the blue blog archives: more info to follow

And now the promised more info regarding the hemlock ring blanket I've been working on for Shannon's baby.

The yarn is Classic Elite's Classic Silk. Shannon is allergic to wool, which left me with some difficult searching for the right yarn for the job. Jared Flood's version of the blanket is so charming in the rustic, aran weight eco wool. I wanted to keep as much of that feel as possible, but unfortunately, cottons usually come in bright, summery colors and shiny, mercerized solids. They also tend to be either too textured for lace work or stretch out too much to hold a complex pattern. And I don't even want to talk about how wrong it would be to use a really large-gauge cotton for anything! After looking for a long time, I settled on the Classic Silk in this tweedy red. The dk weight meant I could follow the original pattern and the blanket should end up baby sized. The color was right for Shannon (it also comes in a lovely tweedy pink that I would have loved to use, but Shannon had mentioned being a bit pink-ed out with baby girl stuff and I knew she'd prefer the red). The yarn is extremely soft - I love tweedy yarns that are actually soft! - and it holds its shape excellently - just look at how those yarnovers are opening up! I just hope the silk won't be a problem for the little one.

Now, I did read that there's an error in some line of the pattern. I kept seeing that mentioned on some blog or some ravelry page and always tried to remind myself to look that up again when I got to that round. Then, after my first night of knitting (in Germany with the in-laws), I realized I must have passed that round. Nothing went wrong on mine, leaving me to conclude that it was one of those knitting-by-the-instructions and not knitting-by-the-gist types of things. I'd kind of gotten the idea of what was going on and had stopped reading each little instruction, so I missed the error entirely! But if you're a beginner or find the patterning confusing, definitely take the time to find that mistake and correct your copy of the pattern. As you can guess, I enjoyed the pattern very much. That center flower is so beautiful, it's well worth some of those crazy rounds and the feather and fan section has a very comfortable rhythm, with four rounds of stockinette (did I mention that I love stockinette?!) and then one little round of cool patterning. Niiiiiiiice.

I don't really know why I'm bothering to tell you all this, since I'm sure you ALL have already knit one of these. I'm the last one. As usual. Well, acutally, since it's for Shannon's baby and I got the idea from her ravelry queue, I guess that means that Shannon still hasn't knit one! Hee, hee!

posted by alison at 10:21 am | in baby hemlock

Comments

That is a sweet little blanket. How many skeins did you need for the blanket? (or anticipate needing, because you're not quite done yet)

Posted by: Seanna Lea at January 15, 2008 11:51 AM

That is so red! It's lovely and I must knit one.

Posted by: Amy at January 15, 2008 11:59 AM

That color is stunning! Rich without a lot of sheen. Is that yarn nice to work with?

Posted by: Heather at January 15, 2008 12:40 PM

I've knitted one (and blew right by the error, too.) But my LYS is just starting a KAL for this one, so you're certainly not the last.

It's lovely! What a special gift.

Posted by: Lara at January 15, 2008 12:44 PM

Using Ravelry queues as a gift list is catching on! The blanket is beautiful.

Posted by: Carol at January 15, 2008 12:55 PM

I haven't knit one yet (but it sure is beautiful - I'll have to put it on my list). But then I am probably the only knitter on earth who hasn't knit a Clapotis yet either altho I am thinking about starting one to be finished in time for the next opera in our subscription (Feb 10).

Posted by: Donna at January 15, 2008 1:07 PM

It's such a good idea for a baby blanket and I LOVE the color! I am the other person who hasn't knit it yet, but it's fourth from the top of my list!

Posted by: Lindsey at January 15, 2008 1:30 PM

Definitely not the last one to work this beautiful pattern! I only caught sight of it recently!

Posted by: Jan at January 15, 2008 1:45 PM

Nope, there's plenty of us who haven't knit this one yet; down here in Australia the mere thought of knitting a blanket is enough to make me sweaty and itchy. Yours surely is a lovely thing though, Alison.
And Donna? I haven't made a Clapotis yet, either. Still waiting to find the right yarn for that one.

Posted by: Kate at January 15, 2008 2:45 PM

Pretty blankie! I frogged mine last weekend- it had spend probably about two months unworked, and I couldn't find the rhythm of the stitches again- plus I was WAY off on the holes, and it wasn't getting better without frogging. I'll try it again sometime, but not for a while.

Posted by: kelly at January 15, 2008 3:10 PM

this is beautiful! i'm not on ravelry yet and this pattern made me break down and add my name to the waiting list.

Posted by: Cambria at January 15, 2008 3:29 PM

You're not the only one! But it is in my queue! Yours is lovely. Every time I see one, I think that it's SO going to be my next project... but it never is :(

Posted by: aimee noel at January 15, 2008 3:42 PM

I haven't knit one.

Thank you for the info on the blankie. I'm allergic to wool myself and this was so helpful.

Posted by: Anita at January 15, 2008 6:17 PM

I'd never even seen the pattern until I received pattern and yarn from my recent Secret Pal. Now it's in my queue...so you were NOT the last person.

Posted by: Bobbi at January 15, 2008 6:54 PM

I haven't knit one yet--but I keep thinking about it.

Posted by: Sarah-Hope at January 15, 2008 7:24 PM

Beautiful! I haven't knit one yet either but it's in queue on Ravelry!

Posted by: AJ at January 15, 2008 8:42 PM

Beautiful! Makes me want to do another! I never encountered that error either, and some members of the yahoo KAL don't think it even exists...

Posted by: DonnaC at January 16, 2008 7:31 AM

I LOVE the idea of doing it in Classic silk -- I really like that yarn and it looks beautiful!

Posted by: Melissa at January 16, 2008 6:58 PM

Check out the Rainey sisters blog. I believe that is where a corrected version on the Hemlock blanket can be found.

The red silk looks lovely. I can't tell you how much willpower I've expended to keep myself from casting on this blanket, but I've got too many other WIPs.

Posted by: Suzanne at January 17, 2008 11:35 PM

I haven't knit this, or Clapotis, yet! I'd better stop reading and get knitting...

Posted by: Jenn at January 18, 2008 7:58 AM