2024: Wk of 4/14-20; Rainbow Blanket and Abydos Tee

Hope you are having a wonderful spring. After temps in the 80s last week making it feel like June we are having temps in the 50s this week making it feel like March. This is why we can’t garden until mid-May. But my azaleas are blooming so all is good here in Ohio. (Yes, those are cistern lids in the background. We live on rainwater out here in the woods. I also get to laugh when the news this week was about microplastics in the city water.)

DESHAIN UPDATE

I did not think wet blocking would have much of an impact on my linen/hemp/silk yarn but I could not have been more wrong. It’s easily a good 4+” longer. Also it’s clear that the issue with the “bags” under the underarms is due to the dropped shoulder being “too dropped”. Guess I should have knit a smaller size. I think I’ll try to stick to raglan or round yoke designs. The sleeves still need to be reknit “someday” to smooth that transition.

BABY BLANKET WIP

What a joy it is to knit on this. I love bright rainbow yarns. I decided to try to carry the black yarn up the sides to create side borders. I’m using the 2017 Mystery KAL Baby Blanket pattern as I wanted stripes of texture versus different color stripes. Not surprisingly, the stripe with purl bumps to create a heart doesn’t show up on this highly variegated yarn (the pattern is designed for a solid color). I’ll keep it but future stripes will stick to a texture versus purl bump designs. I have a stitch dictionary so that I can create stripe textures. It was free from that online knitting summit a few months ago. Even though the yarn is acrylic, it’s softer than acrylic yarn I’ve used in the past so it’s enjoyable to knit the yarn. Target is to have it done by June as I’ll be heading to South Carolina to help my daughter move into her new home.

ABYDOS TEE

Another absolute joy to knit. The yarn is 100% bombyx silk. It’s sooo soft. Plus I love the shine of silk yarn. Sadly the yarn has been discontinued. I’d love to get more of it!! I did the tubular cast-on for the first time. (Followed the pattern!) I’m not a fan of cast-ons that make me guess how much yarn I need for the cast-on. I ripped it out once because I allowed WAY too much yarn. Better the second time but still way too much excess yarn. Decided to go ahead and waste the excess yarn versus trying a third time.

I was nervous about knitting the “tuck row” that creates the “tube” between the mohair stripes as there was no video. You knit 5 rows of MC and then knit together the first row’s WS purl bump to the first row of the mohair creating the tube. Fortunately, it’s easier than I feared.

DAD NEWS

We move Dad to assisted living this week. It will be nice knowing someone is checking on him at each meal trying to encourage him to eat. We will see where we are at in a month to better plan for the future. Thankful my brother and sister-in-law can enjoy their trip to Austria to see their daughter without worrying about Dad.

That’s if for the week. I’m keeping my WIPS to a minimum since I want to focus on getting the baby blanket and tee done. My posts may be boring for the next few weeks as I only work on two projects.

This has been a Year Of Projects post for the YOP Ravelry group. We share our annual knitting plan and weekly “progress” reports.