Variation 2: both sides single row stripes in two colors — recreation of the original

500 yds Main Color - white (3 skeins)
300 yds Contrasting Color - variegated blue/green/yellow (2 skeins)
24” circ needle - 7

12/19/10
I was originally going to use green and white, but the store only had one skein of green. I’ll try to incorporate it some other way — crochet or i-cord, perhaps. Or solid stripes. We’ll see. Hopefully Mama won’t think the variegated color is too masculine.

1/1/11
I’ve gone with 4 rows of white / variegated and then 2 rows of green / white. I’ve gone through 2 repeats, and it’s pretty adorable (if I do say so myself).
Each row takes for-freakin’-ever, though… one row of this is like 4-6 rows of another project. 190 stitches with 2-3 strands of yarn to keep straight. Oof.

1/10/11
Finally got in some quality time with this project yesterday afternoon and got through several rows. LittleGreenFrog showed me a better yarn-hold, but I’m still looking forward to getting my Norwegian Knitting Thimble later this month.
I switched over to a longer needle (36” instead of 24”) and that helps a little, too.
Speaking of which, I got the Web’s interchangeable circular needle set for Christmas, and the tips are POINTY. A little more than I like, but maybe I can improve upon them later.

2/5/11
Oh, so slow… Each row takes so long to accomplish!! Keeping the yarn untangled is a chore. Definitely won’t do this pattern with three colors again. (Intarsia is definitely not for me!)

2/22/11
Working on a different project for a while… I haven’t really done much with this since the beginning of February. :( But I will get back to it, and I have till August to finish it!

4/10/11
I’ve been working on the blanket off and on since I finished the Blue Leaf denim colored headband. Now that the show is open (Twelfth Night at WICA), and I’m not in Act 5, I usually can accomplish one or two rows a night. I hope this will make it feel like it goes faster… I feel like I’ll never finish this project!

4/27/11
Still going… Good grief, this takes forever. I think I’m about 2/3 done, and it’s going faster now. Figured out a better hand-hold for the 2 pieces of yarn so they don’t twist around each other. But I’m certain I’ll get it done before August, at least!

5/20/11
FINALLY finished the knitting part. Just ran out of white at the end of the bind-off, had to cut white bits out of the variegated yarn to finish it. Now I have to figure out some sort of interesting decorative stitch around the outside of the double-knit to tie it together where I messed up. Meh.

7/18/11
Good grief. I finally finished the sides (where I neglected to twist the yarns together) with a kind of whipstitch(?) I guess. Now to get the light coffee stains* out — thank goodness it’s cotton.

Yeah, coffee. At a rehearsal, some doofus spilled coffee all over my stuff. Grrrr.