Sunday, June 06, 2010

Larkin Baby Blanket

Last night I finished all but the 15-stitch garter stitch graft to join the two ends of the border, and this morning, I spent way too much time grafting and weaving in the ends. The whole thing is blocking on our spare bed and will be ready to hand off to the wee one soon.

About that grafting. I’d never done garter grafting before. It’s actually easier than stockinette grafting. Rather than having to switch which stitch you do for the dropped of stitch as you work back and forth, you always knit and drop, then purl and keep – for both sides. Easy, right? Unless you’re me. After looking at several explanations of whether you should see purl or knit stitches on the two needles before getting stared, I must have started the grafting four times. Turns out the instructions in the pattern were accurate! Imagine that? When in doubt – trust the designer. It wasn’t that I doubted you, Snowden – it was more like I second-guessed myself. This trait (among other things) is what would make me such a bad contestant on The Amazing Race.

I’m quite pleased with how this turned out. As I’d mentioned earlier, I didn’t have a lot of experience with lace knitting. It was great to see how what kind of looked lumpy and misshapen turned out so orderly and symmetrical after a good soaking. This is getting me excited about my upcoming Franklin Habit class.

Beautiful design, Snowden! When Jeff asked me to knit a baby blanket for his department’s administrative assistant’s new granddaughter, I though of this right away. It was inspiring to see the examples that both Snowden and Abbe knitted. I’m so fortunate to be surrounded  by such talented knitters and designers!

If and when I get a picture of the little one snuggled up in this, I’ll be sure to share.


6 comments:

  1. So pretty! I've actually been working on mine this weekend!

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  2. Well, that is just lovely, Steven. The color looks even better in person--I know what you mean about cameras not quite capturing what you see when it comes to color, for sure. Thanks for all the kind words (and for the nice plug for my pattern, too, of course)!

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  3. Thank you Steven for the beautiful blanket. You do such beautiful work and I am delighted to have received such a gift as this. It is as original as her name: Aziah Jenae.
    TyshunR
    GrandMa

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  4. Very pretty! It turned out so well...

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  5. Danielle HendersonJun 10, 2010, 2:30:00 PM

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE the blanket! I have (very little) experience with knitting and crocheting and I know the committment you have to put into it. I really appreciate you :)
    The blanket is very soft and I plan on having Aziah take her first pictures with it. I'll definately get a picture to you. And thank you again; you're great!

    PS: These online pics are great but in person it's so much better!

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