My adventures with the 10 stitch blanket....

    As you know, I caved to peer pressure and started the 10 stitch blanket. I read so many posts about it on the facebook knitting group page. So many people were having trouble with it, I decided to give it a try. ( I never realized that knitters were so prone to peer pressure)


    I told you about all this yesterday. Well, I didn't have any problems with that first double corner. When I read about the people having trouble, I think to myself that they should do what I tell my good friend Bonny to do.... Just do what the pattern says. Don't overthink it.


    So my first adventure was deciding to find a circular needle to use instead of the bamboo double points. (which I should say, worked perfectly fine) I searched through all my needles and couldn't find a single size US 8. I finally found one is my unfinished stash, so I pulled whatever was in progress off that needle, and used it. Unfortunately, it was only 16" long. After a couple of rows, it was driving me nuts. It wasn't long enough. I wished I had found a 24". So I went back to the bamboo double points. They really do work best.


   Then I decided to search mystash for more Amazing. Now, I have seen at least a couple more balls while searching for other stuff in my stash. It should also be noted that there is no organization whatsoever of my stash. The best I can say is that most of it is contained in three of those giant Ziplock things, the ones with handles, that are the size to go under your bed. Unfortunately, none of them are actually zippered closed.


   But I kind of like it this way, it makes every stash dive an adventure, as I never know exactly what I will find! I love that kind of surprise. Anyway, it took a while, but I went through all three containers, and a few bags as well. I found two unused balls and one ball that was being used for a crocheted hand warmer thing. Evidently I didn't like it, or I would have finished it. With those in hand, I got out my ball winder, and began to frog the hand warmer.


    That was an adventure in itself! Amazing yarn is fuzzy, and like all fuzzy yarns, it does not like to be frogged. It sticks to itself horribly. I managed to get about 3/4 of the ball frogged and wound up neatly. At one point the yarn broke because I was pulling it so hard. That's when I quit. The rest of the yarn in the warmer just wasn't worth the aggravation. It's in the garbage. If I have to, I will buy a few new balls.


    So now to the TA-DA moment! Here is my progress so far, and I just took this photo before I sat down to write this.

    I went back to Ravelry, and downloaded the free pattern again. This time, I was logged in, so it was saved. I moved it into my documents on my laptop, and then was able to move it onto a USB memory stick. That is where I keep most of my patterns now. That way when I want a particular one, I can just print it out.


    I believe that yesterday I mentioned that I didn't read the pattern, I just watched a video on youtube and followed along. It was a great relief to read that I had done the corners correctly.


    The ladies of the facebook knitting group are right, this pattern *is* addicting! I am already picking out yarn for the next one.....

Project Updates with PHOTOS!

    Sometimes I hate myself. I joined a knitting group on facebook, and so many people are doing the 10 stitch blanket. So many of them are having trouble with the beginning, and it finally caught me up. I decided to see if I could do it. At first I tried with Lion Brand Homespun. Big mistake. I couldn't even tell where the ridges were. I frogged it after only a few ridges and went to look for something else to use. I finally found one skein of Lion Brand Amazing. AHA! This will work, and I know I have more skeins around, stuck in different bags in my stash. Here's my progress on that as of yesterday afternoon.

    It's actually quite a bit bigger than this now. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I opted not to wrap and turn the corners. I like the holes.


    Next is a photo of the blanket I'm making for Owen.

    And a close up of the stitch pattern.

   And lastly, here's my progress on the knitted strip for my yarn bomb.

    I have three more now. I went to a BBQ at my friend Bonny's house yesterday, and she gave me two really long strips that she had crocheted for me! As you can see, I am using Sugar 'n Cream cotton.


    P.S. For the 10 stitch blanket, all I did was watch the video on you tube. I did go to Ravelry and download the free pattern, but now I can't find it. Just like the pattern for the slouchy hat I paid good money for.....