FO Floral Blanket

While I was planning to have this floral blanket done by late January, I couldn't send off a product I wasn't happy with. The pattern called for the baby blanket size to be a lot smaller than I was happy with. Instead, I ended up added 11 inches in order to be happy with the size.

I loved working with all of the colors and had a lot of fun matching the right shades together. I really had a difficult time mailing this out last week, seeing as I didn't want to give it up. I am sure my little princess will have one very soon!

WIP Floral Baby Blanket

I have fallen behind on this floral blanket. The good thing is that my friend who ordered this blanket is having a boy so will be packing this away for a while. Nonetheless, I wanted to get this blanket done about 3 weeks ago. The leech that is draining my energy has prevented this.

FO Grandma's Blanket

My grandmother is a woman who is very opinionated. She has no problem stating her mind. Finding something to knit her for Christmas was a challenge. Last year she went on and on about how she loved the blankets I had made my sisters. I knew that I had to make her one.

I tried being sneaky about what colors to use so they would match her living room furniture. I feel I did a pretty good job. She loved it! I was so glad she liked it and that the colors were the right choices.

 

F isn't for Finished AT ALL

I have been slacking hugely on updating this blog. This isn't due to lack of things to do, trust me. I have been so busy that I have forgotten to take pictures of products I have sent, forgotten what day it is, and forgotten to eat on certain days. I have a brutal school schedule, Christmas is coming up (where has the time gone?!), and orders are coming in like no other.

Procrastination Averted!

As I have said before, I may be the biggest procrastinator you will ever meet. It keeps getting worse. I think in my subconscious I am seeing just how long I can put things off. However, I do work much better under pressure. Usually pressure from the clock.


All of us last year at the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis

Summer is not the right time to knit blankets!

The past few weeks have been insanely busy. I have had to plan a baptism/luncheon, Nolan's 2nd birthday party, homework, babysitting, household chores, a new product for a store in Texas, and Ryenn's birthday party this coming Saturday. With all of that on my plate, it feels so nice to finish up some of my outstanding projects.

This blanket was quite a test of my patience. My goal was to have it done by Christmas. Not this coming Chirstmas. Yes, this past Christmas. I missed the mark by just a little bit.

My mother-in-law is a very wonderful woman. She was patient and very forgiving on the fact that she only got half of her gift this past Christmas (I'm just happy I had SOMETHING finished). She kept telling me that a great gift thats late is better than a mediocre gift on time. This made me feel better. I was also getting bored with the concept of this blanket, seeing as it was the 3rd of its kind that I have knit.

Nonetheless, I trucked through it. It just happened to be during the hottest part of the summer this far. I am lucky to have air conditioning, otherwise this blanket would be taking up a ton of room in my overflowing knitting bag.

I knit this blanket square by square in my mother-in-law's choice of colors. She told me she liked greens and browns. I did take this into consideration and choose somepretty great colors. I chose a really deep forest green as the stand out color. This did exactly what I wanted it to. I finished the border this week using a blue that was the same as the blue that was in the varigated yarn and the deep forest green. It turned out fantastic, much better than I ever imagined. I am glad to say that she will be receiveing her Christmas gift this week!

12 Blankets in 2 years

My sister Allyson posted a 20 Sweater FO's in Review blog that did just that; went over the 20 sweaters she has knit, frogged, fixing, on her needles, etc. It got me thinking about my own knitting. I was recently thinking about my upcoming projects (which include blankets) and their deadlines when I got to thinking about all the things I have recently knitted. The majority of my workload? Blankets! And a lot of them. I decided to tell all about the blankets I have knit, in the process of knitting, and will knit.

1) Khloe's Blanket. The second thing I knit was a blanket. I started knitting in November of 2009 and my niece was born in December that same year. I decided I was going to be ambitious and knit her a blanket. I bought the most beautiful yarn and knit the thing in less than a week! It was a velvety yarn in a variegated pink, purple and white style. She still uses it too!

