Wednesday, July 18, 2007

I'm such a delinquent...

...delinquent blogger, that is... I'm so sorry I've been bad about posting and commenting; the bf was working out of town, and coupling that with my own crazy workload had me taking much longer at getting things done around here (I had come the realization that my coffee does not, in actuallity, "magically appear" before me every morning. There is no such thing as the Coffee Genie. Repeat to self.)

So, I finished the baby blanket I was working on. I had originally planned for 12 squares excerpted from Barbara Walker's Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book, but had to settle for 9, because the blanket would've been huge.
Yarn used: Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton (no dyes, bleaches, etc.) in colors Sand (5 skeins MC), Bone (2 skeins CC1) and Nut (1 skein CC2).
Needles: size #9 & Crochet Hook: size "J"

I went with this yarn because it's eco-friendly and also because my expectant friend wanted something gender neutral (and, she's from California, so the organic yarn thing was too cool to pass up). In the book, it calls for crochetting 20 sts per side of each square, but I increased it to 26; however, it still looks a bit "pinched" in places. I'm hoping washing and blocking will fix that.

With the leftover yarn, I made the Baby Bolero from One Skein, which happens to call for one skein of this yarn. HOWEVER, it took me a little more than one skein to make this sweater. Also, there are errata in the pattern.
Here is the back view with the optional eyelet pattern. The way it's written is not symmetrical; I had to change the second set of K2togs in to SSKs in each line of the pattern. Finally, because I must have OCD or something, I refused to do the K3tog at the top, and opted for: slip 2sts at once, knit 1, pass the 2 slipped sts over the knit st. This way, the center of those 3 sts is in the middle. (Oh, and I increased a stitch in the ribbing up top so it would be symmetrical over the center of the eyelet motif. I need help. Seriously. But in my defense, you who have this book, go look at the pictures and you'll see how un-centered it'll look if you don't fix it.)

This is my new Golding Spindle. I love it, love it, love it! I haven't been tempted to buy any more spindles because I like this one far more than anything I've ever seen.

I finally got around to plying that Spunky corriedale wool I was spinning. It's only 77 yds because I threw away some earlier botched attempts. I spun with the Spindlewood (left) and the Bosworth (right), and plied with my huge Cascabeles (center).

Ren tagged me for a meme, so I hope I'll be able to get to that soon.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:43 PM

    The afghan is so beautiful. You have inspired me to revisit the book.... Did you do a backing? The bolero is sweet too. It is sure to be a treasure for both mom and babe.

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  2. The baby blanket is fantastic, gorgeous, just wonderful! What better yarn to choose than eco friendly? I'm so in awe! Your friend will love and cherrish it! You new spindle looks wonderful too. Just to look at it's totally nice. I haven't spindle spun in quite a while, and am glad that I only bought two spindles, because I love my wheel! ;o)
    Your mini niddy noddy looks so cute and the yarn looks great too! It was worth waiting for a new post! ;o) And by the way, I DID go back to Knit Picks and ordered more books, because of YOUR post! It's all your fault! ;o)

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  3. That is one of the most beautiful baby blankets that I have ever seen.

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  4. what a gorgeous blanket! i love the bolero, too... i got out my copy of one skein and added in your modifications. i want to knit one up now!

    don't feel bad about not doing the meme yet... i haven't done the "rockin' girl blogger" thing you tagged me for yet, either! : )

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  5. Gorgeous knits! The handspun looks good too.

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  6. Anonymous12:01 AM

    Wow. Beautiful afghan.

    The spindles are works of art. Your new Golding Sindle is amazing.

    You asked about the yarn I was using on the Rogue sweater. I am knitting it with Plymouth Encore. My daughter stipulated that it had to withstand the washer because she has had sweater accidents with the washer before. I am surprised how nice this particular yarn feels. I have used Encore before and I do not remember it being this soft.

    Spin on!

    Punkin at Needle to Needle

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  7. What an absolutely beautiful baby blanket! Your friend will no doubt cherish it for the treasure it is. Wow!

    Great choice of yarn, too. That cotton is the softest, most cuddly stuff, isn't it?

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  8. Anonymous10:16 AM

    Your blanket is so very beautiful, and I can't get over how cute the little bolero is! My gosh, it's adorable! The handspun looks so yummy too - awesome color and I can only begin to imagine how good it must feel to the skin! Looking forward to seeing what you're going to make with it!

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  9. Wow, I LOVE your sampler baby blanket. It is so pretty and the natural color really shows off the pattern stitches very well. The baby bolero is so cute. That is so frustrating when there are errors in a pattern. You really did a great job on it...it looks perfect :)

    happy knitting :)

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  10. your sampler afghan is beautiful. what a lucky baby! it will definitely be one baby blanket that can go off to college!!

    i am too uncoordinated to try spinning. i am in total awe of people who spin their own yarn. send me your rejects!

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  11. Anonymous2:31 PM

    I love the spindle! It's beautiful. Some lovely FOs as well. I really need to get myself some more Spunky roving....

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