FO: Efeziya's blanket

From the blog backlog...





Efeziya's blanket
Started: July 1 (?)
Finished: Sept. 11
Pattern: Based on this recipe. Stitch patterns include Embossed Diamonds and King Charles Brocade from the Vogue Knitting Ultimate Knitting Book. I used a double crochet bind-off, as detailed here. Approximately 36" square.
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted, 10.5 balls cream, 0.5 ball sea spray
Needles: US 9 Denises

Pile o' baby knits

Here's a peek at all the baby knitting I've recently completed, along with a cute sheep-featuring card we bought for one of the new babies.

Quick stash roundup

On Sunday John and I took a nice walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and somehow found ourselves at P & S Yarns. I purchased 6 balls of light gray Bernat Satin with which I plan to knit holiday gifts for John's mom, who is allergic to wool. (I'm allowing myself to buy yarn as long as it's for gifts and I don't already have something on hand that will work. I bound off the baby blanket last night, and with two big projects finally off the needles, some space has freed up in my yarn closet.) We also made it over to Brooklyn General for the first time. It was full of amazing things I had only read about, like Morehouse Farm Merino, Lobster Pot Cashmere, and Ozark Handspun, but I managed to restrain myself and not buy anything.

Below are some pictures from my stash that I've been meaning to post. All were purchased many months ago. This should help remind me that I've got lovely yarn on hand, just waiting to be knitted up.


Malabrigo merino wool in burgundy, ordered online from WEBS in February. Described by many as "buttery soft" and I have to agree. There are 215 yards in each skein. I plan to make it into a cozy scarf for myself. In the meantime I just pet it from time to time.


Rowan CashSoft Aran in color "haze" purchased on eBay in March. It was a really good deal that I couldn't pass up. This yarn is soft, warm, and machine washable -- perfect for gifts. I think I still have almost a full ball of the "oat" color left over from previous projects, so that could be good for accents.


Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, bought on sale last winter at Yarn Connection with Branching Out in mind. Any lacy pattern would probably work with this yarn. I only have one skein but it's 190 yards.


Cascade Fixation purchased at The Point in April, intended to become a bikini, which I started swatching for but never got around to knitting this summer. In a pinch it could be turned into stripey socks.

Blanket in progress

The baby blanket is still around 24" square. Progress is slow these days due to the fact that each round is now 96" long! And I'm not a very fast knitter. And sometimes it's just too darn hot to knit.


The center is stockinette, then I did some weird thing that was supposed to be moss stitch but wasn't, then there is some seed stitch. The outermost stitch is "embossed diamonds" from the Vogue Knitting Ultimate Knitting Book. Next I'm planning to do the "King Charles brocade" stitch from the same book.

Recent acquisitions, what I'm working on

While in Turkey I did a little online yarn shopping as well as the aforementioned bazaar yarn shopping. Jannette's Rare Yarns had an amazing sale going on at the time, and I couldn't resist purchasing a 10-skein bag of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed in off-white flecked with bright blue, lemon, and black. Methinks it will make lovely cabled scarves and hats or something like that. (Maybe a cabled sweater for my little niece? It is machine washable...) By the way, Jannette's Rare Yarns provides the best, friendliest customer service I've ever come across on the internet!


When I returned from the honeymoon, I ordered 14 16 balls of KnitPicks Shine Worsted: 8 in Cream, 4 6 in Sea Spray, and 2 in Bachelor Button. I also ordered shade cards for Shine and Shine Worsted for future reference. This was my first KnitPicks purchase, and I have been pleased so far. The yarn has a nice luster, and it is very soft, especially after it is knitted up. There have been a few nubby spots as I've been knitting, but nothing too serious. The bulk of that yarn is on its way to becoming a baby blanket for John's friends in Istanbul who were so generous and hospitable while we were there. They have a 3-month-old -- well actually, by now he must be at least 4 months old. I'm using Cris's Sampler Baby Blanket pattern (it's really more of a template), and it's currently about 24" square. My goal is 36" square, so, if my math is correct, I'm only about 45% done. The remaining yarn I will knit into chemo caps and donate to Support Connection, an organization where my mom volunteers. They provide all sorts of great services to women with breast and ovarian cancer. In the future I hope to make chemo caps whenever I am between projects.

Now I am on a self-declared yarn purchasing hiatus. I have even been to a wonderful new yarn store (Knitty City) and not purchased anything! I have decided I need to knit up enough of the yarn in my stash to free up some space in my closet before I can make any more purchases.