fall and a log cabin blanket

Fall has come.

October is here.

The local fair has come and gone.

The maples are at their showiest.

The leaves are in waiting for a long slow rain before exposing their branches.

Hey, any knitter knows these are signs to start some serious fall and winter knitting. So brings me to my latest WIP - The Log Cabin Blanket. My pattern selection was designed by Kay Gardner and Ann Shayne from Mason Dixon Knitting.

As my fingers are in constant Log Cabin motion these days, I have come to a comforting realization...there is no pressure, no questioning my size selection, not a grain of worry if my color choice works with my (pink) skin tone, and no doubting my fiber selection...you see, I know this project WILL FIT! One size fits all type thing. Let this sound unusual if you may, but I'm finding this realization to make for an awesome, easy and stress-free project.

Here I am in my Log Cabin Motion.
Upon review of 750 Log Cabin blankets in Ravelry, I discovered that a blanket knit in individual blocks was the design that suited me best. So, I'm enthusiastically churning out a square every two days with no brain input.

My LC is knit with nine different colorways of glorious Berroco Ultra Alpaca on #7 needles. I wanted a blanket that had a modern and sleek flair and chose shades of whites, browns and turquoise with a dark grey border. The colors used are: 6208, 6279, 6293, 6204, 6246, 6201, 6203, 6294, and 6289.

This blanket will be pieced with four squares width-wise and five squares in length and connected with a dark grey two inch wide panel of garter stitch while the outside border will be finished with the same dark grey two inch wide panel. The piece should measure about 54" x 72".

A blanket that rocks!

easy peasy fuzzy wuzzy

best describes this knit!
I know it's only a scarf! But Oh. My. Gosh ... how fabulous! This One Skein (mine is actually Two) Portrait Scarf was knit with Artful Yarns Portrait Yarn. Using two skeins made for a nice, long scarf that can be wrapped and worn in many different fashions. See the simple fun lace pattern........

Deciding which way to wear this piece is more difficult than knitting the simple lace pattern.

knitting the blues

....and wondering how I have a shawl and a scarf on the needles in blue tones. No problem 'cause blue is always good in my book.

On September 9th, I started the Swirl Shawl. I purchased the Jojoland-Melody yarn and the Swirl Shawl pattern over a year ago and thought 2009 would be the year of the Hexagon for me. My first experience with Jojoland was THIS project using Jojoand Rhythm and now I find the Jojoland Melody fiber to be just as pleasing, their color combinations and tones are fabulous!

My piece is knit using the Magic Loop method with #5 Lace Addi needles. How interesting reading the many different methods and needles selected by different knitters. I think everyone has to find those perfect needles and the method that works for them and only after completing a couple of Hexagons do your really know what that is. My project was started on regular circular addi needles (which I love), but I quickly realized I would have to invest in some Lace Addi needles. Well, the Lace Needles made all the difference when knitting all those K3togs! Yea..lace needles for the K3togs and a #D crochet hook were the perfect tools for my Swirl Shawl. Now I'm moving right along without incident.

Here is a copy of a worksheet used to keep me on track with this project. I have a sheet for each row (my shawl will be finished in 5 rows), one for row A, B, C, D and E. Each sheet consists of a row count for each Hexagon.

My next blue project is

the One Skein Portrait Scarf. This is a simple, but lovely scarf using Artful Yarns/Portrait. The pattern is actually on the inside of the yarn band. I chose to use 2 skeins of the Portrait yarn to make a longer 80" scarf. This is such a wonderful and simple lace pattern and perfect for TV and movie watching. I love multi-tasking! Actually, I think I will pick up this project and put in the DVD, Race to Witch Mountain by Walt Disney. You just can't go wrong with a Walt Disney movie and a mohair scarf on a Sunday afternoon!