09/25/08: A work friend of mine is due with a baby boy in December and asked me to knit a blanket. I asked her what color she’d like, and she requested blue and “something else”.

My original plan was to make the Big Bad Baby Blanket in superwash sock yarn. But after looking high and low, the only thing I could find that I liked and could afford wasn’t machine dryable. I know there’s no way she’ll lay this out flat to dry.

So, I saw the blue and green in this yarn and thought it would work because it’s fingering weight. I could use it doubled (as the pattern called for) and get a nice mottled look. Well, I got it home and swatched… and it was quite a bit thinner than it needed to be. Fine, I thought, I’ll just use it tripled… two blues and one green. And the gauge was perfect… the drape was perfect. Only, the green almost completely disappeared once knitted up with the blue. The blanket looked more aqua than baby blue, but that’s it. It didn’t look terrible, but something was missing.

Back to the store I went, intending to find another yarn. Instead, I bought more of the same yarn but in a lavender color. I thought stranding blue, green, and lavender would give the effect I was looking for. Only, then it didn’t look blue enough… so I ended up adding in another strand of blue to the mix. Yes, that’s four strands of yarn… two blues, one green, and one lavender. I know I’m being picky, but I had an idea of what I wanted and this was the only way I could get it. I must seriously be crazy in the head!

So, that’s how I ended up with the yarn and knitting four strands at once. But, once I got a decent way into the other pattern, I wasn’t feeling the love. Though I liked both the pattern and the yarn individually, I wasn’t thrilled with how they were playing together. The transition from the knits to purls didn’t look nice… and nothing I tried helped any. Since I’d already invested in the yarn, I decided to change to a different pattern. I did one of these blankets for my niece’s baby boy and knew it was fast and easy. Since I have other projects I need to get started on for other people, fast and easy is a good thing.

10/19/08: Well, I guess fast is relative.

I’m finally at the halfway point. I knew this blanket would be bigger than the original pattern because of the yarn and the larger needles. I decided the blanket was plenty big when I got to 175 stitches, so I stopped increasing and started the decreases. Hopefully the second half will go faster than the first.

11/17/08: I’m having a hard time making myself work on this. I don’t know quite what it is, but I’m not really enjoying it. But, the baby is due in mid-December, so I need to get on the ball!

11/21/08: Aarrrggghhh!! I was working on this yesterday and I put it down to do something. That’s when the cat jumped up on it and snagged it in several places. I tried fixing the snags, but it’s not looking good.

I’ll probably just start another blanket with different yarn. I’m irritated about this one… mostly because it’s about 70% finished at this point and I’m on a time crunch. But, it’s also good in a way… at least its snagability was discovered before I gifted it.

What I’ll do with this one… I don’t know yet. I’ll just hibernate it for a while.