New pattern alert!

Now I can fully talk about the cabled baby blanket that I've been talking about for the past little while! The pattern is called "Celtic Knotwork Baby Blanket". (I am nothing if not original.) So here are actual photos of the blanket itself, which I finished in mid-late September:

whole blanket


marketing artistic shot ;)

I'm pretty happy with it. I think the combination of simple and complex makes a very handsome finished product. Mind you, the combination of simple and complex also makes for an odd kind of knit. There are huge swaths of nothing but stocking stitch (which may make you contemplate suicide), but then once you get to the cabled bits, there's a lot of cabling, as many as 20 crosses per row at some points (which may make you contemplate murder, i.e. mine). On the other hand, those stocking stitch swaths are great when you need mindless knitting, and then later, the cabled bits are great when you need focused knitting.

Particular skills involved for this blanket are chart reading and cabling; although the instructions for the different kinds of cable crosses used are of course provided within the pattern. You can get more information by clicking on the pattern's icon in the left sidebar. It's $3.99US and you can...

Mi escuelita for Devangi

No progress has been made since last time, but at least my camera battery has been recharged and now I can show you how the sleeve's been coming along.

Mi escuelita for moi

Really, it's a very nice cardigan pattern. So much so that I was thinking I'd like to upsize it for myself, using worsted weight yarn, 4.5mm needles, and whatever appropriate size would work with the resulting new gauge. So to start with, I measured my own chest: 31 inches. (I know.) Add in about 10% ease and I need a finished chest size of 34.1 inches.

And darned if the largest (14-year) size doesn't have a finished chest size of 34 inches! I don't have to upsize in the slightest! All I need are 1530 yards of DK weight yarn. From...somewhere.

(We will please not discuss what it means to my self-esteem that my chest fits into something intended for a grade 9 girl.)

Finally, I must mention how thrilled I am to have received an extremely flattering mention on the Manic Purl podcast. It's Episode 43, "Full Swing", and Chrissy starts talking about the Hat Heel sock at the 44:02 mark. Thanks again, Chrissy!