FO: Watershed

I can't quite remember where I first saw Amy Swenson's Watershed, but I liked it the instant I saw it and wanted to knit one for myself. That was back in July 2010. It stayed at the top of my Ravelry queue for over a year until I finally cast on in early August this year.

As much as I love the design I have to admit that I struggled with the pattern. It could have just been my baby brain but I found it hard to follow at first and had to rip it out and start from scratch twice. I also followed the advice of many other revelry users and made several mods to compensate for a few design flaws. I'm the kind of knitter that likes to stick to the pattern so it bugged me that I had to do this. Anyway, for the full rant check out my project page.

I didn't make things any easier for myself by substituting the recommended worsted weight yarn with DK weight Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply. To compensate for this I knit the size 42 which is two sizes up from what I normally would wear. I could be because of this that it sits a little funny in front of the arm holes, like the raglan shaping starts too high. Or maybe its the design. I will have to knit it again one day and let you know.

Saturday Morning

With the twins a little under the weather and the weather a little windy, we decided it might be best to spend the day at home. Junior Chef and I whipped up a batch of raspberry muffins for morning tea and I got a chance to play around with my new camera.

We used this basic recipe, replacing the blueberries for frozen raspberries and adding some lemon zest. It's a good recipe to make with a toddler as it gets you to rub the butter and flour together, and what 3 yr old doesn't love getting their hands in the bowl. They might not have been the moistest of muffins but they were quite tasty and went down well with a coffee.

Stripey Baby Blanket #1

I was planning on waiting until both baby blankets had been completed before posting about this but, seeing as the second blanket is languishing in the ends-need-to-sewn-in phase, I don't think I can wait that long. And hopefully showing #1 off will help inspire me to finish #2.

So here it is....Stripey Mitred Baby Blanket

I used this pattern and included the picot hem. I'm a sucker for a picot hem and I think it really makes the blanket. It's knit in the round, which means nice short rounds to begin with and long, slow rounds as you get to the outside. After a good strong blocking it turned into the lovely square it was supposed to and the yarn relaxed nicely. The result is a lovely floppy baby blanket that is the perfect size for the cot or the pram. For more details, see my ravelry project page.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply, an affordable and reliable choice for a blanket like this. It is warm, wears well and is machine washable.

Without sounding too proud, I have to say that this has to be one of the projects that I am most happy with. Usually I pick fault with everything I make but every time I see or touch this simple blanket it makes me happy. Maybe it's because it was made with love? Who knows.

The twins love it but will have to share it for the time being.