What blanket?

Well, I knew it had to happen, I got distracted from the blanket by a wily sock. But this was kind of planned, because by the time I start block 5 of the blanket, I'm going to need a longer needle. So I ordered a 5.5 mm 60" ChiaoGoo needle, and am waiting for it to show up before I get really working on the blanket again, though I will take it to the in-laws (common-law in-laws, but easier to type), to finish block 4 over the Christmas holiday.

The wily sock is almost finished the gusset, which for me is pretty darn quick, since I started it last Friday, the 16th. It's a blatant rip-off of a friend's sock, momo. I just fell in love with hers and it wouldn't get out of my head. I'm using Regia 4-ply Color 5030, silt, in 2-row stripes with plain white. I hope to finish the sock over the weekend as well, and possibly have a pair before the end of the year. If it does go over, it'll certainly be done by the week after.

I think I've finally figured out a formula for my socks. On 2 mm needles like this one, I need 80 stitches, in Regia 4-ply I'm getting 10.5 stitches to the inch. My feet are 9" around, so it should work. For each needle size up or down from 2 mm, I'll add or subtract 4 stitches. I hope to knit a few pairs over the next couple of months to see how this works out. Standard flap heel, though I may try the sweet tomato heel as well.

Blankets are big!

Yeah, I've started my first blanket, and am just now starting to realize that blankets are big, and that's a lot of square inches to be making by hand.

I'm making the Moderne Log Cabin blanket in 3 shades of blue and a grey in Red Heart Comfort, because it's not a bad feel for acrylic, and I can get a lot of it without breaking the bank. The picture to the left is where the first 3 blocks join up.

The corner isn't quite straight, but I'm also still figuring out how to pick up stitches that looks good to me. I think I have it figured out now, but I still have about 31 ridges, so 62 rows, left to go before I finish block 3 (the dark blue). I had hoped to finish that block today, but it's already starting to look more like tomorrow.

In the same vein, I was kind of hoping to finish this for Christmas, not as a gift, but as a handy deadline so we can actually use this blanket this season, as I'm hoping it will fit on our queen size bed (what was I thinking?!) But maybe for New Year's Day instead? We're looking at spending 4-5 days for Christmas at his parent's place, so lots of knitting time, I hope.

I went down to the new (well, as of either this last June, or the one before) location of the Halifax Farmer's Market (oldest in North America, from the signs), and picked up a pretty skein of yarn from Lismore Sheep Farms. This picture is a bit more neon than the skein actually is, but my phone likes to emphasize the reds/pinks:

I will try to post more updates on the blanket, and other things as they cross my needles. I have some rather large plans for 2012, the hard part is picking which plans to do, because I can't do them all in one year!