A Reason To Knit

I got the best gift ever right before Thanksgiving, a wrapped up pacifier and booties which could only mean one thing- the news that we will be grandparents next July! We are so excited and thrilled. We found out also it is going to be a BOY! Oh joy, a boy! Out of the box floated these balloons!

Now I have more reason to knit! I will be able to put good use to the Grandma stash of blue sweaters, and the pumpkin hat and blankey ....and keep on going from there!

This blog has long been silent, however it may be more alive again this coming year as I have more reason to knit!

Fall Is Sprouting With Blankets, Gadgets and Coffee Beans

Here is my second "Sprout" Blanket completed, but not blocked yet. Taken on my new fancy smart phone. I am getting alot of practice using it and learning how to focus and such.You can see with the larger needles and different yarn, it came out a bit bigger than the original Green Sprout.               I had my eye on a lovely pattern, Vitamin D. I saw another Ravelry user who did the pattern with Elsebeth Lavold silky wool and I fell in love with hers: TwoKnitWit's turned out so spectacular in the Coffee Bean shade, 54, I just had to get some of my own and try my hand at it. Since we live in Seattle, it is appropriate that the Vitamin D sweater be knit with a yarn named "Coffee Bean" I think, since coffee is our Vitamin D almost year round here. This meant a trip to Weaving Works with my mom. I convinced her that it was a great pattern, and that she must also do it along with me. This is called "enabling." We took several hours to wind our skeins of yarn, and had an enjoyable afternoon doing so. This shade of brown has a lovely tinge of cinnamon in it. I adore it.

And of course, I got a chance to try my picture-taking skills out once again while there. Today I tried my skills out again before eating this lovely chocolate truffle cake at The Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive.

Even the butter was pretty.... I think those flowers were edible.

Sprouting Again

Back camping again at the Chewawa River....Such beauty in the bark of the trees and in the green moss, the sound of the river....

It's a great place to start working on my Sprout #2. This time using a less expensive yarn, Lion Brand Baby's First, a blend of cotton/acrylic. Much less expensive to use, and a different feel altogether than the first Sprout. I'm working on a size 10 needle this time. This picture wanted to present itself sideways:

I am using up alot more yarn with the bigger sized needles so I ran to get more in the same dyelot.  Now on to the 3rd skein and about midway through the blanket. So I figured on a total of six skeins for this project. Since I got the first 4 skeins on sale for $2.99 ea, it was a great deal. It will cost me about 1/2 as much as the first Sprout blanket I made.This yarn is 10 ply and the ends are very hard to weave in as it is very loosely plied. It is more comfortable however, since it is cotton/acrylic, to knit with in the Seattle "heatwave" we are now finally experiencing! The second time through this pattern is going much more quickly. I don't like reading from charts, as some people prefer. I like reading the written word much better. So I translated the chart into written directions to follow the 2nd time around. Overall, it is cute, cute...and the end result with be a slightly larger blanket than my first.

Green Sprout Goes Camping

I've been wanting to try the Spud & Chloe yarn for a long, long time. Just waiting to find the perfect project to use it on, as it tends to be bolder, brighter and more fun-loving. It is a bit on the pricey side at $15 a skein, ouch! Using 3 skeins of the "grass 7502" color to make this project, will cost about $50. However, it is highly rated from users and so I thought I should use the called for yarn for the first one I make. Apparently the cotton/wool blend gives great feel and definition. This is a worsted sweater yarn that is machine washable. Just right for making the Sprout Blanket by Hanna Breetz. You can click on my link to see it there.

 Without giving away the details of the chart, this gives you an idea how it is constructed. Looks like the increases are made by purling into the front and back of stitches next to the leaves.

 It's a cute little blankey for a little "sprout!"

It will make a great project to take with me on my camping trip to Eastern, WA where we will be catching some more sun next week. Summer has just barely arrived in Seattle and we have had only a few days over 80 so far, with mostly low 70's at best, and more rain than we ever imagined possible. However, we would gladly take this weather pattern over and against what the rest of the nation is facing with triple digit heat advisories. Yes,...70's sound just fine to us here.

Here we go! Camping while knitting the Sprout!

 The beginnings of the Sprout...Hard to miss with this kind of scenery to knit by.

 As Sprout grows upward, I am falling even more in love with it.  This yarn was a dream to knit with.

 I knit like a maniac and in three days it was finished. Had to do an outdoor photo shoot with my beloved Sprout.

The reverse side of the blanket is also pretty. My husband liked this side of the blanket:

I am very excited about my little Green Sprout! I will be saving this one for a future little "grandsprout". Until then, I guess I should try blocking it and see how it does. This yarn is to be machine washed gently and tumbled dry on low. I am nervous to try this, but this is what they say. And for now it might just have to make its home on my brown chair in the yarn room. Because the bright green goes SO well with it and my pillow. And because I simply adore it! I am smitten with it actually.