Baby Blanket(s) Too!!

Greetings and Dear Laura:

Hello there - it has been too long and I apologize for my hermit-like blogging of late. I have, however, enjoyed your posts. You make a compelling case for "clean finishing." The sweater is beautiful, even inside out!

I hadn't seen the Hanami stole until you posted it - but I love it!! I too have a couple of skeins of laceweight in the stash, and I've added this to my Ravelry queue. It will have to wait until after socks and....BABY BLANKETS!!

I really like the way your blue blanket is turning out. It does look like the "dishcloth blanket", but the larger border is quite nice, and I'm anxious to see it grow into a rectangle, instead of a square.

I have known for months that I would need two baby blankets between January and March. I was feeling pretty good about that, since I had one completed and a decent start on the second.



And it isn't like I've been slacking - I've made a bunch of baby hats, a baby sweater, and a scarf. But I have a rather complex formula to determine when the baby gift is several hats or some socks, maybe a little sweater and when it is a BLANKET. Basically, adult Godchildren/nieces/nephews get a major project (blanket or Baptismal lace) for their first child. Subsequent children get some hats or socks. New babies that become Godchildren also get a major project.

Therefore, I needed hats for my niece's second child, due early January (born December 26th, a 9 lb boy named Logan!); a blanket for my friend's baby who will be a Godchild, due in mid-January (born on the 12th, a 9 lb girl named Beata!), and a blanket for another niece's first baby, due in March. Oh - and I know that the baby in March is a girl, but the other two were surprises. I headed into late December quite flush, with the red/blue baby blanket done (I had a feeling it was a boy, but a girl could like it too!), a nice selection of both boy and girl hats for my niece, and the second baby blanket started.

I never really know how to handle it when I'm working pretty far ahead of a deadline - that's why I dropped in the Tulip sweater and the scarf for a co-worker,

plus the soap sweaters and a ski-band for a Christmas present. March is AGES away!! (Are you sensing a plot twist?? Why do I always ignore the possibility of a plot twist? It's a wonderful plot twist, but I was unprepared!!!) Logan's mom (who was my very first Godchild about 25 years ago!) asked me to be his Godmother! I was completely honored and excited!!

I spent last Saturday morning swatching my stash to see if there was a boy baby blanket in there for Logan when my friends called to tell me that Beata had arrived! (There is much baby joy in my life these days!) Once I knew that she's a girl, I kept eyeing that red/blue blanket and dreaming of my bag of yellow yarn and thinking how much nicer it would be if Logan had the red/blue and Beata had yellow....this is my favorite baby blanket yarn (Heirloom Breeze, a wool/cotton/elastic blend) and I had a pattern that several of my friends had made that I wanted to try, so here is the cast-on of Beata's Lozenge Blanket.

I'm at that heady "first week stage" where I get through the first ball of yarn in 3 days and start thinking that at this rate, I could be done in 3-4 weeks, when we all know it's going to be more like 6! But let's not think about that now, ok? Because I'm heading to WI this weekend for the Baptism and I plan to spend my time holding a baby, not knitting needles!

Keep knitting!!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter!)