Tuesday, October 16, 2007

FO, unB

That would be "Finished Object, Unblocked." And it definitely needs to be blocked! The color is all wrong, too. It's really gray, with the tiniest tinge of brown.

Hemlock Ring Lap Blanket, unblocked

Details: Hemlock Ring Lap Blanket (adapted to lap blanket size here by Jared Flood)
Yarn: A little more than 1 and a half skeins of Cascade Ecological Wool in 8019 Antique
Needles: size US 10, starting with DPNs and moving through several lengths of circulars, until I ended up with my new 60" Harmonies.
Modifications: None!

My favorite part of this project was definitely the center. Isn't it pretty?

Hemlock Ring Lap Blanket center

The center was also the most fun to knit. After that the rounds of feather and fan got a little boring. The scalloped bind-off was fun, too! There's a KAL for this pattern, and it was funny to read the comments -- many knitters just wanted to get through the center and onto the feather and fan, where 4 out of five rows were knit-knit-knit. Well, I've whined before about stockinette in the round, so you know I got tired of that fast!

I had never knit with Eco Wool before, but I really like it -- soft and squooshy, but with a nice body. It's also a good bargain, because it's about $15 for 478 yards (and I got it on sale, too!) I hear that it now comes in a range of "unnatural" colors now, too. I'll definitely be using it again.

Someone asked about the Harmony needles -- I love them, too! They're smooth without being slippery, which is good when you knit loose like I do. They're also pointy enough, although my perfect needles would be a little bit pointier -- I think I've mentioned how I like needles sharp enough to wound, and these aren't quite that sharp. The multi-colored wood is beautiful, the cords are skinny, and the joins are very, very smooth. If you like wood needles, I highly recommend these.

So -- one Christmas present almost done. It will be a while before I have a chance to block it, because I'm going to be gone -- a combination of conference and vacation -- for over a week. When I get back, I'll start on the second Christmas gift. While I'm gone, I'll work on the long-abandoned Flared Lace Smoke Ring, which I think I've been working on sporadically for about a year,and probably some socks. Because you can never have too many socks!

6 comments:

Chris said...

Congrats on getting it finished - I'm looking forward to seeing it blocked.

Have fun on your vacation - going someplace intriguing?

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see it blocked!

Thanks for sharing about the Harmony needles. They may end up on my Christmas list.

Kaye said...

Very nice! Add me to the list that can't wait to see it blocked!

Anonymous said...

Oh that blanket is beautiful. The yarn sounds really nice too. I'm going to have to consider that, seems like a good price.

Steven said...

Beautiful! You know, I kind of like it unblocked...

Michelle said...

Very pretty Hemlock Ring. I'll have to check out that yarn. My mom is already scratching at the door about the Harmony needles.