Rainbow Ripple - something new

Well, when I say new, I actually started it on 1 November, but have only worked on it every now and again since then.  I've finished the first colour repeat though, so thought I'd blog about it.

The pattern is the Neat Ripple from Lucy at Attic24 .  I made a relaxed chain that I thought would be wide enough for a single bed-sized blanket and did the first row, just leaving a tail of unworked chains once I didn't have enough for a full pattern repeat (I'll unpick them later).  I could have used a size or two larger hook for the chain, but was upstairs and my hook case was downstairs - and I'm a bit lazy at times.  It worked out that the blanket is 210 stitches wide - so 15 ripples.

I've got 11 colours and cream and am doing one row cream, followed by two rows of a colour.  It's for DD2, my 'special' little one, who is 9 and autistic.  She chose the colours and is calling it her Rainbow blanket, bless her.

Oops - just realised I photographed it upside down - the raspberry pink was the first colour I used!  I'm not sure about the orange, but it was one of the colours she chose and I know her well enough to know that it should stay in the blanket.

I'm really enjoying making this.  It's been a while since I made a ripple out of sock yarn for DD1 (which could do with a few extra rows as she's grown taller since I 'finished' it).

I've also been using the leftovers from the first Stylecraft 'Lucy Pack' to make a circular cushion cover, but that's a very new thing and isn't worth photographing at the moment.  I'm using the colours in the same order that I did with my Granny Stripe blanket and it's destined to be a bed cushion!

There's not much else going on here really.  The weather was rather chilly yesterday morning at 7.30 when we left to walk to the train station and when I went there a second time a couple of hours later (this time in the car) to drop off hubby and then do a bit of shopping, the car's display was telling me it was 5C outside.  It's a bit warmer today, but still gloomy enough to warrant me getting out the slow cooker and putting inside some sliced red onions, a browned brisket of beef, some red wine and water, ready for this evening.  I reckon 8 hours of cooking should be fine for it and the slow cooker's excellent for nights when hubby's not sure what time he'll be home, which is what's happening a lot at the moment as he's working with colleagues based in his firm's New York office, so there are quite a few evening conference calls going on.

I popped into the shop where I work yesterday (I work there Sat evening and Sun afternoon - 10 hours a week) and got waylaid by our assistant manager to go over the Christmas rota and confirmed when I was working.  He'd been trying to phone me, but the Internet hub needed re-setting - Internet connection was fine, but the phone line had dropped out - so he couldn't get through.  I'll be working Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, but have said that as I've gone in on Boxing Day for the last two years I'd prefer to not work that day.  Haven't broken the news to hubby yet though!

Until next time, take care.

Ivor Biggun!

Well, I finished my Granny Stripe blanket yesterday.  It was popped into the washing machine and then the tumble dryer and was on the bed by early evening and then I took some photos this morning.

Stretched out on the bed

Folded into four

Folded into eight

The edging at the corner

Some details.

Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK bought from Masons .  It's the 'Lucy' pack of 17 colourways, plus a light yellow from King Cole (Baby Comfort DK iirc).

Hook: 4mm

Yarn used: a total of 2025g, which is 6147.7 metres, according to Ravelry.

Told you it was big!  It got to the point where it was making my lap really hot when I was doing the edging as it was all bundled up on me.  The dog didn't mind though - as soon as I got out the blanket to work on it some more, there she was, pressed up close to me and slowly edging her way onto the blanket.

It seemed rather odd last night, trying to knit the triangular scarf I've got on the needles at the moment - it felt so light in comparison to the blanket.  I also tried to do a few rows on the laceweight cashmere scarf I'm crocheting, but I just couldn't get to grips with it - maybe today now my hands have had the night to forget about the way the blanket felt to work on!

I've Got 'The Wanties'

For this. 

The colour palette is gorgeous and the yarn seems lofty, light and yummily woolly.

However, now that the import threshold has been reduced from £18 to £15 (including P&P iirc), that would mean that at $14.50 a 50g skein, buying 3 skeins would be approx £27.50.  Add on something like £8.20 for shipping and that's £35.70.  VAT would be £7.14 and then the post office handling fee of £8 would bring the total up to £50.84 - for 150g of yarn (753 metres).  Or, to put it another way, 6.75p per metre of yarn.  A 100g/400m skein of Natural Dye Studio Angel Sock works out at 5p per metre.

Oh well.  Maybe one day!  Or maybe hubby will have to go to the US on business and I can get him to bring me some back with him :D  In the meantime, I'll have to make do with one or two of the patterns that have been written for the yarn instead.

Not much else to show you really.  I've been mostly plodding away on my Granny Stripe blanket as I want to get it finished by Christmas.  It's turning into a bit of a biggie, this one.  I ended up ordering a second 'Lucy pack' of Stylecraft yarn from Masons last week and will keep striping until I've done 5 x 18-colour repeats, plus another 12 colour rows, then do a border of six rounds using the last 6 colours of the colour sequence I've been using.  With the way acrylic yarns relax after washing and drying, that should give me a blanket that's more of a bedspread which will cover the bed from headboard to footboard!  I'll put it on the bed once I've done 5 and a half repeats to see if my calculations are correct or not.

I've put St Brigid on the back burner for the moment.  I had a dreadful cold last week which really knocked me sideways and without the ability to concentrate on something so full of cables.

I have started something new in the last week.  I asked DD2 if she wanted a new blanket and she said yes.  We decided on a Neat Ripple and I'm doing stripes of one row cream, two rows colour, one row cream, etc.  I've done 4 colour rows so far and it's looking rather nice, if I do say so myself.  DD2 also likes it, which is the main thing.  More about that when I've done enough to warrant taking a photo!

I had DD1's first parent-teacher meeting at her new school last night.  13 miles in the car each way for a five-minute meeting with her form teacher and then a few minutes with her head of lower school (to check that if we buy DD1 a Kindle for her birthday that she'll be able to take it into school - at her own risk, obviously).  DD1 is apparently doing very well, has settled in to life at a senior school, has made new friends and reports from her teachers all seem to be of the "no issues, conscientious worker and polite" type which makes me a Happy Mummy :)

I'm off to do some Granny Striping now.