Restless Knitter

The Prairie Blanket is finished, though it still needs an end woven in and washed.

Yarn: Lion Brand Pound o’ Love
Pattern: Prairie Blanket from Oat Couture
Needles: US size 9
See that little ball in the middle? That’s not a pompom, that’s how much yarn I had left. I used a small diet scale to weigh the yarn left in the skein and when I got close to it being half the weight, I started the decreases. Towards the top right corner, you can see a loop of yarn that I need to weave in due to a knot in the yarn that just had to show up before it was finished.

Saturday was fun mail day. From Donna, I got 2 baby pattern books, 3 skeins of baby yarn, and the Australian Creative Knitting.

I’ve already got the patterns picked out for the yarns, and several more that I’ll probably have to buy yarn for. In addition to those books, I’d picked up two more last week. One is a Leisure Arts book that I can’t link to because the site is being a pain in the ass. The other is Cozy Knits for Cuddly Babies. (Gotta love those 40% off coupons for JoAnn and Hobby Lobby.) I like Cozy Knits because all the items are made using Cascade yarns. I think I have about 15 projects picked out from all these books. Probably more. Not to mention, I have a Baby Surprise Jacket on the needles.

I’m adding length to the sleeves on this one. This is up to row 40 but I’m a bit farther than that now. Perhaps another day I’ll show pictures of doing it the way it’s written versus adding sleeve length.

Last but not least, I took the plunge and snipped the yarn from the first Poinsettia square. I’m not having near as much reserve about this one. The first one I could barely get through a couple of rows a day but this one I got over half of it done in one day.

I don’t know how people do it without air conditioning. I couldn’t knit if I didn’t have a/c. When I can, I’ll knit outside on the deck but it’s been too damn hot to even look outside, let alone knit out there.  I hope it cools off for WWKIP day.
The first Poinsettia square is done.

It’s not blocked. I can’t bring myself to cut the yarn from the ball yet. I don’t know why I’m having an issue with that. It’s not like I can just continue on. Yet, the thought of having ends to weave in bothers me. Once I get up the nerve to snip the yarn, I’ll get started on the next square.

The Praire Blanket is almost done.

I’d barely got it on the floor before Bella tried to claim it as her own. I got her off of it, but she still declared the corner to be hers.

Now for some pics from our trip to Small Town. There’s always this

I’ve never been there, but I always look forward to seeing that thing along the road.

Here’s a pretty cloud. Too bad there were powerlines in the way

I didn’t get a picture of the sign “Used Cows for sale”. (As opposed to Unused Cows??) But I did get this, just in case you weren’t sure, this sign let’s you know that indeed

While I was trying to decide what to do about Poinsettia, I cast on for something else.

This is the Prairie Blanket by Oat Couture, one of the patterns I picked up at the moving sale. Determined to use up some stash yarn, I’m using Lion Brands Pound of Love. I wouldn’t say the yarn is terrible, but I so wish I’d not set up my stash with so much crap. Live and learn.

I did finally make a decision about Poinsettia, and that is to make it a bit smaller using the Zephyr. I really want to use up some stash. I’ve loved this yarn since I received it (Thanks Donna!) and have been dying to use it so dammit, I’m gonna.

I did try doubling the Zephyr but I didn’t like the way it looked. What do you all think? Should I go up another needle size or will the stitches be too open for the pattern? (Keep in mind this isn’t blocked, just stretched a little so I could take a picture.)