Overzealous yarn overs have been conquered, Hap is now finished!

Hap Blanket by Ysolda Teague
1.75 skeins Countrywide 12 ply light grey, 0.75 skein Countrywide 12 ply dark grey
9mm needles
Started: September 2009
Finished: November 2009
Ravelryed here

As predicted, the hot days have started so it’s unlikely Hap will be used for quite some time. Having said that, I do live in a city where I once got sunburnt and hailed on in the same day in December some years ago. The blanket did get a quick test run, and it’s very warm and surprisingly large.

I was hopeful that this would be one of two Haps with this yarn; this one, and another with the colours reversed. Unfortunately I underestimated the amount of yarn required for the border. As I haven’t seen this yarn elsewhere (one of the few drawbacks of picking up yarn at op shops), only one Hap will be made with this yarn.

The border was pretty arduous, even with 9mm needles. The rows are long, and one small mistake can take a long time to frog and fix. There’s no denying though that the border makes the blanket, so the slight tedium is worth it.

Now that the days are getting longer and daylight savings has started, this year’s cold days are most definitely numbered. Despite this, I have started work on Hap Blanket by Ysolda Teague.

The yarn was an op shop find from 2007, and I had no plans for it until the pattern was released earlier this year. Since then, it’s been burning a hole in my stash.

So far they seem to be a perfect match. The natural-coloured yarn works well with chunky garter stitch, and the dark grey stripe matches the light fawny grey nicely. It’s also lovely and warm.

Although the blanket will be lucky to get any use at all this year, I’m sure it’ll get a decent work out next year.

Turns out that I had a darning needle big enough for the 12 ply I used to make this blanket all along, so now the blanket is officially finished. It’s nice to be able to use or take photos of it without worrying about the daggy ends hanging out.

Vital stats:

Hemlock Ring Blanket
(exactly) 2 skeins of 12 ply Rainbow Wools, New Red
7mm dpns and 100cm circular Addis.
Start: November 2007
Finish: June 2008

Given how quickly it knit up, it was a pretty satisfying knit. It was also my first Addis experience, and they were pretty impressive. Having said that, it is hard to compare to circulars used in the past, because I don’t usually have projects that have such a large gauge.

Now that it’s done and dusted, I’ve started on another project that’s been languishing in my knitting cupboard before the Hemlock Ring Blanket was even a twinkle in my eye. I’m really enjoying the process of finishing up things that have not only been taking up precious space in my knitting cupboard for some time now, but also niggling in the back of my mind.

The first blog post is always awkward – should it be an introduction, or should the introduction be skipped? I always to and fro between the two.

Maybe I’ll just do both.

I’ve been itching to start blogging again for a while, after being a terrible blogger while at uni – infrequent posts, horrible poorly-lit photos etc etc. Now I’m finished uni, I theoretically have more time to spend writing posts, commenting on blogs I like, and taking more care with my photos. I’m not sure how well this attempt will go, given that I’m a notoriously bad correspondent, but there’s no harm in having another shot.

Now for an (almost) FO. I started working on the Hemlock Ring Blanket late last year, but Christmas knitting soon took over, and I had to put it aside. I basically finished it last week, but accidentally left my darning needles at my parents place when I was visiting last month. I should be getting the needles back in a week or so, so it should be properly finished then.

It’s not a blanket that you can snuggle up in, but it’s very nice as a lap blanket. I was a little concerned that the yarn I used (Rainbow Wools 12 ply) would be a little too rough, but it softened a lot after wet blocking. In all honesty, I’m not sure it was really an issue to begin with.

If you are on Ravelry, the details are here.