It's been awhile since I have shown my finished projects, so here goes!
Last week, I got around to working in the loose ends and seeming the border of the Baby Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. I used the pattern provided in the book, but took lots of liberties, and made it a bit smaller than what the pattern called for. I adore this thing. I used Cascade 220 Superwash that I bought from my LYS. I would have chosen different colors, if available, but there were only about 10 colors in stock. I'm pretty happy with the colors, though. I wanted something bright that incorporated some boyish and girlish colors. But I think the final product looks more feminine that masculine, don't you?** Keep in mind that the purple is more periwinkle blue than the pic shows** Would this be proper to gift to a friend who doesn't know what gender her soon-to-arrive baby is yet? I have several friends who are expecting, so this may be an option for those that don't want to know the gender. Please give me your opinions- as a woman with no babies, I don't know if someone would like this for their unknown-gender baby.
Also finished, are my Yarn Over Cable socks (from Sensational Knitted Socks) using the Schaefer Anne sample that I knit to see how it performed before carrying it in the store. And, uh, yeah. This is some good yarn. Soft, slightly fuzzy, and well dyed. No bleeding of colors when I handwashed it. Soft, not itchy, on the feet. I knit these on US 0 double point needles, which really is making me enjoy knitting on US 1 right now! US 1 seems huge comparatively! While knitting with Anne was definitely worth the length of time that it took to knit these long socks (FOR MESELF!!), it dure does make me appreciate knitting for people with more reasonable sized feet. I cast on 75 stitches, made the leg of the sock 7 inches, and the feet are about 9.5 inches- and there is still about 25% of the skein left over. So there is more than enough yarn in one skein of a pair of sock- perhaps baby socks too.
B/c I was so happy with the outcome of the socks, I placed the store's first Schaefer Anne order last week. A very large shipment will arrive in about a month, then it will take a week to take pics and put on the SSYC website. This order includes about a dozen nearly solid colors, and more than a dozen multicolors. I took all of your suggestions from last month in placing the order. The way Schaefer dyes, creates basically one-of-a-kind colors. So when I place orders from them, I will request a certain color, like Eleanore Roosevelt, and they will duplicate it closely, but not exactly. So when we get it in, I will most likely designate numbers to the yarn like "color 414" instead of names, b/c each time the colors will be different. If you have any other suggestions for naming ideas, please let me know.
Here are some other Finished Projects, of the gardening kind. Last year, Joe built some very nice flower boxes for our front windows, and this year, I found that impatiens work quite well in them. I planted these from seed (indoors) in March, and they really like the dappled shade provided by the tall oak trees in our yard. And all they need is watered every two days. My kind of gardening!
