Friday Mishmash

Dear Kip,
I know you are a cat and act on your instincts, but when you actually catch a bird, I DO NOT want to see you with it in your mouth.  That muffled meowing that I can hear is bad enough!  And please, do not bring your prize to the back door.  Although maybe I shouldn't assume you are showing me your fine hunting skills...are you trying to tell me something?

(image from this hilarious quiz)

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So did anyone happen to hear the angels singing around 4pm CST on Monday?  See a rainbow, perhaps, or even a unicorn?  I'm just wondering, because it was a magical moment for me, as I FINISHED THE BABY BLANKET!!!  Yes, the bulky baby blanket, that I thought was so cute and wanted to knit it for my cousin Jill and her new baby - me, the new knitter, taking on a project like that - I actually finished it!  I swear, my hands were shaking from excitement when I was done...the edge on this was quite a challenge, and I spent three separate days last week, for a total of 10 hours, at the knitting store, getting help with it.  Plus I worked on it at home.  The last step was to fold the edge over and pick up the stitches on the other side of the blanket and attach it as I cast off.  I read and reread the directions over the weekend, and decided to try it on my own on Monday - and wonder of wonders, it worked!  Here's the blanket - it measures 24" x 25.5" - almost a perfect square:

This will work as a squishy place to lay the baby, as well as a blanket to cover her (it gets pretty cold where Jill lives).

I loved the edge of the blanket when I first saw it - luckily, I was too new of a knitter to realize how much of a challenge it would be, or I probably wouldn't have taken on this project.  I'm really pleased with how it came out, though.

Backside of the edge - the way the pattern had you do the attachment/bind off, it looks braided, which I think is cute!  The knitting store woman thought I'd crocheted it, but no, it's knitted.

This was a labor of love, for my cousin, and her soon-to-be labor of love!  My uncle (Jill's dad) will be here this weekend, so I'm going to wrap up the blanket and send it on with him as he travels to Jill's place.  Nothing like a hand-delivered baby gift, right?

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I'm looking for my next baby blanket to knit (I have two more babies coming up - how exciting!).  While I love love love how the bulky baby blanket turned out, that edge took a lot of work and I'm not ready to do that again anytime soon.  However, what I loved about the blanket, though, was the edge - well, and the chunky look.  I know, based on remembering what it was like with my babies, that I don't want to make anything "holey" as their little toes and fingers can get caught in the blanket.  I also would like for the blanket to be fairly simple so I can knit while watching TV and not have to concentrate too much on the pattern.  But I don't want it to be boring.  Here's a couple that I found on Ravelry that I'm considering - any thoughts/suggestions from my knitting readers?

 Chunky stripes - cute, and I'd get a lot of practice with starting new skeins/changing colors.

 This is called the "eight-hour blanket" - somehow, I don't think I'd finish it in that time.  I do like the edge stitch, though.

 Seed stitch blanket - looks cute, right?

 This one is called the "very easy" baby blanket.  Again, I would not take that name literally, but I like the pattern.







And just in case you weren't entirely sick of reading about knitting, here's a shot of my windmill bag - this Tuesday we have our last class on it, and we'll learn how to sew up the sides and graft the handles - et voila, eet vill be dun!  (no idea why I turned French there...really, with a windmill bag, I should be speaking Dutch.  Fran, any help?)

Sigh.  Well, I THOUGHT I was almost finished with this bag...notice anything wrong?  The stupid handle on the dark pink is on the wrong side, and I didn't see it until I laid the pieces out for this picture.  You know, this is pretty much par for the course with the way I knit...one little distraction (in this case, a rain-soaked Kip trying to climb into my lap) and BAM - I'm off.  I'll undo it and make it right.  This is also why I like to have a few different projects going at the same time, so when I get frustrated with one, I can set it aside and move on with something else for a while.

Speaking of knitting (oh WERE we???), you'd think that with all this knitting I've been doing, my Sit and Knit diet would be working wonders and I'd be all svelte and such.  I'm very sorry to report that you would be wrong...even though I've been too busy to eat much, apparently knitting burns so few calories that it doesn't seem to be making a big difference, dang it!!!  There goes my great diet plan, and my claim to fame.

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Remember when I called Jeff and Will "twins" on Monday's race recap?  Further evidence exists in the official finish line shot:

I'm thinking they should take up synchronized swimming since they're so good at synchronized running!

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Not much else to report on today, as this week has been all about two things for me - running and knitting.  Jeff and I are going to run 4 miles tomorrow, just for fun.  I know, it even sounds a little crazy to me!  Our goal is to get me up to a good 5 mile long run base by mid-June, when running club starts back up.  And then?  More running!

Have a great weekend!