PolarGrrlPurls

So What About That Quilt?

Remember that blanket I started last winter? The one made of 30 log cabin style knit squares? In spite of my silence on the topic, there has been quite a lot of progress. This afternoon I completed the 3 needle bind off of the sashing between the first 2 strips of squares. I'm incredibly happy with the way this blanket is turning out! See! Pictures! Isn't it pretty?!

   

Interminable

I've been into knitting hats lately mainly because I'm at that part of knitting the quilt where it seems like it will never, ever end. I'm up to the length-wise sashing that puts the strips of squares together. We're talking 268 stitches per row, 13 rows and then 536 (268 x 2) stitches for the 3 needle bind off. I've got half of the first sashing knit and I'm on to the second half of it this evening. There are 4 strips of sashing to put the 5 strips of squares together so it's gonna be a little while, I think.

Getting back to the latest hat. It's the Turn A Square pattern by Jarred Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and I knit it in Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran left over from the disappointing Star Crossed hat and a little Pure Merino in light blue. There is no particular recipient for this hat, so it will go into the Gift Drawer along with a few more hats I have planned using scraps and odd skeins that have been littering up the stash. Just pretend that it's been blocked.

 

Paintbox Afgan Progress

I finally have chosen the yarn I want to use for the sashing and borders - though I'm still a little on the fence about whether I should go with the Cascade Eco in dark brown (#8095) or the Eco+ in black (#50) - and I spent 45 minutes a few days ago laying out all the knit squares on the lawn in front of my apartment building wearing a pair of shorts and a waaaay oversized t-shirt (sans bra) with my hair piled on top of my head a la Trailer Parks of America. Why, yes, I did go to finishing school...why do you ask?

I swapped them around a bunch until I liked the distribution of the lights, brights, darks, and earth colors and then took a picture and made a little chart of what square goes where so that I would remember. I'm waiting on some knitting-designated spending money to appear in my budget to buy the Cascade Eco/Eco+, but at least I know where to start when I get my greedy little hands on the yarn. (In the mean time, I'll try to finish up my brother's scarf and get a few more repeats done on Corfu).

Did I Say...

Actual Knitting Content? I must have, because that's what I'vev got! After a somewhat extended hiatus from working on the paintbox afgan, I have finished knitting all the squares.

Please  allow me to present squares #26-30 in colors 184, 164, 172, 102, and 185, respectively.

This means that the afgan is officially 85% complete. (That's a rather satisfying number, no?)

Blanket Progress

There has been a little progress on the Paintbox Afgan. I've knit block #25 and I'm half way through block #26.

Imagine Knitting Content...

do you have that image in your head? Good! Because I have some honest to goodness knitting content for you!

Amidst the several months of chaos in my home, which included (but was not limited to) Marikal undergoing major surgery for what they thought was cancer but turned out to be sarcoidosis, planning the wedding, stupid craziness at work, stuff with clients, and an increase in my writing output for various and sundry projects I have, actually, been knitting. Though I admit not as much as usual.

Here, you will see six more afghan squares for the Paintbox afghan project! Aren't the purty? This constitutes blocks #19-#24 in colors 116, 134, 166, 32, 207, and 182 (in order).

Progress AND Pictures

Through the craziness of the past three weeks, I have been keeping myself sane with a LOT of knitting. Marikal is home from the hospital and is healing well. I have not been to work in a week and have taken this coming week off, too. In addition to the knitting I have been making up some new earrings and repairing some old ones. I've also got a fresh water pearl necklace in the works, but pictures of the jewelry will have to wait.

Today, I present more squares!!! Blocks 13-18 in Noro Kureyon colors 163, 159, 195, 154, 215, and 150, respectively.

As always, double-click to enlarge.

Mini Update

Life has been crazy monkey banana pants lately. Marikal had a lobe-ectomy on Friday to remove the mass in her lung that was found in a chest x-ray back in early October. She came through the surgery well and will be in the hospital for 5-10 days and then at home for another 2-4 weeks as she recovers. We are still waiting on the test results but first blush looks like it may not be cancer after all. (Now we just all cross our fingers and toes that the test results support this.)

In the world of knitting, I have completed 16.75 (soon to be 17) squares for the Paintbox afghan. Marikal contributed to the project by suprising me with 4 skeins of Kureyon that she picked out for Valentine's Day.  :) The scarf for my brother is coming along nicely, through somewhat more slowly than the afghan. I've got about 16 inches knit and I'm most of the way through the first skeins of Silk Garden. I started a pair of socks in the Trekking #100 that Marikal gave me last Christmas. They are just a plain knit and because of this, I am already up to the gusset. I'm using the "Strong Heel" by Gerdine Crawford-Strong as described in the Knitter's Magazine Fall 2003. The hot water bottle cover is on hold while I knit more interesting things.

Paintbox Update

I've completed 14 squares and I'm starting to think about how I'm going to use all the 5 g. mini-skeins leftover from each square. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Yarnerina's No Sew Mitered Square Blanket. With the eyelet CO she used and working in the round, I could use up every scrap without having to guestimate yardage, etc. I could then attach the squares with the same sashing technique that GetYourHookOn used. The second blanket won't be as big, but I can live with that. It might be nice to have something smaller for the counch (or I may gift it to someone).

I'm A Little Square

Actually, I'm a little round, but that' another post for another day.

I finally managed to devise a lighting configuration in my house that allows for reasonably decent pictures of small items and so I present 6 more of the afghan squares!