Here, and then gone

Blogger is being finicky this week; if you're reading this, I managed to stay on long enough to post.

I proudly displayed my pointy sticks during lunch at Panera Bread on Worldwide Knit in Public day last Saturday. Not another knitter was in sight, and I registered at least one sidelong glance from folks at another table. Mission accomplished, though I didn't get much done between sitting, eating, and making sure my spawnlings didn't do anything they shouldn't. :D

The blankie is coming along. I don't know what possessed me to buy acrylic yarn for this thing. Well, okay, I *do* know what possessed me. I thought it would be lighter and airier than cotton, I can't knit with wool or animal fiber, and I wanted something that Mom can throw in the wash when unmentionable bodily fluids get all over it. That said, I'm now wishing I'd picked a nice, soft cotton. Live and learn. It's too late to go back now, so I'm pressing on. My boys still love the blankies Grandma made from this same yarn, so I figure the baby won't care. :)

I'm also hoping to get the little one set up with a travel quilt for days at the park. But, first blankie's first.

Status on curtains: stalled. Yarn dyeing: need to get the dye. All my other unfinished projects: currently forgotten.

Racing the Baby

Unlike the incomparable Yarn Harlot, I admit to racing my friends' unborn child. Yes, it probably is wrong. But, it's also the only way this baby blankie's getting done in time! Know thyself.

Started:	28 May
Pattern:	Reversible Baby Blanket, from the Jan 1981 issue of Workbasket magazine.
Yarn:	Caron Simply Soft, 100% acrylic, color 9909 - soft blue.
Needles:	Size 8 circular

About these needles... I bought Boye needles because they're the needles of my youth, and because I was amazed that they're still made it the good ol' U.S. of A. And, as it turns out, they're bloody awful. Given the same choice again, I'd try another brand. Maybe it's an aberration and the rest of their needles are great, but the needles I'm holding do NOT make for a smooth knit. However, when you're racing a baby, you use what you have on hand.