The Highest Compliment Ever

I was knitting on my latest baby blanket this afternoon and after a row, I took a pause to check my email.  I noticed that a friend of mine, who I don't get to talk to all that often, left me a note.

Cat Steeleposted toJennifer Johnson

50 minutes ago

Today was 'Show and Tell' day at Scarlette's pre-school and she INSISTED on bringing the red heart blanket you knitted for her when she was born. She is still in love with it :)

I don't think it can get any better than that.  Can it?  Because honestly I am downright flattered and feeling all the FEELS because something that I enjoyed knitting is still loved by someone I hoped would love it.  This simple little comment MADE. MY. DAY.  Maybe even MY WEEK.  Possibly even my YEAR.  It meant so much that her little one still loves it.

The blanket in question?  This one.

Whenever I gift a blanket I regularly get extremely flattering comments and kind thank you's in return.  But in most cases the recipient tends to live far away from me and I don't know if they really liked the blanket or if they're being polite.  Do they use it?  Did I pick out something that was "just right" for them?  (I don't think people realize how much effort I put into to finding a blanket that I think might suit the parent's taste.)  Also, down the road does the blanket get used?

I do know the fate of some of my blankets, the "Little Beef" blanket is in shreds, loved to pieces by the little one I made it for.  (Torn to shreds = loved = still feel really good that the kid liked it... even if they wrecked it.)  The Pink Insanity Blanket, Moving Mountains and The Leaf blanket have all been in the professional "newborn photoshoot" pics I get, which is also insanely flattering to me.  And even the Diamond Cable Blanket, which damn near BROKE me, received high compliments from the couple it was sent to, who sent a note to say they had been looking for something in stores for exactly what I knit them for the baby's room.

Needless to say, I'll be flying high on that compliment for awhile and I HAD to share.  And because I thought you might be interested... here we are at 17", beginning ball 6/9 on my current project!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Blankets Aren't So Bad...

Remember when I was knitting the Diamond Cable Blanket and I was just B.O.R.E.D out of my mind and I couldn't find anything to say because I was SO. BORED?

That isn't the case here at all.  I'm actually quite enjoying this knit- enough that I don't want to take time out of my day to come here and tell you about it.  Progress is going quite well...

This is after 3 out of 9 balls and 8" in.  Maybe it's because this is going to be a short blanket; or maybe it's because the rows without a cable go insanely fast; or maybe it's just because the yarn is quite delightful and soft, but I am really enjoying this blanket and the knitting.  Enjoying it enough that I would totally knit this pattern again- I keep thinking how lovely it will look in a varigated yarn!

I know I said that I'd get around to casting on MiL's mittens, but the charm of this blanket has held me pretty solidly and I haven't wanted to cheat on it- I just want to knit and finish it!  (Weird for me... I know!)  Usually by 10" in I am regretting the fact that I'm knitting a blanket and already dreaming of the next project to cast on and start.  I've decided to allow myself to get to the halfway point of this project (4.5 balls of yarn) and then I must, at least, cast on the mitten and get going on it- and finish one.  That seems fair right?

I've started thinking about my Stampede entry for this year- and I think I know what I'm going to do- although it's going to be a "more than I can chew"' kind of thing, I can just tell.  I think I'll keep it a mystery for now, but my goal is to start knitting for that in April.  So- yes, more blankets on the horizon- but this one will be insanely cute.  Does that help?  (I can't believe I've let this blanket lull me into a false sense of security!)

February Fun

It's February!  And to celebrate I knit my February hat!

As if that wasn't enough... (and since it's going to be busy) I also knit my March hat!

Truth is, I knit March mostly because I was so frustrated by my other project that I needed something simple and easy.  (I nearly pulled out my simple stripe blanket, I was longing for it so much.)  I decided to knit the "Ties that Bind" blanket pattern for my friend due in March.  (um... surprise Viv?)  I did a little bit of swatching and decided to go with the smaller needles.  (US 4 for those who just HAVE to know.)

(US size 6 swatch on top, US size 4 swatch on bottom)

I decided to go with the tighter swatch because the yarn is a cotton/bamboo blend and it's going to stretch out, no matter what needle I knit with.  A tighter gauge will keep it's shape a little better than a loosey/goosey one.  (Yes.  I just used loosey goosey in a sentence.  I hang out with a 15 month old a lot... it's starting to show!)  I was excited to cast on this project and take off... except it turns out that the i-cord cast on is tricky for us finicky types.

Oh no, it's not finicky as in difficult, (just slow) and quite frankly I really REALLY like the edge...

enough that I almost wish I had done an i-cord cast on for the stripey blanket.  It's finicky in a "looks loose" kind of way that drove me mad.  I recast this puppy on about 400 times.  I finally made myself just "let it go" and accept the cast on I had.  Good thing too- because once I started to knit the moss stitch border, it tightened up the loose looking stitches.

So now we're off to the races on this project.  I also wanted to cast on my mittens for my MiL too- but I think I'll push that off until I get at least 10" in the blanket.  If I'm being really honest the delay isn't so much about getting a jump into the blanket and the fact that I can't decide between four patterns to knit her!  Such great ideas out there- and I can't decide what direction I'm going to go in!

So yes- lots of fun things that will hopefully provide some blog fodder for us this month... I really need to get my plate reasonably clear because April 1, I need to begin my Stampede project, and I have a cute plan for that this year... stay tuned!