I've agreed to do something I swore I'd never do again: I'm going to make a baby blanket. Yep, I've made enough of them that I swore I was over it. And yet, here we go.
Why do we get fed up with knitting some things but not others? Why can some of us crank out endless hats and scarves, but we can't stand making up one more pair of socks? Why do some love colorwork and hate cables? One of my friends from the LYS hates knitting bobbles. Every time someone says the word "bobbles", she quietly says "suck". (Making the joint statement "bobbles suck".) I crack up every time.
I think we all have knitting skills that we enjoy more than others. For me, there is little I can do to make a baby blanket interesting. I've done intarsia, cables, stranded colorwork, and applique, but I think all the repetition just overwhelms me. (It's flat, no shaping, usually symmetrical.) I've even designed several, and though they're pretty and technically involved, designing the blankets only gets me so far, and then boredom.
Whenever I teach a class, I ask the students what they love to knit, and what they would never want to knit. Inevitably everything listed as something someone loves to knit is also listed as something someone hates to knit. There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to the combos. I've had sock knitters say they hate making mittens, shawl and lace makers say they hate ponchos, and blanket lovers say they hate scarves. The Q&A always elicits laughter as folks realize their common passion for knitting is also grounds for such different tastes in projects.
Who knows? Maybe this blanket will be the breakthrough blanket that makes me a convert. I'm doing it on commission, so I didn't get to choose the yarn or the pattern. Maybe it will be like the dress your girlfriend insists you try on, even though you're completely skeptical. Then you put it on and it's terrific. Maybe.
If I were to choose to knit a baby blanket, what patterns would you recommend? Is there one out there that you love to knit and think is beautiful enough to be worth the effort? Share a link in your comment. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. What's good? I'll post recommended patterns in the next post.
Why do we get fed up with knitting some things but not others? Why can some of us crank out endless hats and scarves, but we can't stand making up one more pair of socks? Why do some love colorwork and hate cables? One of my friends from the LYS hates knitting bobbles. Every time someone says the word "bobbles", she quietly says "suck". (Making the joint statement "bobbles suck".) I crack up every time.
I think we all have knitting skills that we enjoy more than others. For me, there is little I can do to make a baby blanket interesting. I've done intarsia, cables, stranded colorwork, and applique, but I think all the repetition just overwhelms me. (It's flat, no shaping, usually symmetrical.) I've even designed several, and though they're pretty and technically involved, designing the blankets only gets me so far, and then boredom.
Whenever I teach a class, I ask the students what they love to knit, and what they would never want to knit. Inevitably everything listed as something someone loves to knit is also listed as something someone hates to knit. There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to the combos. I've had sock knitters say they hate making mittens, shawl and lace makers say they hate ponchos, and blanket lovers say they hate scarves. The Q&A always elicits laughter as folks realize their common passion for knitting is also grounds for such different tastes in projects.
Who knows? Maybe this blanket will be the breakthrough blanket that makes me a convert. I'm doing it on commission, so I didn't get to choose the yarn or the pattern. Maybe it will be like the dress your girlfriend insists you try on, even though you're completely skeptical. Then you put it on and it's terrific. Maybe.
If I were to choose to knit a baby blanket, what patterns would you recommend? Is there one out there that you love to knit and think is beautiful enough to be worth the effort? Share a link in your comment. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. What's good? I'll post recommended patterns in the next post.
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