So! I've been really, really busy the past two weeks, and not just because I've been gearing up for the Olympics (which I'm a total geek about). I have been knitting up a storm! Now that the big gift has been given, I can write about it.
My dear friend Jen is having her first baby (a girl!), and I decided to make her the Moderne Baby Blanket from
Mason-Dixon Knitting (click on the link and you will find another link to a free pattern for the blanket). It's made in the style known as log cabin knitting, a simple technique which requires no purling (great for beginners) yet produces stunning results. I thought this was the best opportunity to tackle log cabin knitting for the first time. Come along on my tour, won't you?
July 28: This date fell on a Monday. Jen's shower was to be held on Saturday, August 9, which meant I had just under two weeks to knit a BLANKET. I. KNOW. I changed my gifting plans at the
very last minute to make her the blanket in the colors of the nursery - taupe, green and white. I bought the yarn above on my lunch break: it's
Vanna's Choice yarn from Lion Brand (yes, Vanna White has a yarn line - did you know that?) The colors are (L-R): Taupe, Dusty Green, Linen and White. I really like this yarn; it's 100% acrylic but doesn't feel crunchy. It feels quite light when knitted, and all of the colors are very pleasing. Go get some at your local Michaels or Joann if you need some nice blanket yarn.

July 31: Not bad for three or so days' work, right? The thing about log cabin knitting is that you knit one block at a time and when you start the next block, you pick up stitches from the previous block so that they all are knitted together; there's no seaming of a bunch of individual blocks. Knit, pick up stitches, and knit again. That's it! It looks more complicated than it actually is. The first block I knit was the white one, followed by the tan one and then the green. If you look closely you'll see that I've picked up stitches for the fourth block to be knitted with the taupe yarn.
August 2: I've finished the first four blocks of the blanket - woo! Just so you know, I knit a portion of the top block while watching the X-Files movie. My hands were just starting to get sore right around now. Sigh.
August 3: As you can see, I picked up stitches for and knitted all of block #5, the white block on the left of the piece.
August 5: Progress, progress, progress. The blanket is now six blocks in size; the sixth block is at the top of the piece and is also made of the white yarn. Look to the left of the piece and you will see that I picked up stitches to knit block #7 in the tan yarn. You'll need a long circular needle to make a blanket as you will be picking up more and more stitches; my weapons of choice were a Clover US #8 24-inch circular and later an Addi Turbo US #8 40-inch circ.
August 6: Yes, I knit the tan block on the left in one day. Did I mention I deprived myself of much sleep to finish this in time? This photo was taken last Wednesday at my LYS of choice,
A Mano Yarn Center. I was in serious Panic Mode at this point and was certain I wouldn't finish the blanket in time (it had to be done by Friday as I had other plans), so I made the executive decision to not knit blocks #8-10 per the pattern and instead just knit two more blocks in the size of my choice using the green and taupe yarns.
August 7: There's the finished block #8 at the very top of the piece; it is knit with the green yarn. I made it eight garter ridges (or 16 knitted rows) wide. My hands and arms were KILLING me by this point. Oy.
August 8: This photo was taken late Friday morning. After getting only a couple hours of sleep I finally FINALLY finished the blanket. I never thought that would happen. I knit block #9 in the same size as block #8 only in taupe yarn; you'll see it at the bottom of the piece. I crocheted a border around the blanket using single crochet and each of the yarns from lightest to darkest shade. Now I just had to weave in the ends and wash the thing.
August 9: The day of the shower and the blanket is done! In this picture it is washed and blocked; it measured 34 x 44 inches, FYI. I LOVE how it turned out! It was worth all the sleepless nights.
A close-up of the single crochet border.
Garter ridges are pretty.
And here is Jen after opening her present! She loved it. Yay!
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