Mother in Law's blanket is good as new

Knitting needles to the rescue! Had some bumps along the way. This machine knit blanket had such small stitches, I couldn't use any of my circular needles. Ended up stitching this up with my size 3 dpn sock needles. I was able to save some of the ribbed edge. Blanket just lost about 2 inches in length. Mother-in-law is happy with her good-as-new blanket. She says she's had the blanket since about 1992.

Maryellen's favorite blanket rescue

Oh, no. Working on fixing this... it's going well. Almost done. I'll update you later on my progress.

Arrowhead Lace Scarf Update

I am working on several projects at once right now. This lace scarf, a bag which will be felted, and also a Hemlock Ring Throw. For now, here's an update on the scarf. I am also "mending" a

knit blanket for my mother-in-law, who is in town for a visit now. But yep, I am still knittin...

Itty Bitty Toy "Squishy Balls"

In her book "Itty Bitty Toys," (book pictured above) Susan B. Anderson has some great, fun projects. Again, using bits of left over Cascade 220 Superwash from my GAA... making "Squishy Balls". My son loves them and they are pretty safe indoor toys!

Maryellen's Yarn

My mother-in-law, Maryellen, is coming for a visit next week. She is one of those folks who has a her own "color palate"; she surrounds herself with beautiful, colorful things... and after knowing her for nearly 20 years, I see things and think... "Oh, Maryellen would LOVE this!" That was the case with this Mini Mochi yarn I found today at my Thursday Knitting Group at Anne's Knit Shop! Jewel tones... red, purple, burnt orange, fading into unexpected pale aqua blue... totally Maryellen! I plan to make this for Maryellen. I've spent hours knitting it tonight and my progress only amounts to about seven inches in length. It's really a good easy lace pattern but it's easy to miss a yarn over and that can really mess things up! I hope I can memorize this pattern eventually, but so far I am really having to watch the instructions line by line. This yarn is gorgeous and is machine washable. The lady at the yarn store said the Mochi and Mini Mochi yarn is just flying off the shelves... not difficult to see why; the colors are gorgeous! This is my first attempt at a lace project. The only part of the instructions which confused me was a reference to "slipping two stitches as if to knit"... am I to slip them together or separately? I decided to slip the two stitches together. I think it's working just fine.

GAAA project abandoned... for now

I've set aside my Great American Aran Afghan (GAAA) project... for now. I knit up a total of three squares and, from the moment I cast on the first square, I started to have regrets about my yarn choice. I picked the yarn I did (Plymouth Encore Worsted Weight yarn... acrylic/wool blend) because I loved the color. (I believe the GAAA pattern book recommends this yarn as well). I was searching for a yarn color which resembled oatmeal and this yarn fit the bill. At first I thought I was having a hard time adjusting to using straight needles (instead of circular) but as I kept knitting, I kept thinking to myself that I'd never finish the project if I was not happy with how the yarn knit up. I missed my Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. I have used the Encore Worsted Weight yarn in the past and will use it again in the future for sure (it's so soft and the color selection at my local shop is great!), but I think for the Aran designs with all the cables and bobbles, the Cascade yarn has a cleaner, crisper look. Above you will see my almost complete square... need to make some I-cord rays for the sun! I plan to use the two fancy GAAA squares I did complete for a pillow. (The third square I made was just a plain stockinette background for some trees... I did not take a photo... you are not missing much!)

Mitered Square

Awhile back my mom made the coolest baby blanket with mitered squares. Since that time, mitered squares have really been catching my eye. In my new book, I found a pattern for a mitered square scarf. I have lots of left over bits of yarn from my GAA, so I thought this pattern might be a good use for the yarn. The pattern calls for a few colors of variegated yarn; I just had the solid color yarn so I made a striped version. Wow, mitered squares are really fun. What I need to figure out is how how to carry the different yarns up the side without having then edge of the square look sloppy. My square above looks pretty good on the front side, but the backside... not so much. I don't plan to make a scarf with this yarn at this time but I had fun with this one little square, which is now a nice coaster for a hot or cold beverage. What I love about learning a new technique such as this, is how it gets the gears in my brain turning... how you can link these squares together (so I don't have to sew them all together), what could I make with mitered squares (a hand bag? a table runner?), what sorts of yarns would really show off the design (Noro yarn where the colors subtly change!). I did a Google search for "knitting mitered squares" and really got inspired... so many great ideas!