Organic Mama

Finally having worked all the ends in and run the sucker through the wash so as not to transmit any scary microbes to my sister's newborn babe, I can say that I am glad it's over. I may think twice before every knitting another baby blanket. Crochet is definitely the way to go when I have a limited amount of time to finish the project. I learned a fair bit making this blanket, like how to determine my gauge and then calculate how much yarn I would need and also that there is no simple solution to curly edges. If I ever do decide to lose my mind again and knit another blanket, I think I will choose to follow a pattern.


I am much more pleased with my first mimi. Okay, what's a mimi, to those uninitiated with kidspeak? A personal comfort device, mostly, and quite frequently they're blankets of one sort or another. I made this one for my best friend's kid with the intent that he could also use it as a cape. Thus the hooded corner. I chose to make a hood on the corner as opposed to on one of the ends so that the blanket would still fold flat and match up at for corners. It's probably a neatness-control-freak-o.c.d. glitch that made me do it - I hate folding things that don't match up neatly. Anyway, I haven't given it to him yet, so I don't know what he'll think. As for what I learned, the hood was the biggest issue. I gauged my yarn and hook needs quite well without having to restart, but I didn't have a plan for the hood and it shows. Easily remedied with a quick jaunt through the pages of The Happy Hooker, I'm sure.

Now that I have one blanket to send my sister, I'm going to postpone finishing the marbled one in favor of a couple projects I need to finish before I leave. I promised my neighbor a pair of felted booties for her new son (now nearly three months old) before the little tyke was born. The summers are hellish here, so I'm making them big. Started them this afternoon, actually, and so far, so good. I'd acutally like to spend a little time on my felted shoulder bag, as it's supposed to match a hat I made last winter. I really love felting, but as usual I chose to go it alone (no pattern) on the bag, so we'll see if it turns out. I haven't gotten a thorough picture in my head of what I'm going to do when it comes time to finish off the bottom and make a strap. I'm thinking I need to read up a little more on felting to see what my options are.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to read a more experienced and much funnier view of knitting than my own, I really recommend popping over to The Panopticon.

Cheers!