Attempting Domesticity

Baby Blanket: Finished!

Yay!  This blanket is finished and in the mail to a very darling baby girl who arrived last week.  I'm very pleased with how it came together! I love that a pattern so simple created something so pretty. 

I love taking these pictures next to my sunny window in the morning.  The only thing is that the color reads a lot lighter than it actually is.  I think I may have mentioned here that when I got the yarn from Knitpicks, it was a bit darker than I had expected.  Fortunately, I took this picture today (right after I finished weaving the ends in) and the color really shows well.

As you can probably tell by now, I LOVE the neutral colors (hello, beige!).  I have to admit that especially when it comes to knits, I'm absolutely partial to these creamy tones. 

In projects to come, I'll try to branch out a little -- if for no other reason than to give this blog some color!!

blanket and cowl updates!

Cowl update:   yaaay it's done! and just in time for tons more snow to get dumped all over us.  it's not the most beautiful thing in the world but I finished it in two evenings and have really really appreciated its warmth these past few frigid days. 

In other news: My camera has arrived!  I'm very thrilled to have a functioning camera - my last was really a mess.  In celebration, I present a picture of my not-so-gorgeous- BUT -very-functional cowl.  huzzah!

mmm..warm. 

Also! I got my knitpicks yarn in the mail finally.  I spent an excellent Sunday morning (er, afternoon) watching PBS travel shows and casting on the blanket.  I made a last-minute change to a (very very slightly) different feather and fan pattern that looked a little more workable to me - and didn't require navigating around color changes I won't be doing.  It is "Janice's Easiest Ever Lacy Blanket" and is available on Ravelry.  I cast on additional stitches for 2 more repeats of the pattern because I wanted to make sure it was a usable blanket for the longest period of time! 

I cast on in the Willow, which is growing on me.  When I first saw this in the package, I realized that it was a bit more camel-colored than the soft beige I was expecting.  I photographed it against the blue practice swatch so you can get a better sense of the actual color. 

hmm, yes?  I think the thing that gets me is that there's more yellow/red in it than like, cool green (which is the beige I obsess over and have painted on nearly every wall in my apartment).  Fortunately there is also the divine Silver Sage skeins to pacify me...if I make it through this one blanket, there will be another in that color coming soon!

practicing a new pattern

hi!  I wanted to give you guys a little peek at what I've been playing with!

It's a little wonky, but this is a practice swatch of feather and fan.  It was actually quite simple, and after some more practice, I feel like I'll be in good shape to start off on a baby blanket in this pattern.  The only drawback is that it isn't a double-sided pattern - you can actually see the double-sided pattern that I tried out on top of the feather and fan but decided to not use because, obvs, I kept screwing up! 

So, feather and fan it is!  It has a nice, easy pattern to remember with just enough to keep my attention but not so much that I can't watch copious amounts of West Wing while I'm knitting (btw: where oh where is my real-life Sam Seaborn?). 

(don't you just want to smoosh your face on this??)

I used a random yarn in my knitting bag (totally can't remember when I even bought it!) but for the actual blanket, I ordered some Knit Picks Shine Sport - chosen because it is machine washable and made from natural fibers.  I had a lot of trouble picking out colors, finally settling on silver sage (after looking at a ton of pictures, it looked less minty green than I originally thought) and I also ordered willow as a backup. 

Now, I'm just trying my best to be patient while I wait for the package! Can't wait to get started...