Knitting Update #3 - Rosie's Blanket

Finished blanket.

When I heard that good friends of ours were expecting their third baby, I knew I had to make something for the little one. Usually I go for baby hats or something along those lines, since it's quick and they'll outgrow it anyways in a few weeks. (Also, because I'm still not very confident in making garments for babies... I'll have to work on that.

Anyways, my point is, I have lot to thank these friends of ours, especially the mom, as without her, I honestly believe we would not have fared half as well during our pregnancy and first year with our daughter. So I've decided that, why not, I'll make another baby blanket. This was back in January, and the baby wasn't due until June, so I knew I had time. Even though I promised never to make another baby blanket for anyone else, other than my own children, I had so much fun making my daughters circular blanket and it was so fast, I was really looking forward to making this one.

I did my research diligently, first looking into what yarn I should choose, by reading through a lot of forum threads on Ravelry. I knew I wanted something that could be washed in the washing machine, yet I refuse to use acrylic. Since the baby was due in June, I was hoping to find a cotton blend, because summers in Fukuyama tend to be well above 30 degrees Celsius and really humid, except for the rainy season,when it's quite cool at night. Finally, just to prove that I wasn't a crazy person, I promised myself to look at worsted weight or thicker yarn only.
In the end, I settled on Sweater by Spud & Chloë. It is a worsted weight wool/cotton blend yarn that is machine washable. It is also organic, which is always a nice plus. Because it is 45% cotton, people mentioned that it doesn't hold the blocking really well, but in my opinion, that's OK with a blanket.

Next came the pattern. Around this time, we found out that the new baby will be a girl, which doubled my efforts in finding just the right project, as I could add lace, making the search much easier. Searching through all the circular blankets and shawls, there were a few I really liked. There were two reasons that made me decide on the Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood in the end. First, I also found out that the baby's name will be Rosie, so I thought the center would be a nice touch, and second, this was a blanket I considered making our child, only we never knew her gender while pregnant, so it got out-voted.

I ordered my yarn online: 4 skeins of pink (Tiny Dancer 7526) and 2 skeins of purple (Jelly Bean 7513). It arrived in the beginning of February, and I began to knit right away. Here are my notes from Ravelry:

1. February 21st: I used up the first skein of yarn in row 12 of the feather and fan section, so according to my calculations I estimate the skein “holding” at least 6130 stitches. If that’s true, my 2nd ball should run out around row 34, the 3rd around row 48, the fourth around row 60, and I’d still have one skein left for the blanket. So far so good.
   
2. February 26th: Math for the WIN! 2nd skein ran out as expected just after finishing row 33. I’m planning on knitting until row 80, then bind off.
   
3. March 3rd: Math for the WIN, once again! 3rd skein ran out after finishing row 48. Started purple and looking good.
4. (Here I should mention that I was ready to bind off in April. However, I had a feeling I didn't quite have enough yarn, and decided to wait until after we came back from NYC, at which point I become super busy with work. Needless to say, I wasn't able to start trying to actually bind off until mid-May, much later than I had hoped.)
5. June 16th:

   

   It's hard to see, but it did pucker...

   After trying to bind off, to run out of yarn, to frog, to bind off again, like 5 times, it is finally done. In the end I had to take off my last repeat of the feather and fan section to have enough yarn to use the bind off described in the pattern. That means, I used up probably 6-7 row’s worth of yarn. To be fair, while the blanket was knit with US#8 needles, I did the bind off with US#9. Still have a tiny amount of yarn left, enough for a tiny swatch to use as a test in the washing machine. Blocked relatively well, though the last 4 repeats of the pattern or so puckered, so should be knit with bigger needles. Unfortunately, I read those suggestions too late.

Overall, I really enjoyed making this blanket. The yarn was nice to work with and shed only a little as I worked with it. The pattern wasn't too difficult, though I had to tink back a few times in the beginning while I was getting used to the pattern. I would like to make this blanket again in the future, using its intended yarn (Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool), and following people's suggestions about increasing needle sizes on the way. Final blocked size turned out to be 125 cm across from one point to another. I do not think I measured gauge before blocking.