Decisions...

After much debate within my skull over yarn choices and many different stitch patterns swatched, I have finally decided on the yarn & pattern to use for my next baby blanket. This baby is #1 for my brother in-law and they have decided not to learn the sex of the baby beforehand. In addition, he had no clue on the colors in the nursery. So armed with that plethora of information, I decided on green again. Green is classic and timeless and has a certain understated elegance. I read many, many reviews of yarns for baby blankets and the result was quite mixed results. I'm opting to go with Knit Picks Swish Superwash because it's inexpensive, is supposed to soften up after washing (it does), machine washable (a must), wool=warm (they're in NJ), and the color choices are good. Plus, I have a bunch in my stash that I could swatch with. This is leftover from my ill-forgotten First Sweater. I am hereby passing that title to the cardigan I'm working on. I still can't find a suitable pattern for all of my Swish. Anyway, I like a stitch in a blanket that's unique, lies flat, has no lace for little fingers to snag on, looks good on the wrong side, and is neither too complicated (changes crazily from row to row), too boring (miles & miles of endless stockinette) or insane (K1, P1). The answer: what the Harmony Guide Vol. 2 calls something something Diamonds, I really cannot remember right now. Ta-da! Look at the pretty little swatch!

The Right Side:


The Wrong Side:



You'll probably have to click on the pics to enlarge them for stitch definition. This yarn was pretty nice to work with and definitely softened up after a little bath. I wasn't sure I could block superwash wool, but it stretched out nicely & the kinks disappeared. Speaking of blocking, I'll admit I've never liked to do it very much, it kinda scared me. Along comes another wonderful Eunny tutorial to rescue me. Now I love to block! I've blocked 3 swatches alone this month and I find it very exciting. By the way, did you hear about Eunny becoming the new editor of Interweave? I'm very excited to see what she's going to do with the magazine. She's completely brilliant as far as I'm concerned. So my blanket yarn has been ordered, along with a few other goodies like Cotlin to experiment with and more blocking pins for my newest obsession.

I treated myself to some lovely, long-lasting Carnations for my birthday, so here are a few lush, Spring pics for you. Don't they look tastily sparkling?




P.S.- Birthday yarny goodness pics to come soon!