@#$^%& Row Gauge!

I'm knitting Tempest, one of the latest Knitty surprises.
I've finished the back, the fronts, and one sleeve. As I finished the first sleeve, I held it up over my arm. And....it reaches exactly to my wrists, right where a full length sleeve should.
The problem is that these are supposed to be 3/4 sleeves. I've followed the pattern perfectly, I have the right number of stripes. My stitch gauge was great. I even washed my swatch! This leads me to believe that my row gauge is a weeeeee bit off. Not that I actually measured the row gauge. Note to self: row gauge is very important in a striped pattern. I've held the other pieces up to my body, and they seem quite long also. *sigh*
My only options are to rip and reknit (not gonna happen), or finish this last sleeve, sew it all together, and hope that my long waistedness will be an advantage, and that the skinny waist rows will somehow fall in the right place. Otherwise, I've just spent the last few weeks knitting a sweater for a spaghetti noodle.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

A little more complicated than I thought

I got the idea that I wanted to make a lace baby blanket while I was pregnant. But it couldn't be TOO lacey, because, you know, my baby would have to retain his manliness and such. While cruising Ravelry, I came across a baby blanket made from the Frost Flowers and Leaves pattern from A Gathering of Lace. (I can't find the inspiration blanket now, or I would link to it) It kind of got stuck in my head, and started buzzing around in there. Match a buzzing little idea for a project with a chance meeting with a beautiful yarn in the yarn store, and my fate was sealed.


I used Aslan Trends Invernal in a yellow-strawish colorway. This yarn is actually not very attractive in the skein. It has a twine like look, and I passed right by it originally. I happened to notice a sample baby blanket knit with it, and I was in love. In the skein it is kind of blah, but knit up it is amazingly soft with a wonderful angora halo that begs to be squished.

I knit 2 repeats of chart 2, and used size 6 needles. This is not a very intuitive pattern, and you have to pay attention to almost every stitch of every row. It took about 2 months, and was finished about 2 weeks after Jack was born. I don't think I would have picked this particular pattern if I had known quite how complex it was, but now that I have done it I am so pleased with how it turned out and glad that I put in the time and effort.


This is the "go to" blanket for Jack, and I hope that it will be something that he is able to wrap his own babies in, and remember all the time his mommy put into it, and how much she loves him.