Now that the 2006 Winter Olympics & the associated Knitting Olympics are over it is time to return to my regularly scheduled programming here at Amy Artisan. For the last couple of weeks I have only highlighted Knitting Olympic activity. In this post I’ll combine a couple of different entries & get current on the blog (so this will be a longer post than previous ones). Still to come in this edition of Amy Artisan:
– A Bevy of Blankets!
– Reading on the Rails…
– Lacey Squares

First up…

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A Bevy of Blankets!

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I finally got around to getting these blankets to the intended baby recipients. These blankets are such a relaxing project – it is the basic dishcloth pattern that my Grandma taught me to knit with. When I first started making these blankets I used one yarn but now I always knit 2 yarns together – it is always fun to see how the colors will come together.

Blanket #1 – The Edward

Blanket #2 – The Maggie

Blanket #3 – The Marlowe

My favorite ways to knit this blanket are:
1) 2 colors of Bernat Cotton Tots – these are such soft blankets. The Edward was made with Blueberry & Lemon. The Maggie was made with Grape & Mint.

2) A pale pastel with a white pomadour. The Marlowe was knit with Bernat Softee Baby in Pink & Red Heart Baby Sport Pompadour in White – the picture doesn’t do it justice…up close it is the palest and softest pink because of this yarn combination.

These yarn selections ensure that the blankets can be easily washed & dryed as needed – allowing for the blankets to be used (& not just folded over the back of the chair).

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Reading on the Rails…

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Last month I mentioned that I had “found time” with a new daily commute on Metra & wondered how I would spend the time. The 20 minutes between my stop & Union Station really isn’t enough to deal with knitting so I am using the time for reading. In the morning is RedEye (Chicago Tribune Cliff Notes) & in the afternoon it has been fun reading & sometimes sodoku. (On a side note, the Metra commute is now over & I’ll be joining the throngs on the CTA daily for the next couple of months.)

Here are a couple of recent reads:

Snow Flower & the Secret Fan by Lisa See – This book showed up in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago – I had registered my book club & so Random House has sent a couple of books for me to read (& hopefully recommend to my group) – this was one of those books. It was an engaging story set in China – 2 girls from varying backgrounds are matched as “forever friends” after their feet have been bound according to tradition. It is a beautiful story about Chinese women, friendship, family & culture. I’m definitely going to add it to the suggestion list for my book club.

February Book Club Selection: Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett – Several years ago (2002?) I discovered Bel Canto by Ann Patchett while browsing in the bookstore and was very intrigued by the story premise. As I started reading it I was quickly drawn into the story & I remember several late nights of reading because I didn’t want to put the book down. When our book club discussed the book several months later it was a very engaging discussion. Bel Canto has probably been one of my “most loaned” books in recent years and everyone who has borrowed it has really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to our discussion. I thought the book was good – although I did enjoy Bel Canto a lot more. One thread of discussion I was looking forward to regarding this book was “Truth & Memoirs” – given all the press recently about Jame Frey lying in “A Million Little Pieces” and the statements that memoirs allow for embellishment…do you think Ann Patchett enhanced any of her memories of Lucy to tell the story?

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Lacey Squares

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In the middle of the Knitting Olympics the mid-month Dishcloth KAL began. I remained focused on the shawl & didn’t cast on for this dishcloth until Capri was off the needles – but the last week of work on this dishcloth pattern has been filled with lots of stumbles (think of all the falls in the figure skating competions & you get the idea). I will get a dishcloth done in the coming days; however, in the interim I have done a sample square.

This pattern is called Lacey Squares – those squares are created by using the SKPO stitch – one that I hadn’t done before.

The Knit Details:
– Lacey Squares Dishcloth
– Sugar’n Cream Countryside Ombre
– Size 7 needles (the pattern called for 6 but I didn’t have a pair)

I like how this pattern knits up – beyond dishcloths I have some ideas for other projects using this pattern – they’ll be revealed in coming months.

Now that the Knitting Olympics are over it’s time to get busy on lots of other projects. In the coming weeks:
– Pink & Red fun for Project Spectrum (including a postcard for the swap). I have several projects planned in a couple of different mediums.
– My first attempt at a felted bag.
– A couple of one skein projects. I’ve recently picked up some lovely handpainted skeins & look forward to turning them into fun things. I’ve joined What’s your skein? as a motivation for working on these.
– It’s time to focus on scrapbooking some more: both my Italy/Greece album that I started in January & getting caught up with the rest of 2005.