I decided that the best thing I can do these days is keep my hands busy. In practical terms this meant I bounced between three projects this weekend: I started a delightful dog toy from Hop Skip Jump and made this hat from Jane Richmond Designs and I worked on a project that has been feeling like work.

Yes, I have been holding back on you all with this one, I swear I didn’t mean to it just sorta slipped through the cracks. I started this way back, a year ago or so after going to Maryland sheep and wool. The pattern is for a scarf or shawl but of course mine morphed into something else: a baby blanket. If there were such things as guardian angels surely I should sign up for the one that keeps you from biting off more than you can chew.

 

The wee one that this is intended for is due in the next two weeks which means I have had to majorly step things up. Trouble is this pattern does not lend itself to speed knitting, it is a bit fiddly with each hexagons knit in the round outside in. Each hexagon takes 35 minutes, with no ifs ands or buts about it. I can’t seem to shave any more time off (although I am comforted to read on raverly that I am not the only one with this problem). The real sticky part is that you can’t put the work down in mid swirl or all the yarnovers will pull loose or worse a dropped stitch will take out the whole swirl, there is no picking up once lost. And so I work 35 minutes at a time on this baby blanket. Keep your fingers, toes and nose crossed that I get it done before the kid goes to college!
Of course I didn't help the progress any by jumping ship for shinny new crafts, but sometimes you need to knit something fun and easy to get you through the hard and complicated.