Busy Bee

Things have been pretty hectic here recently. So unfortunately not a lot to report on the knitting/finished object front.

So what's going on? Well, my stepkids are here for the summer and I'm trying to spend as much time as possible with them as our visits are too few and far between. I think the world of these guys. This last weekend we spent 4 days in Durango, and visiting nearby Mesa Verde. It was a lot of fun to get away and hang out together.



And, I got to add to the Colorado yarn tour with 4 more stops to add to the list (more to come on that over the next week or so...)

The other news is that I got a new job! Yahhoooooooo! Same company, different part of the business. Lots of new lingo, acronyms, people, products and services to learn about. And a lot of wrapping up to do in my current job. Although the new job start date is Friday August 1 (which means tomorrow is going to be one crazy busy day!)

I'll be back soon with knitting content. Promise.

Mitered baby squares

Mitered baby squares, originally uploaded by samjoepics.

Yes, it's yet another blanket. ;)

I have a pile of Corntastic yarn leftover from the first baby blanket and since 2 of my friends are having babies in August, I decided it was about time I whipped something together for the 2nd baby.

Plus I've been dying to have a go at the mitered square blanket since I first saw one. They are soo pretty. This blanket won't be all pastels. They just happen to be the colours I started with.

General directions are:

• Cast on 40 (placing a stitch marker between the first 20 and last 20 stitches - this is where you'll make the decreases).
• Row 1: Knit all stitches
• Row 2: Knit to 2 stitches before the marker, K2tog, slip marker, SSK, knit to end
• Change colors after every row 2
• Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the last 2 stitches - K2tog and draw yarn though final loop. Weave in ends.

I'm excited to see how this will turn out. (Although I'm not excited about the prospect of sewing up all the squares.)

Hexagon blanket

I hadn't planned on starting another blanket. If anything, I should be working on the Colorado blanket (that continues to sit unloved in the corner of my room), or finishing up some baby goodies as August feels as though it is speedily coming around the corner.

But...
...at Camp WannaKnitKnit a bunch of the girls were working on their barn-raising/friendship blankets in a variety of wonderful sock yarns, and
...this past weekend I was clearing out the spare room (aka my dumping ground for various WIP projects) for the arrival of Joe's kids this coming weekend; I was stunned with the amount of sock yarn I have accumulated, and the leftover odds and ends that have been piling up in a bowl

At first I was thinking I'd attempt the barn raising blanket because the ones I've seen are going to be fab. And I even started a square... numerous times. (Kudos to the girls - those pesky squares are darn fiddly.) And then I remembered the Dulle Griet hexagon blanket I'd seen online. Yes that was it, I was going to use my scrappy bits of sock yarn to make a hexagon blanket.

I haven't put much thought into the 'design' other than to stick with shades of blue, green, pink and brown. And although I do prefer the original in the Noro yarns, I think this is going to be a fun way to use up some of my odds and ends.

Baby Blanket

It took me a while, but it's finally done - the modified corntastic blanket:

Corntastic Baby Blanket, originally uploaded by samjoepics.

Here's the background - a close friend of mine is about to have a baby next month. I wanted to make something for the wee one and asked what colours the nursery might be. She pointed me to the Blooming Marvelous site where the nursery of choice had lots of bright colours that reminded me of the Corntastic blanket I'd seen at my LYS.

I picked up one of each colour of the corntastic yarns and cast on for the small size. (Side note: can you believe that yarn can be made from corn?). Instead of doing the larger stripes called for in the pattern I decided to change colours every 5 rows, and did 3 repeats of each colour. Because it was lacking some red (and was looking a little too small), I decided to adapt the triangle edging from the Debbie Bliss alphabet blanket to add the finishing touch.

I love the end result, and am looking forward to whipping out some matching hats and socks or bootees.

***Edited to add:***
Jeanie said... What yarn did you use?
Answer: The stripes were made using a variety of colours of Kollage yarns 'Corntastic'. The border was made using red Rowan 4-ply cotton. Both are machine washable.

The Yarn Studio

A little detail that I omitted from my previous entry about the great weekend at Camp WannaKnitKnit was a visit to 'stop 10' on the yarn store crawl -- The Yarn Studio in Minturn.

The Yarn Studio, not surprisingly given it's location near the ski resorts, caters to a high-end audience. The shop is quite small and cosy and is packed to the brim with yarny goodness. This was the first store that I've been to that carries the Hanne Falkenburg kits. There are some strikingly beautiful colours in those kits for sure.


To my delight there was a stunning needlepoint section upstairs. I love needlepoint almost as much as I love knitting. And that's when I stumbled across these beauties:


I picked up the kit and the threads and am eager to get started on my new mermaid sandals. Love them!

I also picked up a skein of yarn - Rowan kidsilk haze - for the Colorado blanket. Yeah, I need to make some progress on that, and have promised myself I will... as soon as this baby blanket is out of the way. At this rate the Colorado blanket is going to be quite decadent - certainly far too nice for my 4-legged friends to slobber on!


PS - because I love this shot so much, I've swiped it from Stacey to share with you here -- a group shot of the girls at Camp WannaKnitKnit. Got to love our sweaters and t-shirts!