Tag Archives: blanket

WIP Wednesday: Baby Girl Chevron Blanket

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Stashbustin’ #10 Update!

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I’m in the second stripe!! This is the last of my WIPitis projects. And represent 4 skeins used from my stash. This was supposed to be fished by this coming Saturday for a baby shower….oops! But the baby’s not due until May and the mommy to be and I have been friends since we were 5. I think I’m ok!

I just have to keep knitting along. A few trips to rehearsal and some TV knitting time and I’ll have this project licked in no time! I’m in love with chevrons and making baby blankets out of buttery soft cotton.

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My brain may or may not be buzzing with what my next bout of WIPitis should involve…

Happy Knitting!

A Visit To The Frog Pond

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Stashbustin’ #2 …..I want to love this project but I’m only in like with this project.

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The pattern is beautiful and the purple is lovely. I memorized the pattern but I can’t just get myself to pick up this project. I’m a process knitter and I can’t stand to work on a project I don’t love.

I am frogging the project, rewinding the skein, and returning the yarn to my stash. It’s just not meant to be, right now anyways. I’m definitely re-queuing this project on Ravelry.

I’d rather cut my losses and work on a project I love right now . Baby Girl Chevron Blanket perhaps? Or maybe I will pull the next item from my queue? Oh so many options!!

Happy Monday and Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Simple Stockinette Blanket

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I’m finished with Stashbustin’ #9. This was one of my less than enjoyable knitting projects. I started here, then changed course here, finally made at least some progress here, and thus leaving me utterly done with this project!

It really did need a third skein of yarn. But I just couldn’t bare the thought of continuing to work on this blanket, so I just cast off.

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I ended up with roughly a 55 inch long by 32 inch wide strip of knitting. I’m thinking lap blanket??? Who the heck knows…

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Folded in half it makes two appropriately sized baby blankets. Maybe I should get a pillow insert and seam around it for a pillow cover?

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I did learn a few things from this experience:

A) Always check gauge or risk ending up with a wonky size

B) I learned how I need to treat chenille for both maximum stitch definition and fabric quality

C) I should listen to my mother

I WILL work with this yarn again. I just need a better game plan next time! But now this project is done and I can focus on my raglan cardi.

TGIF and Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Memory Blanket

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I was cleaning out my knitting storage and came across a surprise, my memory blanket I made in 2011! By 2011 my knitting had progressed from scarves to many many garter stitch baby blankets. At the time I had a slew of family and friends all having babies. It seemed that they would never stop. I think I made like 8 or 9 blankets in 2011?

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After all those projects I had a ton of random acrylic baby blanket yarn left over. It was all different colors and yarn weight and I didn’t really want to store it. So on a whim, I just cast on a whole bunch of stitches and started working. I knit until I ran out of one color and then started the next one. I finished the project shortly after Christmas. I distinctly remember sitting at my Grandma’s kitchen table playing dominos with the family and trying to knit the blanket at the same time because I didn’t want the project to run over into 2012.

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It’s not the best or prettiest blanket I have ever made, but it’s special to me. I can look at the various stripes an see all the babies I had knit for: Sofia, Bentley, Devin, Jackson, Orion, and Ely. And it’s perfect blanket to throw on my bed on a cold night or cuddle on the couch with. Isn’t it cool when something you knit becomes more than just FO?

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Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!!

WIPitis and Its Implications

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I have had a well documented case of WIPitis lately. I have five projects currently in my WIP column and about 50 more projects queued up on Ravelry. To keep myself honest, I am reporting all my WIPs to you guys. I am going to call it a “WIP Flash”!!!

Stashbustin’ #2 – Waffle Blanket

Haven’t touched this since that progress report. It’s hibernating and it honestly doesn’t bother me….yet

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Stashbustin’ #9 – Simple Stockinette Baby Blanket

See yesterday’s post…it’s coming along! This project is now my bedtime knitting.

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Stashbustin’ #10 – Pink and White Chevron Blanket

Haven’t touched this one since the last update either. I’m waiting for it to “speak” to me before I pick it up again.

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Stashbustin’ #11 – Simple Raglan Cardi

I have made a little progress since Tuesday. I’m really trying to do this one right. And slow and steady wins the race! This is my current TV knitting on the couch. I haven’t snapped a recent photo, but I’ve completed at least 3 inches!

Purse Project

I always keep a small mindless project in my bag in case I get stuck somewhere in line or get bored at lunch. Right now I have a Cascading Ruffles Scarf in the most elegant and shiny purple I have ever seen. It’s about half done, which is impressive since I only work one or two rows at a time.

I’ve shown you mine….anybody want to tell me about theirs?

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Stockinette Baby Blanket

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Stashbustin’ #9

I have made some great progress on my Simple Stockinette Baby Blanket in Bernat Baby Blanket. Especially since I got snowed in at my parent’s house this past weekend and it’s the only project I took with me. The alterations I made in my previous post have really helped. It’s not the best blanket in the world, but I feel victorious for surviving thus far without incoherent babbling!!

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Having said that…..I am improvising this pattern and I did not swatch for gauge. (Please see previous WIP post where I was bragging about swatching my cardi…) I do realize that gauge has significant implications but my knitterly brain just refused to accept that reality in some projects. The resulting WIP blanket is proving to be coming out enormously wide. My calculations have blanket coming out at 50 in long and 30 in wide or vice versa.

