Keep Warm My Babies is Officially Finished!

IT'S FINISHED!! The ends are woven in. The border is complete. It's washed, blocked and ready to use.

This blanket is ready to keep my feet warm.

The back-story
Way back in the summer of 2010, some Ravelry* friends and I were having a Conan-themed knitalong. It was a fun way to pass the time until his new show debuted. (If you're new to my blog, then you're probably thinking that I'm pretty geeky. It's ok. I'm not offended.)

After knitting some orange fingerless gloves and some orange wristbands**, I decided that I wanted to knit something big. Really big. I sketched out a couple of blanket ideas but nothing really jumped off the page. Then one day, I saw a photo of Conan's old Late Night set and inspiration struck me: the furniture from the show's final years reminded me of a log cabin blanket. Why hadn't I noticed this before? I couldn't wait to start – I started doing some sketches, ordered my yarn and set out to write the pattern.

I spent a few weeks knitting test squares and trying out different needle sizes. Shudder. After three failed attempts I finally succeeded in knitting two different squares with dimensions that were close enough to seam together. Then it was time to settle in for months of seemingly-endless garter stitch.

Squares before seaming.

I love this blanket because it celebrates something special to me. Most of all, I love that it captures eight months of my life: my dad's seven-week recovery in the hospital; conversations over tea with good friends; summer concerts and snow days; cheering for the Texas Rangers as they played in the World Series; watching revolution unfold in Egypt. Store-bought blankets don't carry this kind of history, and that's one of the eleventy-jillion reasons why I love knitting.

Project details will follow, soon. First I need to use some of my book learnin' to calculate my yardage.

Yay! I can't believe it's finished!
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*Ravelry: Ravelry is a social networking website for knitters, crocheters, spinners, dyers, etc. It has over 1 million members and you can learn more about it on Wikipedia. Within Ravelry, I moderate a group for Conan fans called "The String Dance." Conan fans who love fiber arts... talk about a niche market.

**I just realized I haven't shared this story on my blog. I'll write a post soon!

Ambitions

Keep Warm My Babies is close to completion. By completion, I mean the knitting will be finished and I'll have a couple dozen ends to weave in. OK, maybe a hundred. I'm in denial.

Anyhoo, with the end in sight, I'm starting to plan my 2011 knits. For my first project I'll need something fun, a semi-challenge that will give me a jump-start after so much log cabiny garter stitch. I'm thinking it's time to knit Gretel – fun cables, cute fit and I do need a new hat.

After that, I'm going to choose some projects that will help me reach these milestones:

• I want to finish 2011 with a better knowledge of lace and how it's designed.
• I want to design my first sweater, or at least learn enough to make that happen in 2012.
• I want to knit my first pair of socks. I've been avoiding them for no real reason. Perhaps I'm discouraged by the sheer number of stitches that they require, not to mention the fact that they spend most of their life hidden beneath pants and shoes.

Sprinkle in some small projects, some Conan-related items and the occasional gift, and I've got a full year ahead of me. Better get my blanket finished, pronto.

Christmas Knits

I think I started this on December 10. Procrastination at its finest.

There are many cons to Christmas knitting:

1. Pressure. You've just gotta finish those handknit gifts, or else you have to buy a last-minute gift.

2. Lack of sleep. See #1.

3. Loss of brain cells. See #2.

4. Knitting blog goes silent. If you post your progress pics, the recipient might see them and the surprise is ruined. Or, someone else will see the pics and think, "Ooh, she's making me some lovely gloves!" Disappointment is never a good Christmas gift.

5. No photos to post later. Often, a gift will go straight from the needles to the gift box. No pics. No blog post. Nada.

In spite of these issues, Christmas knitting does have an upside: happy people using your handknits. And that makes it all worthwhile.

This year I only had time to knit two Christmas gifts. For my grandma-in-law, I made a Ballband Dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting. (No pics. See Con #5.) And for my boss, I made a set of fingerless gloves.

In true Christmas-knitting fashion, I almost forgot to take photos of the finished product. These were taken at work with my phone.

Our graphic design department is at the mercy of a temperamental thermostat. Most of the time, our hands are freezing. I thought that these gloves would be a welcome solution to the problem, so a few months ago I asked my boss if she might like a pair. She requested bright colors and she wanted them to have flowers on them. Being ambitious, I thought I might felt my own flowers. Um... yeah, you guessed it - I didn't have time. But I picked up some cute flowers at the craft store and affixed them with some embroidery thread. I'm trying not to beat myself up worrying about it. She loved them, and that's all that matters.

Details:
Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts from Dancing Ewe Yarns, size Small. The pattern was free and easy to follow, and I love the picot edging. Yarn: Cascade 220 Sport Superwash. (These gloves will be real workhorses, so they need to be easy to wash and care for.) Needles: US size 5 DPNs.

Teeny knits

After working on a blanket for 3+ months, it felt great to knock out a project in just a couple of hours. This hat was made for my coworker's baby, due in December.

Hat for Baby J

Pattern: Pineapple Baby Hat by Angela Juergens; modified slightly

Yarn: Crystal Palace Chunky Mochi Yarn - 803 Violets Rainbow, one skein

Needles: double points, US Size 13

Started & Finished on Nov. 20, 2010

Keep Warm My Babies - Progress Update

In August, my goal was to knit 16 squares and have a finished blanket by Nov. 8. Will I finish? Yes... technically. ;)

My squares are a bit smaller than I thought they'd be. This means my blanket will be in that "awkward phase" – somewhere between baby-blanket and grown-up-blanket. Solution? I need to knit four more squares. Am I disappointed? Not really. I'm on track to meet my original goal (a huge endeavor for me) and that's a lot to celebrate! Plus, this blanket will keep me warm while I finish four more squares.

I'll post some photos as soon as it's finished! For now, here are a few progress shots:

Knitting a test square, July 2010 I think



Picking up stitches along the edge



A finished square



Seaming some squares together (ok, they're not "exactly" square, but that's what I'm calling them)



A peek at the back.



Pile O' Squares, ready to be assembled. Oh my. What did I get myself into?

back on the horse

After a long hiatus, I'm resurrecting my knitting blog. I'll occasionally throw in some cooking, traveling and other assorted adventures for good measure. Anyhoo, welcome to my little corner of the interweb, and I hope you enjoy your time here!

Here's what's on the needles right now:

Operation: Keep Warm My Babies

This blanket is the culmination of years of nerddom: it's inspired by the furniture from the final years of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. I've been a Conan fan for ages, and this blanket has helped me to pass the time as I anticipate the debut of his new show.

Pattern: My own (log cabin technique with a modern twist)
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Mocha, Feather Gray and Colonial Blue
Needles: 6 US

More to come.