photo thdishcloths.jpg

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Spring has Sprung

Today is the first day of spring, so we might as well gaze at these New Guinea impatiens as a taste of what's to come! The color is so intense and lovely, isn't it?


As for the knitting content, I've completed the scarf which I originally was knitting in garter stitch. I looked at it over and over again and each time the yarn seemed to be telling me, "this stitch just isn't right for me, I am so much prettier that this". Now come on, I know that your yarns occasionally speak to you also! I frogged the scarf and began again, this time using the feather and fan pattern and voila! A beauty of a scarf for one of my sweet ones.



I used 2 skeins of Cascade's Chunky Baby Alpaca and it was a pleasure to knit with, so soft and luxurious. I would definitely use this yarn for another project. The only other item I've been working on is the crocheted shell afghan pictured below. It will be one of my son and future daughter-in-law's wedding gifts and I'm just about at the halfway point. At first I thought I might not have enough yarn to complete this to an afghan size, but I think it's going to work out fine. I am using Rowanspun Chunky Tweed which I had in my stash yarn. I picked it for it's quality and color, so it will hold up well and go with just about everything.

I'm disciplining myself to work solely on the afghan now so that it's completed in plenty of time for the big day, in mid May. I want to wash and block it when it's finished and I know it will take about a week to fully dry, then I wrap it. I haven't decided yet if I'll put fringe on each end.....any opinions will be welcome.

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Will Rogers

P.S. You can see the completed baby sweater pictured below on my crochet blog. Just click the link near the top of the left sidebar if you want to take a look.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your scarf and afghan are fabulous. You do such beautiful work. I hope to make a scarf using that pattern.
Kathryn

Joanna said...

I love the scarf. Can you believe I have never done the feather and fan pattern on anything?

Are you aware of the tripod site that has day by day pictures of the Baby Surprise Sweater? I also have a worksheet (pdf) that I got somewhere, do you need it?

Joanna said...

Mine was made with two different colors of Paton's Astra, Faded Denim and Sky (Ciel), and Bernat Softee Baby, Baby Denim Marl. The Bernat yarn almost appears white, especially in the photos. Of course all are acrylic, I worked the pattern, as written on size 3.0mm (US 2) circular needles. The Tutorial is here http://babysurprise0.tripod.com/ Scroll down, on the left side of the page. I will email you the PDF.

Joanna said...
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Joanna said...
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Joanna said...

email me at bannablogs at comcast dot net and I'll send you the PDF worksheet

Prayerful Knitter - Shelly said...

The blanket and scarf are beautiful!
And of course, the flowers are gorgeous.

It is wonderful to have Spring here again. : )

I recently purchased 2 skeins of the Cascade Chunky Bably Alpaca, too. You've inspired me to go ahead and cast on!

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend.

Mary Anne said...

Happy Spring to you! the flowers are beautiful and your feather & fan scarf is lovely.

Prayerful Knitter - Shelly said...

I hope you've been having a good Spring season. I've recently moved my blog and finally figured out how to change and add things! I had missed some of my links, but got the finally straightened out.

Have a great weekend!

Sharon said...

Beautiful feather and fan, my favourite pattern in the whole world.

zippiknits...sometimes said...

I, too, love feather and fan. It's an amazingly beautiful thing to see and comforting to knit. Congrats on the newest little grandbaby, Anna.

You must be very busy!