I Love a Good Yarn

The simple answer to this is: every project is my favorite project as I’m casting on. Some are a joy from start to finish and become cherished items I’ll wear for the rest of my days or proudly gift to family or friends. Others become a bit of a slog, bogging down in the process, but shining once the finished object comes off the needles. And then there are the projects, where even a lovely finished piece can’t erase the drudgery of the experience of knitting it.

When it comes to the piece I was most proud of in the end, that may be this baby blanket I knit for friends about 14 years ago. It was my first blanket.

It’s a free pattern from the Craft Yarn Council, knit in individual panels and then seamed. The lace edging is added after seaming. I wasn’t done in time for the baby shower, and there ended up being twins in the end, so I felt a little bad about only having the one blanket, but it turned out so beautifully, I was still thrilled with the results.

And now, just for fun, one of my least favorite projects – also a baby blanket.

This one is from a Vogue Knitting book of baby blankets. I didn’t read the pattern thoroughly before going all gung ho and buying the yarn. Each of the 16 pinwheels contains four individual squares that have to be seamed. Those pinwheels are then connected by picking up and knitting stitches in a way that tested my long-forgotten geometry skills. The border I believe is crochet. I bought the yarn while living in South Carolina, which is where I started the blanket. It then moved with me to the Bronx, where I lived for three years. It also came with me to the apartment I had for less than two years in White Plains, NY, and then finally got finished, more than 5 1/2 years after casting on, in the last Brooklyn apartment I had. I can’t even remember who I gave it to, as the planned recipient’s child was much too big for it by the time I finished. But, it did teach me a thing or two about reading all the pattern instructions before getting excited about a project.