the swatch would be bigger, but this is a lap blanket and so I just want to make sure that a) I'm in the ballpark for width and b) that I'm going to like the fabric I'm creating.

And yes, I said lap blanket. A lady in my book club was diagnosed with some pretty serious cancer this summer. I'm not close enough to offer to do the things that would be helpful (meals, driving keeping company etc), but I feel moved to want to do something, so I decided I'd knit something. At first I thought hat, but not everyone likes hats. Then I thought fingerless gloves because I understand the chemo centers are cold and I know my friend likes to read. But fingerless mitts don't keep me as warm as I like, and several websites I saw suggested lap sized blankets. So I went looking and found one that I think she'd like.

Ok, it is called Chevron baby blanket and it was the number one pattern (based on popularity I think?) under the blanket pattern in Ravelry. I think it is a good size, although I want to be sure I get the width right because I could add repeats for length. I have not completely decided if I'm using 3 or 4 colors. I have bought three. Or rather I bought two and had one in stash. I am making this in Vanna's choice just because I want it to be easy care. I have a cream (which I owned and is not actually Vanna's choice, but another craft store brand) and a soft blue and a soft purple. I was considering a green. Michael's wouldn't let me use more than one coupon today (although they sometimes do) and so I decided to swatch a little and see if I need more yarn or colors. I can always make multiple trips.

I'd like to finish it before the next book pass which I think is December 2, although at the rate I have been knitting, I might not make it. I'm not really doing any hand knits at Christmas, so maybe this is doable. Plus I knit better on a deadline. Ok I don't knit better, I just decide not to clean and knit instead.