Blankies!

I wanted to post about a new pair of socks that have been two years in the making, and continue the theme of perseverance and unpredictability of variegated yarns. But I don't have the pictures ready, so I'll show some blankies I've done recently on the LK150.

Way back last summer, when I took my LK150 out to the garage, I made one blanket that went well, so I tried another. I wanted a different tuck pattern and tried a few swatches/dishcloths. I picked something that I thought would be fairly easy. Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Then I had an issue with it falling off the machine, and something funky with the pattern. I tossed it in the 'finish up' box and ignored it for awhile. Finally, I decided it would be a quick project to either finish up, or rip out. It turns out the funky section wasn't a tension issue, but I had done something to the tuck pattern that would NOT come out with blocking, LOL. So I ripped it out, and went back to simple.

Every other needle, switch needles every row. Four rows blue, 2 rows white, as I had twice as much blue. Such a fast knit, even though you have to manually re-set the needles on each row (as opposed to the first blanket that had a plain row after each tuck row and the carriage would automatically reset the needles). I wonder what it would look like if you add a plain row too? This one lays flat, looks like rib on the knit side, and honeycomb on the backside. It's great for dishcloths as you don't need an edge; same for boy blankets.

The colours really blend on both sides; it's hard to see the striping. It's Bernat Co-ordinates. They say Sportweight, but compared to the other sportweights, this is more a light worsted. Plus, it's a crinkly, slubby yarn with a shiny binder thread.

This is another one I did a while ago, before re-doing the blue one, using Bernat Baby Soft (I think, again a sportweight) in "His Jeans" (again, I think, LOL). I'm not keen on purple (esp. light purple) in baby boy's items (I guess because I like purple, I don't think baby boys should use it, LOL).

Above, you can see the honey comb patterning on the purl side (the picture is sideways I think). It's great to blend colours.

Below, you can see how it looks like ribbing. Bernat yarns, as I've mentioned before, can do some odd things. Even with the tuck stitch (which is really just a slipped stitch, but you catch the float on the next row instead of leaving it like with slip stitches), it still created fairly pronounced stripes.

And a bit of patterning, but still random enough to not bother me, LOL.

This is a great way to use up baby yarns, but it does take a surprising amount. Basically, because each stitch is getting knit every other row, you need twice (?) as many rows to get it the length you want. But it's worth it to not have to put an edging on, which would eat up yarn anyway. For anyone that wants to knit baby blankets to donate, I highly recommend getting a mid-gauge or bulky