What's On the Needles Wednesday

Or more importantly----What's OFF the needles!!

Numero Uno--a finished, albeit unblocked Baby Princess Blanket!

She hasn't been washed and blocked yet, which will make her stitches even and the lace even lacier, but la belle, c'est fini!!!!! As of 5:30pm yesterday.

And not a moment too soon....the neighbors are packing their overnight bags as I type because daughter-in-law has gone into labor two weeks early. As of 5:30 this morning.

(12 hours??? Maybe I should advertise this to my expectant friends-I finish your blanket, you go into labor.)

Nothing else has changed, still twisted lace and Ballerina,and I am desperately fighting "start-itis", wanting to at least start a pair of socks. The new Rockin' Sock Club shipment is due out next week and I haven't even started the last pair.

I am destashing. For you non-knitters, a knitter's stash is yarn accumulated with no particular project in mind. Knitters have Stash Enhancement eXperiences, especially at wool and fiber festivals. Knitters with enormous stashes suffer from SABLE- Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. In a vain attempt to avoid the latter, I have gone through my stash, and am packing it off, half to a friend's daughter who has taken up crochet, and half to Interim House in Philadelphia.

Interim House is a drug rehab program for low-income women. I learned about the program through a knitting site. Everyone participating in the program has to learn to knit or crochet as part of the therapy....a way of working through problems, learning patience, learning the value of quiet and reflection, thinking through things, finishing tasks and seeing results.

I sent them a box full of stash last year- everything I knew I would never use- old needles, patterns, acrylic yarns bought at "Mr. Sam's Store"--stuff like that. The director took the trouble to track down my phone number and call me personally to thank me- really impressed me. It was really a kick to go to their website six months later and see some of my old stash knitted up into these women's projects...made me feel really great.

Check it out...http://mcduf.blogspot.com/

They do great work at Interim House, and have a much higher-than-average success rate. I like to think it's because of the needlesports.

Maybe it is the little things -from sending strangers yarn to finishing a present two weeks early- that make a difference after all.

What's On the Needles Wednesday

Following Lime 'n Violet's lead, here is my edition of "What's on the Needles Wednesday" for today.

Right now, I'm desperately trying to finish the "Baby Princess Blanket" for my next door neighbors to give to their yet-to-be-born first granddaughter. I worked on it a little bit until I got back from vacation a month ago, only to realize she is supposed to be born mid-September. YIKES! I'm in the home stretch, half-way through side 3 of the outside border.

The pattern is one I received last summer in Copenhagen. The one thing I wanted to do while we spent the day in Copenhagen was visit Somerfulgen, a delightful yarn shop that specializes in Hanne Falkenberg designs. I'd been craving a kit of her "Ballerina" jacket for months, and that was my "treat" on Vacation 2006. While there, I asked if the shop ever had requests for the charming shetland blanket I'd seen in a photo of Danish Crown Princess Mary and her newborn son. Sure enough, they had the pattern, but in Danish--it had been published in a women's magazine.

Knitters are a very kind community. I popped into the forums on Knitter's Review, left messages in the lace and shawl forums, and a Danish knitter offered to translate. Hours later, there were my blanket directions in English.

It's a fairly simple pattern- garter stitch center, feather-n-fan middle and attached outer edging. This is my first attempt at added-on lace edging, and it was easy to catch on after a few false starts. Many thanks to the expert directions in "Victorian Lace Today" for turning the corners.

Oh, and it's knit in Lisa Souza's washable merino sport weight "gingerpeachy" - because the prospective grandaddy is a Georgia Tech alum and wants his first granddaughter to be clad in gold and white.

Here's Ballerina, halfway finished.


And I'm using the 2nd edition of 2007 "Socks That Rock's Rockin' Sock Club" for Brenda Patipa's Twist and Lace Scarf. I really love this pattern, and the Silkie yarn is soooo nice to work with.

Lots of projects just waiting until "the baby blanket from hell" and Ballerina are finished. I'm disciplining myself- or attempting to- by not allowing myself to cast on until those are finished.

Hopefully, good news will arrive next Wednesday!