Zilver - an FO

This months delivery from The Golden Skein really fired my enthusiasm and I knew that I had to cast on something Right Now, with at least one of these gorgeous skeins

I chose this wonderful 4ply sock yarn from The Yarn Garden. It's a deliciously soft silk/wool blend called Miss Wilmott's Ghost and it is an amazingly subtle blends of greys. Now I am a complete sucker for a good grey or neutral at the best of times but this yarn was truely wonderful to work with.

I chose a pattern which would have a lot of stocking stitch to show off the wonderful shades of grey - pardon the expression - and I plumped for Zilver, from the very talented Lisa Mutch. (Whispers - and it's free)

Sometimes you have that perfect synchronicity of yarn and pattern and I'm pleased to say that this was the case here.

I cast on 5th March, 2014 and a little over a week later I have a lovely, versatile, silky, grey shawl to wear to work today.

I must admit that in this photo it was still slightly damp from blocking and has an end to weave in - I tucked it out of sight for the photo. But, right after the small peeps have had breakfast and in that 5 minute lull before we leave the house I will sew it in and wear my Zilver with pride on this misty spring morning.

Garter Ripple Squish

This week I have been all about the garter stitch again.

It is my default setting for baby blankets - producing a wonderful squishy fabric. It doesn't roll, curl or otherwise misbehave. It feels lovely and light, has texture without being 'too bumpy' for sensitive skins and in general, is just about perfect.

But, as much as I love it, even I have to admit that knitting a 26" square blanket in flat garter stitch can be a tad on the tedious side.

I experimented with feather and fan patterns, but DS1 (my arbiter of all things blankie-related) pronounced them to be too girly. I tried a crochet ripple, but that ended in tears (mine) and tantrums (also mine). Suffice to say that crochet and I are never going to be bosom buddies.

So I combined garter stitch with a feather and fan pattern - and was smitten.

The finished blanket is approx 24.5" by 27" - so perfect for a crib, pram or car seat. It could easily be made larger though by using a heavier yarn and larger needles or by adding more pattern repeats. Each 18-st pattern repeat adds about 3" horizontally to the width of the blanket.

The name - Garter Ripple Squish was the result of a conversation between DS1 and myself:

Garter - wonderful, baby friendly and simple
Ripple - fun and easy to remember stitch pattern
Squish - the first word DS1 used upon picking up the sample


...enough said.

And as for DS1, he is mightily pleased with his new blankie which is great news. DS2 is decidedly jealous though, so I spy more GRS's in my immediate future.