Knitting Inspired by Missoni

To continue the "obsessed with blanket" trend, I was inspired by fibre space's blog post about Missoni.Yet another colorful blanket that is on target and trend this season. (Pun intended!) I like fibre space's suggest that Berroco Vintage has the right colors and the right texture to make this blanket sing. And with Vintage you get almost double the yardage of the suggested yarn - making the yarn cost lower and the number of ends to weave in fewer. But Vintage's color are more variegated than the yarn used by the designer. I'm going to have to ponder this one.

With all my talk of knitting projects that just won't end, then why am I gravitating toward huge projects?

Like this one...

Lizard Ridge Blanket - Laura Aylor

And this one...

Chevron Baby Blanket - Purl Soho

And heaven forbid this one...

The beekeeper's quilt - tiny owl knits

I love love love these little outfits for my boy. He looked so cute for church.

My obsession with socks...

About 2 years ago, I declared to my mother-in-law - "I have no desire to learn how to knit socks."

First pair of toe up socks - completed!

Well with that statement, my sock obsession began. It was like once I said that I couldn't stop thinking about socks. Yes, I know that I can go to Walmart or Target and buy them for a lot cheaper than I can knit them but where is the challenge in that? I tried knitting one sock at a time on double points and I just didn't enjoy the process, not to mention that I never started the second sock. Then I tried two socks on one circular needle - cuff down. They are all out of wack and the Kitchener didn't make sense at all. Finally I tried toe up/two socks on one circular and I got it. My gauge isn't always perfect and my socks don't always fit right but I do enjoy knitting them. So until I get all the bugs out of the process and can knit a pair a month like the Yarn Harlot, I will continue to enjoy knitting socks as well as buying them from Walmart and Target.

Will the knitting ever end???

No I haven't lost my mind by asking this question. I don't mean forever - I mean on certain projects. You know the feeling. You start a project with the best of intentions and you knit a long happily for some time then, well, you begin to loath the project - the stitches, the pattern, the needles, even (heaven forbid) the yarn.

I'm faced with a few NEKP (Never Ending Knitting Projects) right now. I could frog them and give it another try in a few months or I could hibernated them and completely forget about them. But these 2 project are not going to get the best of me.

The first is a pair of elegant socks. They have dogged me from the beginning. I missed a few increases in shaping the toe and I had to tink my way out and start again. On my 2nd start, I worked the wrong size and so I had to modify it back down to the smaller size. Then I didn't pay close enough attention to the cable pattern in the beginning and there are several mistakes. Plus my gauge is all off (it was ok on the swatch) and they are more like slipper socks. Finally the last straw was that I miscounted before starting to work the short rows for the heel shaping and was 10 stitches short. Had to tink out again. My confidence level with socks is low right now and to ice the cake, I'm teaching a sock knitting class for the next month.

The other project is a baby blanket. A garter stitch baby blanket. Simple right??!?!?! Well it should be. I started with the Super Easy Baby Blanket pattern from Purl Soho. You begin the blanket by casting on 130 stitches. Well, 130 stitches didn't look big enough on the needles, so I cast on another 40 stitches for a total of 170. Now I'm knitting a twin size bed cover for a newborn. It is crazy big!!! And because it is so wide, I have to keep knitting on the length so it will not be out of proportion. I love the alternating colors and the varying lengths but it feels like the baby will be graduating from high school before I finish it. Maybe the cooler weather will inspire me to charge forward.