Project # 2

Remember how I said that I was working on a couple of fun things at the same time*? Well, here's the second one. A friend of mine is pregnant with her second child and I decided that second babies deserved some nice things too--not just hand-me downs! The mat knitting got me itchy to start another knitting project so here it is. A classical take on the ever popular baby blanket. Isn't it cute?? And you would not believe how soft and cuddly this yarn is--absolutely scrumptious!

Here's a close-up of the stitches. I've used this pattern before for a baby blanket years ago. Its called the feather and fan pattern. And despite what it looks like, it is soooo easy. Only 4, count'em 4, rows in the pattern and only one of those rows is a counted pattern row. Believe me, it doesn't get much easier than that.
Here it is:
cast on a multiple of 18 st.
row 1: (RS) Knit
row 2: Purl
row 3: *(K2tog)3X, (YO, K1)6X, (K2tog)3X*, repeat from *
row 4: Knit

In a fine yarn the pattern looks a lot more lacy and delicate--all of those YO's, don't you know. But I'm knitting this in a bulky weight yarn: Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn as seen here. So I'm using size 8 needles. The combination of those two means that this is knitting up FAST! This stuff is awesome--so soft and it knits up fast (being bulky and all). And its machine washable and dryable; a must with all baby items.

I'm having such fun--I haven't knitted anything in ages and my fingers are thanking me! By the way, I got the pattern for the blanket out of my very favorite knitting pattern source book of all time: A treasury of knitting patterns by Barbara Walker. There are countless knitting pattern books out there (and I have quite a few) but none of them match up to Barbara Walker's books. She actually published 4 treasuries and they are classics. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

* can you tell I've had the week off??

Next up: "Death by chocolate" cookies. Not for the faint of heart--serious chocolate addicts only. :)