Friday, June 06, 2008

A little project catch-up and a mistake…

I made another blanket :)

I don’t know why I can’t seem to make one at a time like normal people.  It seems that if I make one (like this one), I have to make another too.  Doesn’t have to be the same, but…



Wool blanket



In this case, I did use the same crochet square - Chris Simon’s Flower Burst Square, but I handled it differently.  For one thing, I had no idea how far the scraps and bits I was using would go because there were so many of them and no real quantity to any one color.  So I just winged it, joining things more-or-less at random and working things out as I went along.

These are all animal fibers - wool, alpaca, llama, mohair and even a bit of cashmere and silk.



Block with rayon thread



All except for the occasional rayon thread as in the block above, added for interest :) And let me tell you this is as warm and snuggly a blanket as you could ever hope for!  I had worried that the pink/purple palette would result in a kind of one-note feeling, colorwise.  I think if I had gone for black borders rather than natural, that might have been the result.

It’s the natural colored yarn, I think, that saves it.  Because the undertone of the natural is yellow, it nicely but gently highlights and shows off all the blue tones in the pinks and purples.  In any case, my stash cabinets are a lot lighter now, I have a blanket I’m thrilled with and I have space to legitimately contemplate filing with more yarn.  Heh… I am going to try to vary my palette though - Some yellows, some of the less strident oranges, some reds and maybe even some greens.  Doesn’t mean there will never again be any pinks and purples - only that I’m trying to expand myself to include other things as well.

Working on the shawl last night, I ran across this.



Dropped stitch



A dropped stitch… I should have fixed it then but I was so annoyed with myself that I was afraid I would just do further damage so I shall go a-tinking this afternoon.  Grrrrr....

I’m also thinking about making this project a shoulder shawl rather than a full sized behemoth.  One, while I never gave any thought to shoulder pieces (my mind running along bigger=better lines), it seems to me that I should at least try one :) In fact, I have a little top this would look very nice with.  The other reason is eminently more venal though.  I’m just about finished with the second ball of yarn - which you’ll remember, started out as sock yarn.  You may also remember there were 5 balls of yarn to begin with.  If I use a third ball to finish and edge the shawl, I’ll still have two balls left to make matching socks out of.  For some reason this idea tickles my fancy no end.

Finally, Chatters is on for tomorrow evening!



Knitting Chatter, Saturdays 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM EST



See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Bring your projects and come and enjoy!

And have a wonderful weekend :)

Babbled by Robbyn on 06/06 at 09:30 AM
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  1. hmmpf!! *you* lose your mojo and still manage to create something useful and pretty- i love the blanket and think it just embodies ‘robbyn colors’- interesting to think of you purchasing oranges, yellows, and greens but i’ll be eager to see something pretty from them- as you know, *my* exotics tend to be creams, wild beiges, and popping greys unless i’m working on something for someone’s expected baby or dana’s socks- oh well, i have pink boots!!

    stay happy-

    Posted by  on  06/06  at  01:18 PM
    Location : right here pretending to work

  2. That is one beautiful blanket Robbyn - I do love the “finer” crochet appearance than the poor granny square which is all that I am capable of putting together. Then there is the issue of all those ends! ...

    Posted by nat  on  06/06  at  04:12 PM
    Location : getting better - thanks for asking!

  3. That blanket turned out very nicely. The colours work really well together and I can believe it’s cozy.

    The shawl’s looking good, too. Shoulder shawls are nice; I wore mine to work today. It was just a little cool around the neck, so the shawl was perfect!

    Good plan, keeping two balls of yarn for matching socks.

    Posted by Ev  on  06/06  at  04:42 PM
    Location : home after a long day at work

  4. Barb - Well, cream will be a part of things too and I can’t promise to completely forgo pinks and purples.  I mean, I’d swear, but a batch of rose and/or periwinkle would immediately present itself and I’d have to go back on my oath - which would be a bad thing :)

    But it does seem like I should be paying attention to the rest of the spectrum - at least a bit more than I have been.

    Posted by Robbyn  on  06/06  at  06:47 PM
    Location : Tinking...feh...

  5. Nat - This is not difficult even though it’s not a typical granny.  The ends are conquered by doing all of one part at a time.  Start with the centers - do all of them before going on.  Then when you begin the next round(s), just crochet the ends in as you go.  It’s not too bad, really!

    Posted by Robbyn  on  06/06  at  06:49 PM
    Location : Tinking...feh...

  6. Ev - Thanks :) Right now I’m wallowing in annoyance as the tinking of the shawl has grown into a day long project having discovered a serious error about four rows down.  Bleah…

    I expect to be working on something, anything else over the weekend :)

    Posted by Robbyn  on  06/06  at  06:52 PM
    Location : Tinking...feh...

  7. Beautiful blanket! I love those colors together. You have such a great eye.

    Posted by Opal  on  06/06  at  08:01 PM
    Location : Honolulu, Hawaii

  8. Opal - Thanks kindly.  I know you are going through your own palette upheaval regarding pink.  I love some of the tones you use - colors that I haven’t had anything to do with so you’re part of my inspiration to open up to new choices :)

    Posted by Robbyn  on  06/06  at  09:21 PM
    Location : Tinking...feh...

  9. Silly, all famous artists, keep remaking their paintings, sculptures etc.... You are just perfecting it.
    Hate it when I find a dropped stitch, sometimes that is the perfect time to throw something and storm off for a cup of tea.
    Vicki

    Posted by Vicki  on  06/07  at  06:16 PM
    Location :

  10. Vicki - “Storming off for a cup of tea”

    LOL!  Were you watching me?  I don’t often get that frustrated with my knitting but once I was so annoyed with myself I threw it (a poor, inoffensive sock) across the room.

    But that’s pretty childish so I try not to do that too often.  Besides, it scares the cats :)

    Posted by Robbyn  on  06/07  at  07:52 PM
    Location : Tinking...feh...

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