thinking quilty thoughts

We went to meet with a pediatrician last night so as to have one ready for our feisty crotchfruit when it hatches, and I came home relieved that we found a great match in what seems like an extremely reliable and experienced pediatrician. I also came home with a whopping humongous cold. The back of my throat feels raw, and my sinuses feel battered. I got attacked by the cooties, yo! I feel like the ass end of crap, and all I want to do is sleep. I can't sleep when I keep day-dreaming about different projects, though. I am so happily distracted right now with the thought of putting together a wonky log cabin quilt a la Denyse Schmidt's Drunk Love in a Log Cabin that I've already started prepping the fabric.

the blanket, it is DONE!

pattern: Flowers in the Snow blanket
designer: not sure, but there are two excellent tutorials available at Yvestown and Solstrikke
yarn: Berroco Vintage
needles: Clover Soft Touch hook, size D/3mm
modifications: I followed the instructions on Solstrikke, substituting a slip ring for the initial chain you would loop through for a tighter center; used the 3 DCs at the corners when joining in the white, as per Yvestown; I crocheted 3 rows of DCs for a border.

It's done! And I am relieved & overjoyed. I feel like this is the best thing I have ever made. Normally, my attention span is not up for this kind of project, and if I set it down, I drift away and start something else, totally forgetting about it until a friend asks about its progress be it a few days or a few months down the line. I'm glad that I became kind of obsessed with it because now it's done. And I love it! And I can move on to other projects knowing that this blanket, intended for our Feisty fetal friend, is ready and waiting for our little one's arrival in just a couple of months. I can now happily cross that off my list. Woohoo!

I am pleased with the finished dimensions. It turned out larger than I originally intended, measuring 39 1/2 x 44 1/2 inches. That's great, though, as it makes for a more versatile blanket.

I'm also satisfied with the border I used. Plain and simple, but it fits the bill nicely.

I seriously cannot get enough of photographing its bright, joyous colors. Also, how demented am I that I kind of want to make another one of these blankets in a Chuck Close kinda way? I think this motif lends itself perfectly to that breakdown (and build-up) of color. If I do go through with this plan at some point in the future, please remind me not to use Vintage again. While it blocked out beautifully, and the colors are great, it was so splitty and annoying to work with. I need something with a different ply and an awesome assortment of colors. I think I've got plenty of time to research yarn before I go through with this endeavor. This is about all the blanket I can do for now.

almost

These are the last progress shots of the blanket because come Sunday I hope to have the border crocheted, the woven-in ends all clipped, and the blanket itself blocked and ready to go. Unless I give in to that crazy part of me that kinda wants this to be slightly more rectangular and make it 10 x 14 squares instead of 10 x 12. As it is, it measures 32 x 40 inches. That should be fine for a baby blanket, right? Are baby blankets okay in a slightly more square format? Or should I make it more rectangular? I'm just making myself batty, aren't I? I'm being cuckoo-bananas about this. Right now, I think I'm going to call it done and get started on that border. After all, there are about twenty other projects on the needles waiting to be finished, and I haven't even started my second Ravelympics project yet. Gah! And that's not even to mention the quilts, much less the few work orders I have yet to finish. So much to do before I pop.

24 more

We're at the last two rows. My circles are done (with a couple to spare - apparently I overshot it), and I am now attaching them to the blanket. Once I'm done attaching those guys, I'm doing to crochet a border around the whole thing and call it done. Woohoo! I'm in the home-stretch now!

two birds + one stone = happy campers all around

pattern: no. 9 Boy & Girl Hat from Scandinavian Jacquard Caps
designer: Kazekobo
yarn: Louet Riverstone in Aqua & Caribou
needles: Crystal Palace 16 inch circs is size 7
modifications: none

Since this is also my project for the Ravelympics:
cast on date: 02/13/10 some time shortly after midnight
finish date: 02/14/10 approximately 1 AM

After chugging away at the blanket for what feels like forever, it was such a refreshing change to blast through a project in one day. Granted, I'm no Sven Kramer. It's a worsted weight hat on size 7 needles. Some people are able to fart out a hat like this one in half an hour. I kept having to put down my knitting for errands, cat-ass-trophies, and a sudden flurry of long-distance phone calls from my family. Had it not been for all the distractions, I'd like to think I would have knocked this out much sooner than I did.

As it is, I love the pattern and was pleasantly surprised by the Riverstone. It is so soft and lovely. I bought it about a year ago with the intention of making something for Matt with it. And lo, I found the perfect project! For Christmas, Matt's dad gave us colorwork hats that he picked up at some local craft fair. Matt's hat, which he loved, had little people on it. It was a very similar motif to the one presented in Scandinavian Jacquard Caps. Unfortunately, Matt recently lost his hat at an installation. Good thing that one of the patterns in this awesome book is so similar to that hat. Coincidentally, that specific pattern was one of the reasons I bought this book.

