Curlicue Baby Blanket

Shortly after learning a close friend was expecting her first child (started on September 3), I decided I needed to knit a gift. With this in mind, I purchased 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in a Khaki-ish color at Stitches Midwest. On size 4 (thought they were size 6 - oops!) needles, I cast on for the Curlicue Blanket by Skruddevutt (found on Ravelry. The yarn isn't exactly a mom's best friend but it's so unbelievably soft with it's fiber content: 55% Merino wool, 33% Microfibre, and 12% Cashmere. It's machine washable but is unfortunately dry flat and cool iron. But it can be dry cleaned.

The top and bottom border is 13 rows of garter stitch (approximately 1") and left and right border is 16 stitches of garter stitch. It's a lovely stitch pattern. Because I'm using a Sport-weight yarn, this is going to be a large project to tackle. I decided that I wanted the blanket to be at least 30" wide and 30" tall and cast on 209 stitches. This blanket, that is if I count my swatch gauge correctly, will have approximately 60,000 stitches. Crazy.

As of November 6, the blanket is 18 inches tall (over halfway there) and 30 inches wide - and it's only at 5 balls. This is by far the most intense project I've ever undertaken. It has to be comparable to knitting a sweater, right? Since it's just a square, it's not as though it looks like it's ever growing.

November 21, the blanket is 22" inches tall - 6 balls.

CO on 12/18/10 and blocked the next day. The final measurements are 36" wide and 31" tall or if one wants to place the blanket the other way 31" wide and 36" tall.

Stripey-Stripe-Stripe-Stripe

I cast-on a new Noro Striped Scarf this last weekend using the same yarn as the new Noro Striped Hat - Noro Silk Garden, 45% Silk, 45% Kid Mohair and 10% Lamb's Wool (colorway 275 and 267). The first time I made this scarf, I used size 7 needles and found that the fabric was too dense. I also cast on almost 40 stitches and found myself not liking the width over time. So, this time, I used size 9 needles and cast-on 25 stitches.

Striped Hat Part Duex...Too Big

After losing my striped hat on Black Friday, I opted to knit myself another one. This time I used only Noro Silk Garden, 45% Silk, $45% Kid Mohair and 10% Lamb's Wool (colorway 275 and 267).

CO 106 sts.

K2 P2 for the first 1.5" (approximately 12 rows). First four rounds are in colorway 267. Next four rounds (5-8) are in colorway 275. Next four rounds (6-12) are in colorway 267.

Round 13 increase 6 stitches (total stiches 110) evenly. Alternate two rounds in colorway 275 and 267 for 6.5". (I also made a jogless stripe so the lines would line up.)

Start decreasing every round until only 11 stitches are remaining.

Sew tail of leftover yarn through the 11 stitches.

Oh my. Now that it's on my head I'm keenly aware that it is too big. This thing has no negative ease at all. One weekend, I'm going to rip it and knit again.