yarn funness!

yes, yes, I've been a truant blogger... so i'll try to make up for it now!

first, more yarn porn courtesy of mom!
It's another kit from HandMaiden Fine Yarns! This one, as you can see, makes the angel Scarf, or the Bias scarf - but mom insists that the Angel Scarf is the one I have to make. :) Here's a close up for better drooling...
Again, this is two types of yarn that are to be knit together - the fuzzy, thin yarn is called Angel Hair, and the bumpy yarn (for lack of a better descriptive word) is the Silk Rumple. It should be a quick knit, but again, I think its going to have to wait till later in the summer/early fall, due to all the baby knits that are still on my list.

Another package arrived last Wednesday, this one from my Auntie Nona in Toronto
Fun knitting magazines! yay! I've taken a brief look through these, and have noticed a few potentially knittable items... but I have yet to take the time to peruse in greater detail, and you know, actually read the patterns/articles instead of just looking at the pictures... I will let you know of any must-knits that I find. Thanks Auntie Nona! (ps: this is not the Nona of NonaKnits, although my Auntie Nona knits too!)

And finally, just to prove to you that I have actually been doing some knitting, here's my latest finished project:
It's my completed Pinwheel Blanket! This is for a friend who's baby is due later this summer... we don't know what the sex will be, so i tried to get an all-purpose colourway - I'm still not sure about this one though, because this one really seems to change with the lighting. It looked too pink and girly while I was knitting it, but in this photo the lavender and red seem to stand out more - and looking at it sitting here beside me, it suddenly looks very green. So maybe its okay after all. here are the details:

Yarn: 512 yards of superwash, sport weight, 100% merino wool from Hello Yarn (machine washable and dryable, and therefore perfect for a baby!); the colourway is called Anxious - I liked it because it was one monster-sized skein, which eliminated the joining yarns problem (highly recommended for this pattern). The edging is made from a creamy-white Scheepjes Delfi yarn from my stash - 50% Acrylic, 50% cotton. It took about a skein and a half of this stuff (about 150 metres total) just to do two rows of stocking stitch, and a cast off fringe (made by casting on 6 stitches, then casting off 8 stitches). The finished blanket is 32 inches across, but I'm hoping it will grow at least one or two more inches when i block it - i think the pinwheel pattern will look better if it's stretched out just a little more.

Needles: Despite the recommendation of 3.5mm needles, I decided to use 5mm needles, in order to make a more loose-knit fabric. I started with 4 dpns, then switched to an Addi turbo circular (40cm length), and then to an inox aluminium and plastic circular (80cm length). The addi-turbo definitely lived up to its name in terms of how easily the yarn spins around the needle (whereas on the inox, i had to keep stopping to slide the stitches around the needle), but the solid part of the needles were too short and too dull for my liking... this led to an odd discussion with Mike about the feasability of going into the needle making business ourselves, just to get the perfect needle... but mike couldn't figure out the problem of how to keep yourself in business - once everyone buys the perfect, and therefore hard to break, needles, why would they keep buying more? I tried to come up with an explanation, but he's not a knitter, so he didn't get it. :)

Comments: This was a fun project to make - quick, easy, and very straightforward - and totally customizable, if you feel like being creative. I was happy to let the yarn do the work, but then I added the white border just to make it interesting. Here's a closer look:

Now that this one is finished, I get to pick out colours for my next project! yay! and for an added yay, my friend Tara (Owen's mother) has decided to take up knitting again, so she's going to be making a blanket too - so i get to help her pick out yarn too! such funness!

Ugh... but now I should go hit the books for a bit, so that i can be guilt free when buying yarn tomorrow! :)