In fact, it was kinda love at first sight with this book for me. The minute I looked through it, I wanted to knit (or crochet) every single pattern it offered. I may make it an ongoing project to knit every pattern in there. Although it is written in Japanese, the charts and diagrams are clear enough that they transcend any kind of language barrier and make the patterns extremely easy to follow. If you're more of a visual learner/follower to begin with (as I am), it's really a breeze.

Getting back to the hat, I am happy to say that Matt loved it. It was both the perfect Valentine's Day present and the satisfying knit that I needed to recharge my knitting mojo. The only problem is the pompom. I decided to make a huge pompom, just because I wanted to make a ginormo pompom. Matt wasn't so keen on it, however. At the moment, he is wearing the hat sans pompom, and I need to trim this one down to a more suitable size. I may not bother reattaching it, though. Matt seems pretty thrilled with it without the pompom. Meh. Should I ever make myself a matching hat (I know - vom), I will definitely make a humongous pompom for it because I am a huge fan of the ridiculously large pompom on a fairly simple, straightforward hat even if other people (ahem - Matt!) aren't.

potholder swap 2010 - get yr hook on!

We're doing it again! Adrian, Maryse, Stacie, and I are hosting another potholder swap. Wooo!!! Wanna join? Check out all the details on our flickr group or join us on ravelry and come play along. Let's get hooking, people!

I'm going to get my crochet cotton tomorrow. Cannot wait! I think this time around, I am going to use a finer gauge and make something kinda fussy/ vintage inspired. This is going to be so much fun!

thanks!

I kinda hate cross-posting stuff from the softie blog over here, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who purchased patterns and puppets over the last two weeks. We raised $180, just a drop in the bucket by rav standards but still something worthwhile & valid, which I donated to Partners in Health this morning. Thank you, guys. You rock big time. If you are interested in making a donation of your own, please visit Partners in Health. Every little bit counts.

size matters

The blanket is now 8 squares x 8 squares, or more specifically, 28 inches square. I was hoping to get a couple of rows in yesterday, but it turned out to be a ridiculously busy day. I was too tired out at night to even think of crochet. I'm trying to make up for lost time today. I'm thinking of making the blanket 10 x 12 instead of 8 x 9 now. At 28 inches square, even with a border I don't think it will be big enough. I'd rather err on the side of caution and make a larger blanket than a small one that I have to stretch the bejeezus out of just so it comes close to the dimensions I originally intended. So I need to make 40 more circles today. Gah.

flowers in the snow, oh how they grow

Six rows in, and I love this so much. I only have three more rows to go until I decide whether to add another row & column or call it done and crochet a nice border around it. I hope to maybe get another row in tonight. I've gotta say, I'm impressed with the yardage I'm getting from the Berroco Vintage. One hank of the white (Mochi) gets me four rows, which makes me more than confident that I ordered enough yarn. My only problem with the Vintage is that it's very splitty. I'll be zooming along crocheting and suddenly I pull only half a strand through the needle and have to rip that stitch and gather the yarn together for a second attempt. I prefer to zip along without this kind of distraction. The colors are great, however, and it is machine-washable, which is the main reason I decided to use it for this project.

Right now, it's a little puckery, but I'm thinking maybe the yarn will stretch out a bit after the first wash. I've heard that Vintage relaxes a bit after a soak. It has occurred to me that if that's the case, then I may just go with the border once I finish the 9 rows and call it done. Heh. Fingers crossed on that one.

...and in other projects....

I kind of stalled out with my "Little Village" quilt top. I ran out of steam when I ran out of the Kona cotton in the specific shade of "Natural" I was using and couldn't find an exact match for it anywhere. I think I may follow Carolyn's advice and use different shades of off-white. (Thank you, Carolyn!) I have 6 different shades of off-white to work with now, and it's still early enough in the game where this may look totally intentional and not just like I ran out of the one shade. The house above is the last block I finished, block #5. So let's see... that means I have 19 more blocks to go. I can do this. Granted, I've been a little distracted of late with other projects, not to mention work. I just need to get back on track and get sewing. As it stands, I have 3 little houses sewn up and ready to go. I am getting off the computer today so I can get to it.

starting out

I'm two rows in and loving the process. It's nowhere near as fiddly as that scarf that shall not be named (not that I have a name for it other than "muffler 5.6" anyway), and it is going pretty quickly. The final width, however, is 28 inches - 4 inches shy of my original goal of 32 inches. I'm just going to piece the whole thing together and then figure our how to proceed. Maybe I'll add another row & column. Maybe I'll just crochet an extra-wide border around it. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. (That phrase is one of my favorite clichés - like, seriously, what are going to do when you get there and find there's a bridge to cross? Turn around and go back home? I think not. You cross it. Derf.)

Just letting you all know that there may be progress shots of this in the coming days. There may be a lot of 'em. They may bore you. I am obsessed, however. My blanket - I loooooooooooovessss my precious blanket....