Baby Blankets
Posted 4 October 2011 in Life, the Universe, and Everything by Catriona
Now the baby blankets have gone to their new home, I can show them off on the blog a little. They’re hardly the greatest baby blankets ever made, but they were certainly fun.
Sensible baby blanket:
I grew to dislike the sensible baby blanket intensely as I was making it: those lozenges were frustrating to fit together, and I ended up having to strip one back and completely re-knit it, which it always annoying. But once I’d backed it with flannelette and added the velvet ribbon, I folded it up and put it away, so I could finish the second blanket. And when I unfolded it to shake it out and wrap it up, I found I actually liked it.
It’s always fun when that happens.
But it was the fancy baby blanket with which I was besotted:
As I say, I’m hardly the best knitter in the world, and this is the simplest of things: garter stitch (because, with that beautiful variegated wool, you hardly need a fancy stitch), increasing at the end of every second row, and with a deep (stockinette) frill.
But, gosh, it was pretty:
I thought it looked like coral, when it was folded up. Now I might need to knit one for myself, but not, perhaps, during a Brisbane summer.
Share your thoughts [6]
1
Matt wrote at Oct 5, 06:40 am
I’m majorly impressed. I tried to learn to knit once: I wanted to make a Tom Baker style scarf.
2
Catriona wrote at Oct 5, 06:49 am
If you come back to Brisbane, I’ll teach you. A Tom Baker scarf is nothing but twelve feet of garter stitch on over-large needles: no changing stitches and all the colour changing is done at the end of a row, so even that’s not too complicated.
3
Wendy wrote at Oct 9, 07:04 am
I am HIGHLY impressed. They look fantastic1 I have started to knit scarves on many occasions and never ever finished them. I do have a vague plan that I may resurrect my home ec skills to sew some skirts for summer but we shall see.
4
Catriona wrote at Oct 9, 07:18 am
I cannot sew to save my life. My mother-in-law is fantastic (and has made me some beautiful things, including a dress of burn-out silk that must have been a bugger to work with) and one of my sisters-in-law actually has some sort of degree (I really should know what sort) in it and makes glorious things. But I’ve never managed to get the hang of sewing. (I did run some pin tucks through a couple of taffeta skirts, and will do so with another one when I have a moment, but that’s as advanced as it gets.)
But with knitting and other textile crafts (other than sewing!), I find it relaxing that I can pull the material out and just start again if things go wrong. So much more forgiving than, say, painting. And I like to have my hands busy of an evening, or I get bored.
At the moment, it’s too hot to knit, though. So I’m finishing off the braided rug I’m making for the study. And once Nick wears through a few more of his work shirts, I might be able to get back to the Nick’s Former Favourite Shirts Memorial Clippy Mat. I’m going to add my beloved but now indecent brown linen trousers to that, but they won’t be enough to finish it off.
(That’s another big advantage of the old textile arts: recycling!)
Then I think I must brush up on my Viking knitting, which I taught myself at Easter. It’s a pretty forgiving craft, too. And I’d like to actually finish something: so far, I’ve only done scraps, to make sure I know how to do it.)
5
Wendy wrote at Oct 9, 08:01 am
wow you are very crafty. I find craft stuff quite frustrating (I’m quite impatient) and many a piece of cross stitch or embroidery has been left unfinished for years and then sent to Lifeline where no doubt some lovely volunteer finished it off. I did used to make dresses and bits and pieces for myself when I was at uni…nothing fancy though..just everyday things. i think that’s where I need to start…from the beginning!
6
Catriona wrote at Oct 9, 12:40 pm
They’re all very forgiving crafts, though! And mostly dependent on garter stitch. Braided rugs are the simplest thing in the world, though time consuming. And clippy mats are just poking bits of material through hessian.
Plus, I cannot crochet. My mother is determined to teach me, but she’s tried and failed before, so I doubt she’ll manage it.