Knitty Gritty Thoughts

"Ketchup" Post

This is my "ketchup" post so to speak, just to "catch-up" on a few things I've been meaning to do.

First off, a few people had requested to see the "unmentionable side" of the mitered blanket.  Warning - if you don't want to see this, shade your eyes now.  You may also want to remove small children from the room! =)

It's not that bad really, I used judicious amounts of this stuff on all the ends because I have a deep-seated fear that they may spring free at any moment.  I may put a lining on the back at some point, haven't decided yet.

I also was RAOK'D by Sarah!  She sent me such a lovely package and must have known I have a weakness for not only yarn, but bath products.  The philosophy smells soooo good, thank you so much!

AND I received the loveliest of packages from my blog buddy Joanna.  She is amazingly talented and made the earrings and the pouches herself.  I had actually been eyeing them on her blog when she posted about them and receiving one in the mail is like a dream come true, thank you so much!

And in other news, Miss Leah is the winner of the knit.1 magazine contest.  I really, truly appreciate all of your wonderful comments, positve thoughts and jokes headed my way.  And ya know, when my heating went out yesterday, I re-read them all when I needed a little pick me up.  Here's hoping we don't have to replace the whole thing and it's just a small part.  Ah, the joys of home ownership!  I am woman, hear me roar, I can handle ANYTHING!!! =) hehe.

AND if you've made it this far you deserve a pic of rogue.  Just last night I picked up the sts for the hood and seamed the shoulders together.  I tried it on this morning and I'm happy to say my gauge is on track and the darn thing actually fits.  Which is a relief, really, considering the FIRST time I tried to knit it.

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Mitered Square Blanket

I rarely post twice in one day, but I think all of your happy thoughts must have driven the clouds away because the sun just came out!  I had to run outside and take pictures of the finished mitered square blanket for Erica, since I know she's been waiting for them sooo patiently =)

Mason-Dixon Mitered Square Blanket
Actual Knit Time: 9 months, give or take, knit on and off.
Finished size:  39" x 56"
Needles: US7 Brittany Straights for the squares and extra-long denise cables and tips for the end.
Yarn: Mission Falls Cotton, 20 balls (this is a great yarn for this project because it has such a large color palette)
Interested in more info?  All posts about the blanket here 
Final Note: Although I didn't quite know what I was getting into when I started with all the ends I was going to weave in, I love the finished result.  If I was going to do it again (and I won't =)) I would definitely investigate the "low-sew" method to keep my sanity intact as well as weaving in ends as I go.  This project forced me to get outside of my normal colorbox and appreciate new colors in interesting combinations, fun! 

And here's a close-up of the border, I love how it turned out!

Yea for finishing big projects!
 

As the Square Turns.

A big thank you to all those that delurked, I really enjoyed hearing from you and reading each comment was a lot of fun!  We should do this more often =) 

Even though my knitting finger may have been down for the count, my seaming finger was not.  I pulled the Mason-Dixon mitered square blanket out of the closet this weekend where it had been marinating for a few months...the last time we saw it was here, since that time I sewed the sets of 4 blocks together and dropped it into the WIP basket.  This weekend I pulled it out and started planning the layout of the bigger squares.  Hubby called it "one heck of a sodoku puzzle." =) 

Yesterday I started on the border, it's a good thing I went through that mobius knitting phase awhile back because I had the extra long cables for my denise needles.  A 52" + 40" = one heckuva long cord!  I had plotted various ways to attack the border and finally decided to go out on a limb and knit it in one piece. 

The corners are mitered with paired increases that are done every round.  The whole thing is done in garter stitch ( which, yes, means I am purling every other row *sigh*.)  THAT is not the fun part.  However, the border is 3 rounds solid gray, and then 3 rounds assorted scrap colors and then a final 3 rounds grey + cast-off to round out the frame.  I'm enjoying changing colors.

Just to recap if this is the first time you've seen this project, the blanket it knitted out of mission falls cotton, approximately 18 balls for the body and 2 full balls + scraps for the edging.  It was all knit on US 7 needles over the course of oh, since last April or so!

A peek into my scrap basket reveals I've got a lot more to do, better get knitting!

Come on, be a square

Happy Halloween Everyone!  I'm not doing anything too exciting this evening, just staying home and handing out candy, no costumes for me!

I really could use your opinion though, I finally finished my last mitered square *sigh of relief.* They were getting really monotonous and I had to force myself to finish the last one.  This thing has been more than 6 months in the making.  I just took the last few off the blocking board this morning and started arranging them in different blocks...I'm having a really hard time figuring out how they should go together so I thought I would take a picture to look at objectively...here you go -

So, what do you think??? What would you move around, what do you like?  And don't let the pic fool you, it's not a large blanket but it will be 36x54 before the border, a nice baby/lapsized blanket.  Ok, honestly I had much more grandiose plans but I ran out of steam, and yarn =)