Sunday, September 18, 2011

Knit wise... the baby blanket...

I've been on vacation all week. A 'staycation' if you will, since I stayed in town. I've been able to play in the fiber box as much as I like and fiddle with the strings (piano and cello) as much as I like. And it's been fabulous! :)

Monday I went to Coney Island--I'll cover that in a separate post.

I started almost every day by tending the birds then heading out the door with my thermos of coffee. A spin around the corner to pick up the paper and back across the street into the park to catch up on the daily awfulness of news--and believe me I did not spend much time on it. Just enough to stay abreast. The paper was quickly set aside for more important and more enjoyable matters: knitting.

Several squirrels inquired of my project. They were happy with the few peanuts I tossed out. I also had inquiries from a few humans. One lady who stopped by said her nephew knit and he found that it was very relaxing. Yes, indeed.

The blanket is coming along nicely. I don't think it's soft enough for a baby's skin so I've decided to line the back of it with something softer. If I had enough time I'd knit a backing but I'm not sure the time is going to be there. I'm also toying with the idea of filling it with polyfil or something like that to turn it into a baby quilt. It does get cold up there in Vermont.

Picture at round 7 follows. I'm not sure how many rounds I will knit. I purchased 8 skeins and have 3 or 4 left. I decided to work with 4 different colorways and have been breaking off mid-skein (or more or less) to attach a colorway that I think will work best at the current location. So far, I'm pleased with the results.


I spent part of this week attending to "fall cleaning" in the apartment. Moving things around and un-'stuff'-ing and de-cluttering somewhat and even cleaning! I removed one "stash" cabinet from the living room and in the process had to decide what to do with the set of circular knitting needles that were housed therein. It's always been a problem these circulars. So unwieldy to store. For some reason I've not taken to the notebook method of storing them. Seems so... against their nature.

So, with this week's luxurious non-commitment I found myself improvising. Yesterday I went down cellar and found a dowel and small piece of 2x4 which I turned into this circular needle tree/sculpture. I used my needle gauge to select the right drill bits. To me it looks like a ship. It looks like a switch board. It looks like a sculpture. It's a disarray of organization. It makes me laugh. So I like it. I'm envisioning a "deluxe" model using a wooden coat tree as a basis.

6 comments:

  1. I think you'll maybe be starting a new trend in circular knitting needle storage, Bernard. That's really neat!!!! Amazing what a few days of staycation can do for one's brain, huh?
    The blanket is just beautiful. We have a Noro crazy friend who does wear her Noro but not right next to her skin. Sounds like lining the blanket might be a good idea. Would you use flannelette?

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  2. That sounds like a relaxing week. I love the blanket; the colors are beautiful. But no, Noro is not necessarily cozy!

    I have my circular needles in a silk case, but it really isn't meeting my needs. I'm thinking of a holder that hangs on the wall like this one. I took over my college student son's room as a knitting studio, and this would be great on the wall.

    http://www.lanternmoon.com/Circular-Elegance_p_68.html

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  3. Thanks, jak. Yes, a few days of R&R goes a long way. Truth be told I wouldn't mind another week!

    I will need to research "flannelette". I've never heard of it! Sounds good. I'll report back.

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  4. Thanks, Michele.

    I know about your new found studio, and color me jealous! :) It sounds wonderful.

    That is a very elegant solution from lanternmoon.

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  5. Super - the idea of knitting needles is just perfect. I have about 50 different needles and always a storage problem. And sometimes you need a needle, which are constantly rotated in through the bearing. By chance I ended up here and I'm on your side with what I saw until now super excited. Many greetings from Berlin Heike

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  6. Thank you Heike! I really like my new "tree" -- with it's needles -- and I'm going to make a larger one. :)

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