Tweed Baby Blanket

Ooh this was a fun one! Back in February when I heard of my impending uncle-dom, I began working on a garter stitch square with the intention of turning it into a baby blanket/shawl for the little one. I never tire of a good garter stitch square trimmed with a lacy edge - I think they're simple, elegant and wonderful to knit. They never do you wrong. Ever.


At the same time the garter stitch knitting was happening (academic de-tox) I was amassing a stack of Shetland Knitting History Books (pleasure reading) on the bedside table. Being exposed to pages and pages of the most unbelievable Shetland lace, the beautiful Hap Shawls put a spell on me (I think I'll make an 'official' one this year) and, when it came time for choosing a suitable edge to incorporate my second-color, Feather-and-Fan struck back with a vengeance!

Pattern: A Shetland-Inspired Improvisation
Yarn: KnitPicks (new) "City Tweed DK" in Tahitian Pearl (MC) & Orca (CC)
Needles: US 8/5.0 mm circulars
Finished Dimensions: 38" x 38" square

Started: Late February 09
Finished: Mid-April 09

The nice folks over at KnitPicks sent me some of their new City Tweed yarn to play with. It's super soft and allowed me to create a shawl that's baby-skin-friendly while masquerading as something a bit more rustic (rustique?). I knit the (DK-weight) yarn up on an 8 and blocked the piece as for lace with blocking wires and a nice drumskin tension. I love how it came out - the softness and squishiness remains but with a drapey, shawl-like quality.


The garter stitch is worked on the bias, starting with one stitch and increasing one stitch on each row to create the square - at the halfway point, just replace a decrease for your increase and you end up shaping it back down to one stitch. Then it was just a matter of picking up stitches and Feather and Fanning myself into oblivion. I finished off with an applied I-Cord to keep simple, felxible edge and of course adhere to the 'no-hard-bind-offs' rule of lace blocking.


It's a bit early for October, but I guess it just means we'll have more woolens to chat about between now and then. Is there anything better than knitting for a Fall arrival?