A cycle of gifts

I’ve been the recipient of some lovely knitting related gifts recently – from Tehri I received the snowball, and a lovely handkerchief which is a map of Helsinki.  She must have read how much I wanted to be in Finland. The snowball has the most amazing texture, and stress relieving qualities when squeezed. They are sitting on some Fiber Trends sock blockers that were given to me by my local knitting guru, Yam. The sock blockers were transported by her very patient husband from Los Angeles, and will make my sock photography so much easier. So, thanks all round.

The gifts that I recieved are sitting on a gift that is to go in the mail tomorrow to Australia. It is a baby blanket for a very good friend in Sydney who has just had her first child.  I followed the Fiber Trends pattern Estonian Lullaby using Bella Baby from Spotlight (Ravelry link). I was considering getting a very similar (perhaps identical?) yarn for Yarn Workshop, and am glad that I decided against ordering it.  While the yarn is soft, it grows like no-one’s business, and is quite the nightmare to sew in the ends.  The blanket did not look that big as I was knitting it, but after washing and blocking it grew, and grew, and grew. The blanket is huge! The photo below shows its size on our bed.

While I will own up to a complete failure to swatch, and a use of a larger than recommended needle, I was surprised as how much it grew on machine washing (30 degrees) and machine drying (until it was nearly dry). As tempting as it was to machine dry it further, I stopped myself for fear that the 20% wool in the yarn would felt before the pattern was photographed. The blanket will go in the mail with stern instructions that it is not an heirloom, and that I fully expect it to disintegrate before the little girl’s 5th birthday. I suspect a little felting would do it good!

Project Details

Pattern Estonian Lullaby Baby Blanket (Ravelry link) with the garter stitch border, in the Sport/DK size. I highly recommend this pattern and will make it again.  All the decreases are K2 together, and I had very few problems with stitch counts. I did use a row counter. I purchased the pattern from this Ebay store, and was very happy with the service

Yarn  Spotlight Bella Baby Layette, 80% Bamboo 20% Wool. Most of 9 balls purchased at Kowloon Bay Spotlight.

Needles  Bamboo 5.5 mm.

Alterations Only not using the recommended needle size!

 

Socks!

The rain has finally slowed here in Hong Kong, and once I finish this post, I will be taking the kids down to the pool in our complex. We took all the photos in this post on Sunday up at the Peak. The view was gorgeous, and the air was relatively cool.  These socks are made from a mill sample of some merino/nylon that I have been considering.  While I really like the colours, I am not considering expanding Yarn Workshop into coloured yarns at present.  The yarn is beautifully soft, but quite fuzzy, and I am wondering whether people want hand dye fuzzy yarns for socks? Hmm – I would love any feedback on the desirability (or lack thereof) of fuzzy socks. 

Luckily, I can still get a pair of socks for the girls out of 50 grams of fingering yarn, and a fraternal sock will be cast on soon. The pattern is a draft of my much mentioned (but still “draft”), basic stockingette sock pattern.

I also finished off the Primavera Socks, and my husband has his first pair of hand knitted socks.   

 

Yarn Workshop has been keeping me very busy (July sale and all!), and also trying to figure out the new yarns that I need to order for Autumn. Some of the definite additions to the range will be a very soft angora blend laceweight, a soft merino baby yarn, and a feltable wool/soy blend that is softer than most other soy blends.

I will be heading to Australia for two weeks in August to visit my parents with the girls, and am facing up to the prospect of a price rise when I return from holidays. All my suppliers are raising their prices, and the increasing cost of fuel really seems to be having an impact. I am hoping that the break gives me a chance to finish off the pattern writing, and to do some of the baby knitting for my many friends who are having babies this year.