FO: Baby Tweed Blanket

Last night was our knit night and Catherine came! Catherine is a co-worker who I discovered a few months ago is also a great knitter and I had decided to knit the Baby Tweed Blanket for her baby girl to come! I still can't believe how lucky I have been to be able to give her her gift before the baby is born (and that is one day after her due date)!

I had planned to finish it early January before she'd stop working but no... with the cold that kept me sleeping for days and the fact that I had to order a sixth ball of Tahitian Pearl just two rows from the end, I finished a little later than planned.

Knitting that blanket went like a charm! The stockinette was really soothing. The yarn is really nice and spongy. Then, the edge is so pretty and interesting to knit. It does not look as neat as on the pictures below before it is blocked, but the blocking worked its magic once again.

Drying or I should say sun bathing on my new "blocking mats":

Oh, do I love the curly edge!

Pattern: Baby Tweed Blanket by Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed)
Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed DK
Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm and US 10 / 6.0 mm
Color: Tahitian Pearl (5.3 skeins) and Orca (2.14 skeins)
Start to finish: November 20, 2010 to January 22, 2011
For: Catherine
Modifications: Absolutely no modification. It's the first time I knit a pattern from Jared Flood, I could not have modified it! However, to be able to knit it without modification, I've had to order an extra skein of Tahitian Pearl! If I had read comments on Ravelry, I would have known...

I think this is my favorite picture:

I could not resist trying to take a photo like the one on the pattern:

It looks rather rustic but really is soft and enveloping...

And finally, I had fun simply wrapping it with a large pink ribbon:

Now, I can't wait to hear from Catherine and see her baby girl! Hoping that they will both join us soon at our knit nights!

WIP I can blog about!

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend! Here's it's very warm for this time of the year and the sun is gorgeous. It feels so good!

I started the Douglas mittens yesterday morning. It took me all morning to figure out how to knit the cuff! I almost decided to knit a simple 2x2 rib but then, when I got to when the cuff is turned and give such a nice finish, I was glad I stuck to the pattern instructions!

Also, I found a brilliant method to do a provisional cast on on YouTube: take a look here! I'll use this technique from now on. It really helps since I tend to knit a bit tight and this one is a dark color on rather tiny needles (note to myself for second mitten: use 3.5mm to knit the cuff, then 3.25 to turn and join it and finally, 3.75 for the hand of the mitten)! Yes, you saw it, the resulting stitches do not need to be picked, they are already on a circular needle waiting to be knitted ;-)

Here's a sneak peek:


Enjoy the rest of the day!