Serenity

Motherhood might be supposed to confer serenity on the mother. Not on this one, sadly. However, that’s not something I want to dwell on in the blog, given that I blog so less as it is.

I did achieve Serenity, though, in the form of this blanket.

Pattern: Serenity (direct pdf download) by Laura Wilson-Martos (Rav link here). I think it was my largest knit lace, one that had been on my queue for a while (in my mind if not on Ravelry). It went very well, with only one or two unimportant typos (such as a misplaced bracket). I only flagged slightly in the eyelet section, tiring a bit of the endless-seeming yo k2tog, yo k2tog. Otherwise I like the pattern and wouldn’t mind a re-run. My project page is here. I like working lace from the centre. It gives you better control over how big the final product is, especially when your yarn is limited.

Yarn: Aslan Trends Class, a cotton-acrylic blend which has worn well in use and two handwashes. The yarn was a gift from a Rav friend who I met when she visited Kochi with her husband.  White may be seen as foolhardy for a baby blanket, but we are using it as a show blanket, only used for public occasions. I like the feel of the yarn and the stitch definition but was not enamoured of the way the shiny strand causes the other strands to twist around it, creating what is called worming, I believe. Also, I had an issue with my stitch markers snagging on the yarn (for which I am close to a solution now, having found some neon-coloured smooth rubber bands; they are rather large, perhaps I will find some smaller ones at some point). I used nearly all of 4 skeins.

Needles: 4.5mm. I believe I was supposed to do the first few rows in a smaller gauge and then move to the larger, but I couldn’t be bothered. It doesn’t seem to have made a difference.

Size: 44″ square. It’s a good size for swaddling.

Time: Thick yarn makes for fast lace! About 3 weeks, perhaps because of the eyelet zone.

Extra: I’m proud of this FO. It’s gotten me several compliments as well.

I’m considering a crochet blanket but cannot settle on a pattern. I have this one and another knit blanket and feel my other craft should be represented as well. Either regular crochet or Tunisian…I have a sportweightish cotton which I lugged back and forth to Hyderabad a couple of times already. The days of travelling light are far behind me, I fear. The last two times I paid enough for excess baggage to almost buy another ticket.

Oh yes, I’m now at home in Hyderabad. Anyone dropping in?