2) Caiden's Blanket. I worked with a girl at Uccello's and we were both pregnant and due around the same time. After whipping Khloe's blanket out so fast, I decided to knit Caitlin's son a blanket and matching booties as my shower gift to her. This one took me quite a bit longer than the first. I used the same pattern, which was a simple garter stitch blanket that was knit diagonally with an increase in the beginning few stitches on both the wrong and right sides. It was mint green and very soft. I got bored with the color but got it to her.

3) Nolan's 1st Blanket. After knitting a few blanket for everyone else, I decided to knit one that would stay at my house. I knit Nolan a blue blanket in which I used three different yarns to achieve a striping pattern. I used a variegated blue yarn throughout the whole thing and alternated between a navy blue and light blue. I loved how fast this blanket knit up! The striping kept it interesting.

Nolan's 1st Blanket

4) Nolan's 2nd Blanket. After the first blanket, I knit another blanket using the same pattern. The first blanket was so heavy that I wanted something lighter, seeing as he was a summer baby. I kept the same striping but only used 2 yarns, the alternating striping colors. I chose a light yellow and an olive tones green.

Nolan's 2nd Blanket

5) Hallie's Blanket. I fell in love with this pattern and ended up knitting another in the winter of 2011 for Hallie. I chose to knit the blanket with 2 strands throughout without the striping. Her nursery was decorated in pinks and browns so those were the 2 colors I picked. It was gorgeous! When I found out that I was having Ryenn in July, it was hard to part with it.

6) Ryenn's Seed Stitch Blanket. I found this amazing photo of a baby with a blanket and matching hat. Well I thought to myself, "I HAVE to have it". Instead of paying the ungodly amount for the set, I attempted it myself. I got the hat done without any problems (pom-pom pigtail hat). The blanket is still somewhat unfinished. The majority of the blanket is complete, but I am lost with what to do for a border. What I originally had planned didn't look the way I wanted it to. So it sits unfinished.

Seed Stitch Blanket with no border

7) Ryenn's Patchwork Blanket. I spent a lot of time creating this blanket. Without deadlines, it has been a fun project. I started it back in May of 2011 and wanted it done before Ryenn was born. That didn't happen, but certainly was not going to be needed. This summer was really hot and blankets were rarely pulled out. The pattern called for 5 colors but I couldn't settle for just 5. I ended up using a deep purple, green, hot pink, teal, orange and yellow. The colors were amazing together. Each square was knit in a different pattern according to color and then put together to form a pattern. I still have yet to decided what to do in the ways of a border for this blanket as well. The pattern didn't call for a border, but I think it looks unfinished. I am leaning towards a thin border in seed stitch using the deep purple.

Ryenn's Patchwork Blanket

8), 9), and 10) Throw Blankets for sisters. Christmas was blanket knitting season for me this year! I attempted to knit a total of 5 blankets as gifts. I knit 3 cozy throws for each of my sisters and they were a big hit. Their gifts actually added a few of them to my knitting list. I used size 50 needles for the first time and it was amazingly awkward. I knit each blanket in a matter of hours. It was helpful seeing as I knit these in 2 weeks before Christmas.

Jessi's Blanket

Katie's Blanket

Kelli's Blanket



11) Mom's Patchwork Blanket. I loved how Ryenn's patchwork blanket looked. It made me want to knit another one. I found a pattern for simpler squares so I could knit it up a little faster. I started this blanket in June and didn't finish until Christmas day, and even then I had 2 other people helping me seam it up. It turned out beautifully. It was a little smaller than what my dad wanted, so I am eventually going to knit up additional squares in order to add onto the existing blanket.

Mom's Patchwork Blanket

12) MIL's Blanket. I also started a patchwork blanket for my mother-in-law that I wanted to have done for Christmas. I fell way short of that goal, because it still sits unfinished. I am working on finishing this blanket as soon as I finish my Delancey cardigans and the next blanket, which is going to be a throw like I made my sisters for Amiyah.