Benne's Blanket

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Blanket square based on Hera Cable Scarf

Pattern: Hera Cable Scarf (link to chart here)
Yarn: Elann Highland Wool, Red Maple, 2 balls
Needles: 4.0 mm (US6)

You've already seen this before. Now I can tell you a little more about the secret project.

It was one month ago when Benne discovered she needed eye surgery and from this a group project was born. Libby was the ring leader; she's had prior experience with organizing a blanket project when we did Cheryl's Blanket Square back in October 2007 (see here and my square here). We had several months to complete Cheryl's blanket, about 4 to 5 months. Benne's blanket on the other hand was put together in one month. One month! A project born in the beginning of June with the goal of completion by July 8, 2008. We needed to get our squares to Libby by June 29, so she would have time to sew it all together. With over two dozen people involved in this blanket project, this certainly must be a quintessential example of group synergism.

Due to the aggressive time line for Benne's blanket, I was fortunate to have the Hera Scarf pattern ready to go. I was glad not to have to spend time trying to figure out what to do for my square. I started the square on June 8, would have finished on June 9 if Miss M wasn't sick, and managed to finish on June 10. Being the lazy the person that I am, I didn't get around to weaving in the ends until June 13.

I actually goofed in this square. I knit an extra row at the end before knitting the top border. I don't think anyone will really notice, but it sure does bug me!!!

This little red square is knit with Elann Highland Wool in the beautiful Red Maple color which I had also used in my Luna Moth Shawl. I just love this color. You have to see it in person to truly appreciate its beauty. I normally use 4.5 mm (US7) needles with Highland Wool, however for this blanket square I went down to 4.0 (US6) partly because I was afraid of exceeding the 12" square size limit. Do you know how hard it is to try to get a specific finished size? It's no wonder I prefer "free form" knitting, lol. Although I must admit that it seemed easier this time around than when I made Cheryl's blanket square. Only a smidgen of the 2nd ball was used for the last 8 or 9 rows. I think one ball would have been sufficient if I had chosen a plain knit/purl pattern or a lacy pattern.

Benne's Blanket before seaming

We received this photo from Libby, it shows what the blanket looks like before seaming. There is a lacy border that will go around it too. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished blanket.

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Hot hot hot. It's way too hot here. I can't believe the thermostat was already 73ºF inside the house at 7 AM. We are definitely going up into the 90s today. I haven't been knitting much lately due to the warm weather.

As I'm cruising around the knitting blogs and other places, I've noticed a distinct trend of people knitting (or thinking about knitting) the February Lady Sweater. What is this sweater that everyone is talking about? I had to find out more. I looked it up on Ravelry and it is a really cute sweater. Hmmm, I wonder if it's easy enough for me to knit? One of the photos on the main pattern page shows a pregnant woman modeling the sweater, so that gives me an idea of how it would look over a big belly. I need to take a closer look at the pattern to see whether the pattern is doable for me. I already have a few yarn possibilities in mind.

Kimberli pointed out the Assemblage sweater (Ravelry link) which she has been wanting to knit. It is somewhat similar to the February Lady Sweater in that it only buttons at the top and is open at the bottom. The Assemblage sweater has a more solid fabric (non-lacy) and longer sleeves. My first thought when I saw the Assemblage sweater is the fold over collar which would hide any botched up shoulder seaming. Yeah, I still have to learn how to seam properly. What I did on my mom's vest isn't pretty to look at; it would have looked worse if her vest was plain stockinette on both sides.

I think the easiest cover up would be to knit a shawl instead of a sweater. Or maybe even something like the Lake of the Woods (Ravelry link), a wrap which would stay on easily, which I saw on Kim's blog. I didn't see any photos of anyone using this as a maternity wrap, but I can imagine it working out.

So my friend mentioned that she is going to join in the Ravelympics knitalong. She's not a member of Ravelry though. Like me, she is using the Ravelympics as a good excuse to start and FINISH a knitting project within a specified time range. She told me she was thinking about making My So Called Scarf (Ravelry link), and asked me what yarn she should use. She wanted to make it in red. I immediately thought of variegated yarn, but didn't have anything specific in mind. Then thought, how about Malibrigo merino wool in the Amoroso or Vermillion colorway? Mmmm, luscious merino!

Speaking of the Ravelympics, I had joined the Scarf Stroke and Cable Steeplechase events. Some new events have been added (see list here) since then, so I have also joined the WIPs Wrestling and Gift Knits Pentathlon events. I'm going to cast on for the Triumph Cable Scarf for the Scarf Stroke and Cable Steeplechase, and try to finish off Regina for WIPs Wrestling. Both of these fall under the Gift Knits Pentathlon. I wonder if I am overextending myself here. Can I finish both in the 17 day window?

I'm almost done with my mom's vest, will post about it soon!

Ok, I've gotta post this now. The guv is bored watching me type this up on the computer. We need to go run some errands before it gets too hot outside.

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