Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Moderne Log Cabin Blanket

In the big Spotlight sale at Christmas and the relocating sale at my LYS, I bought about 4-5 sweaters worth of yarn for my daughter. Only to have her tell me, she'd prefer them in a blanket. A BIG blanket.

So I chose the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket by Mason Dixon. It has been fun, but a lot of work. The endless garter stitch has been much needed lately, I haven't felt like cables or lace or thinking, just knitting. And it certainly provides that!

I have enjoyed knitting the big blocks and seeing how the colors I chose in the order I chose work together. At first I was a bit unsure, but now my daughter and I love it. I have used a mix of solid lavender and solid "Poseidon" a light teal I suppose, with a completely Varigated pink and purple mix, as well as a green Varigated yarn. The effect is different to say the least.

The blanket is very big now. I am on the second last block and although the blanket is lovely to knit on at night, over my lap, keeping me toasty warm, each row takes about 10 minutes. Then flipping the blanket to knit back. A little unwieldy. And the weight! Of I don't have my wrists low enough, the weight of the blanket can hurt.

But love hurts doesn't it?

Monday, May 21, 2012

FO - Pillars of Strength Socks

Going back a little while, I finished my Pillars of Strength socks. They were knit as a test knit and the pattern is now available on ravelry. I knit them on 2.25mm needles, 2 circs, using Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4ply in Ruby. The luxury is 100% wool, merino I think.

The socks took a while to finish, I enjoyed the pattern, but found the pattern a bit fiddly, mostly because of the twisted cables that create the pillars. In the pattern they are written as one stitch cables. I learn how to do this in a Debbie Bliss pattern without a cable needle. But it is quite tricky to do on such a small scale.

For this reason the socks were not going fast enough for me, and lost some of their enjoyment. Although I do admit once they were finished I was very pleased with how they look, they fit well and are nice and comfy.

I have decided that I think plain stockinette socks are more for me. I think I prefer to do the patterning on a larger scale for ease, and also to show it off on a more visible platform, clothing or shawls.