Yarn Along

Here I am yarning along with Ginny again this week. Come and join us and see what people are reading and knitting! I am almost finished with my second Clara Cowl. I bought 2 skeins of the cheaper acrylic thinking that it would be nice for Christmas gifts and I do love this pattern for it's quickness and ease. Plus living here in NH who couldn't use a beautiful neck warmer in winter. Part of what I love about this pattern is that is looks so complicated and intricate but it isn't really all that difficult to knit. A few tricky parts but easily mastered with some practice. I think that the acrylic yarn though is maybe a bit too chunky- it is wonderfully soft and cushy and machine washable however. It will be a good choice for someone who is allergic to wool. I have some alpaca that I bought in March simply because I couldn't resist it's softness so for my next one I am going to use that and see if the alpaca is a little bit thinner and would better frame the face. Then after that I plan on trying some cascade 128 superwash and maybe some malabrigo chunky that I have. Can you detect a stash busting movement in progress????

I finished a second square for the DSD afghan contest using the diagonal block from this pattern. I actually like this block so much I could knit a whole blanket out of it. It has some really good texture to it. I used cascade 128 superwash and that stuff is so soft! So that gives me two squares to mail in and 2 chances at winning the finished afghan. I think I will call it good. They have to be mailed by Monday and I have other knitting projects calling my name.

I continue to work on James' Milo bit by bit. It is my fall back project when I get bored with other things so I haven't gotten very far on it. I like having one project ready to be picked up and brought along wherever I go. Last night we drove down to CT to buy some Southdown Babydoll ram lambs and I, of course, brought my knitting along. I got to the kitchener portion of the clara cowl and decided the road was too bumpy so I moved onto the milo till it got too dark. Can I just say that going from size 13 needles to size 5 is a bit disconcerting. I seriously felt like they were just going to snap in my fingers!

I have been reading through "What your preschooler needs to know" prior to reading it to Xander. It should be age appropriate but you never know these days! I love all the poems and songs- it's like a blast from the past and now I can find the words to all those little songs/chants/poems we used to sing as kids and that I have mostly forgotten. So far I like everything that I have read in it and it has been appropriate. I figured we would use it as a complement to Xander's actual preschool classes.

ps. Project notes can always be found on my raverly projects page here.