2016 FO #4: Dreams of Granada Baby Blanket

A while ago, I wrote about a baby blanket that I'd finished but wasn't happy with. This is a picture of it unblocked:

Here it is blocked:

I was originally concerned about how raised the centre section is. It definitely deflated a bit after blocking but is still clearly raised:

I considered ripping it back but in the end decided to leave it as is. I figured that a) a non-knitter will probably think it's supposed to be like that and b) it's going to have a baby spew and wee on it, so                                         

it's not worth getting too het up about.

The other problem I have with this blanket is the yarn. I bought the same yarn in the same colour used in the pattern, KnitPicks Brava Worsted in Tide Pool. It was cheap! Like $20 for all the yarn needed to make this quite big blanket (I made the smallest size and it is over a metre wide). It was nice to knit with - soft and with good definition. But after only two gentle washes, it is already looking a bit worn. I have enough of the yarn left to make a hat and scarf set, which I want to because the colour is lovely, but is it worth going to all that effort if it is going to wear out halfway through the season? I really wish I'd gone with my first instinct and made the blanket in BWM Luxury.    

What we have here is a mediocre result for a lot of knitting. Next time I make this blanket - and I will be making it again - I will only knit the outside cabled border, not the inside one, and I will knit it out of wool or a wool blend. 2 out of 5 stars.

WIP Wednesday: The Not Another Baby Blanket Edition

A few months ago, one of my favourite friends announced she was expecting her third child. I was a bit surprised - I don't know about you, but three seems like quite a lot of children to produce in five years! However, it is her reproductive system, so I hugged her and immediately started planning the blanket. 

Again, I don't know if this is just me but sometimes the planning is harder (and more fun!) than the actually making of the blanket. The last two babies got lacey blankets (the Serenity-ish blanket and the Happy Thoughts blanket), so I thought this time I'd go for either colour or cables. After many happy hours of browsing, I settled on the Dreams of Granada blanket by Triona Murphy in the recommended yarn, KnitPicks Brava, in Tidepool.

I cast on in the final frenzied two weeks of my thesis (still no results yet...), so can therefore remember nothing of knitting this at all except a vague sense of panic.

The succulent is a clipping from a plant of my neighbour's. 

It took me about five days to finish the first ball and five minutes to freak about how little knitting had been done with 20% of the yarn!

One week and another ball later, I had something that looked a little bit more blanketish. Only a little bit though!

When I cracked open the third ball, I could tell immediately it was going to be an actual blanket because Lucy automatically assumed it was for her and tried to go to sleep on it.

At the end of the fourth ball I had an almost completed blanket.

Then two short days it was done.

As I type this, the blanket is having a good long soak. It is nice, except that the cabled section in the middle is elevated. It looks like a platform! If blocking doesn't fix it, I think I'll just rip out the centre and do it in stocking stitch. Also, to help with future planning I marked each change of ball, so the next time I flip out the ratio of yarn in a square blanket, I'll have a reference. Looking ahead, one baby blanket at a time...