baby blanket

Although I have been busy, I have still been knitting. I started a shawl for no other reason than wanting to do it. I was a mystery knit, so I had no idea what it was I was making at the time I started. I have about 12 rows to do until I cast off, and I am a little bored with the final part. The pattern is not all that exciting when looking at the rest of the shawl. I will complete it, probably this weekend as it is a holiday weekend and I am off work for 4 days.

I am using Patons Fab DK in Petrol (shade 02342) and Stylecraft DK in Silver (shade 1203).

I am also making a baby blanket for a workmate. I have not told him I am making it as I thought it would be a nice surprise for him. I am using Special Stylecraft for Babies DK in Baby Cream (shade 1245). The blanket is made up of 48 individually knitted squares and a separate border that are all sewn together. His baby is due in July, so I have no need to rush, and have made 10 squares so far, only 38 to go.

Once I have finished these two items I will be making a couple of hats and an enormous blanket that is over 7 foot wide. If you are a follower and regular reader you will know that I am most happy when I am making large complex items. The hats are “Rosalind Franklin Hats” by Mat Kladney, and the blanket will be revealed as I make it, the yarn of which will be over 4.5 times the height length of the Burj Khalifa, so I will be like a pig in mud.

My friend and his fiancé have just had a baby boy, and with that my knitting needles are at it again. I have made a blanket for his brother a good few years ago and Z still loves her blanket even though it is getting quite old now.

I bought pom-pom yarn over the weekend and started it and it was a load of crap. The yarn just was not right at all. The string between the pompoms was hard and almost like string, the pompoms were long, and at the time I thought the yarn was okay, but then working with it I knew it was not going to work. The cord between the pompoms is knitted into twice, and should then be hidden but this crap yarn seemed to made a feature of it, photo below.

After starting it on Saturday and feeling very disappointed I went onto LoveCrafts.com and ordered Rico Pompon yarn which I have used many times in the past and always ended with a great result. I picked their blue and white pompon yarn which looks really nice, better than the plain white. This is it so far. I only started it about an hour ago.

I am aiming to finish it this weekend, however, the band on the yarn states that three balls are required to make it, yet in the past I only used two. I am going to finish the first ball and if required order another to make it up to three, fingers crossed it arrives soon if needed. Once finished I will post a photo of it.