Totally Autumn Throw by Anne Hanson of Knitspot
Fall Knitty 2007
Interlacements Merino Worsted, 2 sk (560 yd, 4 oz @)-- large size
US 9 (5.5mm), Knit Picks Harmony Options 48"
Started: 17 November 2007
Finished: 2x December 2007
If you remember from last year, I decided to try and make my grandma an afghan for Christmas every year (last year was Lizard Ridge)... perhaps I'll get lucky and find another knitty afghan pattern catching my eye this year :) Anne has such an eye for beautiful stitch patterns and I was lucky she thought to put this one into a blanket. I was also lucky to have a simple, easycare yarn in the stash.
The yarn is Interlacements' Merino Worsted (superwash), I can't find it on their website and it may be a one-off for shows only (I bought these at Stitches West 2006, a steal @ $15 each-- their dyers' choice sale bin is always worth checking out if you have a show they're attending in your neck of the woods). To be honest I don't know how much use Lizard Ridge is getting (I know gma loves it), but wanted to make a throw this time that her Boston Terrier could curl up on without fear of not being able to wash it every time.
The 2 skeins of Merino Worsted were not dyelotted, so I alternated the skeins every pattern repeat for a slightly striped effect. You can't really tell when it's in use, but prone on a table is another thing ;) It's large enough for a person to cuddle under and have their feet covered; my gma may not even break 5' so it may cover her even more :) It's the larger size-- 8 pattern repeats (just shy of a full 8th), and slightly shorter garter st borders @ the bottom and top.
I was lucky enough to see my family during this month, but didn't have gma's throw done yet-- I did knit on it in front of her and she loved watching without knowing it was for her. She told me she "had to give me credit for knitting something so patterned," that she preferred simple things because she lost track of patterns too easily. Then I showed her my simple universal row counter and she was blown away; I could see how useful she would have found it, knitting all those years ago.
She said they looked like pineapples, and one of the best gifts of the season was her telling me how much she loved it.
Yay :)
Malabrigo afghan next year for gma... need to find a pattern sooner rather than later! Why Malabrigo?
Cos I've been enjoying snuggling with my son's Malabrigo Mystery Blanket myself.
Mystery Blanket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Knitter's Almanac, April
Malabrigo/HandpaintedYarn.com merino worsted-- "pollen" (3 skeins)
US 10 (6.0mm), various circular lengths
Started: September 2007
Finished: November 2007
Secret time: I sleep with a baby blanket. Not just any, but the one the hospital sent me home with after I was born. A yellow thermal waffle pattern that was edged with satin-- loved off sometime around year seven, that I slept with throughout my childhood and was one of the non-essentials I stuffed into garbage bags and dragged behind me once I left my childhood home and went on to college, that has been in every bed I spent any goodly amount of time in for my entire life.
That I swaddled my son in when I brought him home for the first time, whispering that it was his now-- one of the few things that was truly mine to give away.
And it means the world to me, and kinda eh for him :) Which is fine! But I kinda wanted him to have something special, the chance to fall in love with something tangible... he isn't really attached to anything like a favorite toy and thought maybe a blanket of his own would be the ticket.
So far? Eh. :) Soft, cuddly, but not... It. Perhaps it's just me, perhaps I didn't get attached to mine til I was old enough to understand attachment and look at it from a distance, appreciate something I could hold away and bring back.
Zimmermann's Msytery Blanket is meant to be knit into several squares and grafted together using Kitchener stitch... mine is just one perfect mindless knitting square :) Being stst, it curls at the edges, but I don't care. I'm also in the minority about all kids' knits being machine washable-- I handwash infrequently, but the fine things I make for my kid I just don't mind handwashing. I don't dress him up to roughhouse at the playground-- handknits or not. He wears and uses my knitting far and between, mostly as occasion knits, and even though this blanket's getting much more wear and tear than a special mom's-showing-me-off sweater, I haven't needed to wash it (yet). It was a pleasure for me to make, and a pleasure to curl up with, so mmmalabrigo it'll be for grandma's next year.
...Which is almost here! Happy new year yall!