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I have decided to roll with the punches and call this an “unintentional design feature”‘ I am on my second skein if yarn and I think I’m just going to knit until I get to the end of it. My mom took only look at my progress and declared I should use three. Sadly she is right and I know it. But I just can’t keep working on this hot mess of a project. Lesson learned: I shall not improvise a project without first checking gauge and dimension! I am just going to finish what I have (should even be able to cast off this project before the weekend) and move on!!

Anybody need a wonky shaped blanket? (I am the master of my own knitting, at least according to the Yarn Harlot!)

Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Chevron Lap Blanket

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Well, this Stashbustin‘ project is finally done!! It has been a little more than a month in the making. It may or may not have started out as a baby blanket.… But I kept working and working and after some friendly blogger advice it’s done now!! I used 12 skeins of yarn (9 from my stash and 3 I purchased to make the finished length I wanted). I have to admit that it’s actually a lap blanket. But I don’t care, I love it!! I am so obsessed with chevrons right now.

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Being made of Loops & Threads Charisma this blanket is machine washable and dryer ready. So this blanket has had it’s first bath and spin in the dryer. It did fuzz up a bit both during knitting as the blanket sat on my lap and in the wash/dry. But to me it adds character and is the hallmark of a much loved and cherished hand knit. The pattern by the Purl Bee was amazing!! Not the first time I have made this and won’t be the last!!

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I claim victory over this blanket of epic proportions!!! This blanket is destined for me. I might keep it in the car since my husband loves the A/C or it might be my couch blanket. If I leave it in the house….it WILL get covered in dog hair that never really washes out, lol. But I love my dogs and so it’s not their fault of course.

My Rav link is here for those who are interested. Happy Knitting to everyone and I’m off for a weekend of knitting fun! Should I start something new or work on one of my WIPs?

So many choices….

 

 

Sunday Morning Adventures

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After getting much needed feedback yesterday on my “Where To Stop” dilemma, I made a yarn store run this morning. The husband was sleeping in after a late night of video gaming. I may be a yarn nerd but I married an extremely committed technology gaming nerd. My Chevron Blanket uses Loops N Threads Charisma yarn from Michaels. The store doesn’t open until 10 am on Sunday and I arrived 15 minutes early due to favorable traffic. I was amazed that I was not the first one there! I kid you not there were 8 to 10 cars parked and waiting for the store to open. Never under estimate the commitment of crafty people. I snagged my needed two skeins of yarn I needed to extend my blanket. I wanted three but the store was out of the royal blue (sad face). I did score some clearance Lion Brand Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton (happy face). I got out of the store before I put an even bigger dent in my pocket book.

Next stop was Sam’s Club. We needed supplies to stock up on before “Blizzard of Oz, part II”.  We got 10-12 inches of snow last Wednesday/Thursday in what they dubbed: The Blizzard of Oz. We are set for round two starting tonight and snowing through Tuesday morning. So far they are predicting another 10-14 inches. I picked up bottled water, food staples, and dog food in case we get snowed in for a couple of days. I have plenty of yarn to work through a hundred blizzards, but we’re not going to talk about that. Sam’s was packed and I ran into at least five people I knew. At least people are taking the storm seriously!

Last stop was Starbucks. A girlfriend gave me a gift card for baby sitting her baby girl so she and her husband could have some date night time last month. I don’t usually get Starbucks but I had the gift card and wanted to try their blonde roast. Again never under estimate the commitment of caffeine addicts. I had to park and go in because the drive through line was running 9 cars deep. Even with parking and walking I had my Venti Skinny Mocha’ Cafe in less than five minutes and back on my way. It was delicious by the way.

Having a little “me” time this morning was wonderful. I got to indulge my yarn addiction, my caffeine addiction, and get some chores done. Sometimes I just need to get out and about by myself to clear my head. I love spend time with my family and friends but I also like being independent. Now my husband has woken up and I am trying to convince him to take me for Thai food “because the storm is coming”, lol. Good excuse as any right?

Project Dilemma: When To Stop

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I have been chronicling my Chevron Blanket here, here, and here. This started as a baby blanket but I have to admit its morphed into more of a lap blanket, lol.

I am on my last skein of yarn and I’m torn. Right now the length covers from my toes to barely mid chest. If I were to add another color/pattern repeat of three more skeins it would comfortably reach my shoulders. The length and weight of the blanket make it difficult to work. This makes half of me want to just be done with project and move on to other WIPs. But I really want to make this blanket useable and therefore the other half of me wants to buy three more skeins of yarn and keep going.

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So I putting this out there to ask for opinions from readers. Thoughts anyone?

Stashbustin’ #10

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I’m crazy….I have WIP-itis! I was so in love with my finished Zig Zag Baby Blanket and the beautiful chevrons I had to cast on another. This time I’m opting for chevrons more like the ones from my Waves N Ripples Blanket. I like the solid fabric feel, not that the lace detail isn’t lovely. I think solid fabric is just more suitable for a blanket. (Just my opinion…don’t shoot the blogger)

I’m improvising the design using soft pink and bright white cottons. This blanket is definitely destined for a baby girl. I have so many WIPs that I’m not sure where it falls in the queue, lol. But for now it’s in my “couch” knitting spot!

Happy Knitting!