Sassy Does It

Ah, finally - I’m done with the primary color on my Summer Baby Blanket.  Bound off.  Goodbye Pear, hello Birch.

The appearance of Birch means it’s time to forge ahead to the questionably-gender-neutral-but-I-don’t-care-if-it’s-feminine crochet border.

I’m excited about the crochet bit.  I know I’ve mentioned this before.  Not that I’m thinking of switching teams or anything, because I think it’s fair to say I’m firmly rooted in Team Knit.

But.

Mom crocheted back in the day (she also went through a macramé phase in the early 80s, a fad that seemed to crash and burn as the cool thing to do shortly thereafter - at least in the hip happenings of the church craft circle).  She didn’t knit, so crochet is it in terms of my maternal influence in all things yarn.  Well, if you don’t count the little projects with snippets of yarn, Tacky Glue, and popsicle sticks, because that featured pretty heavily.

I’ve never more than dabbled in the single-needle hookiness of crochet, and in the few times I’ve tried it, it’s weird how vividly it brings to mind the smooth, repetitive movement of my mother’s hand, from my child’s view.  Not that weird, I guess, considering that when you’re a kid that’s what you do - watch your mom’s every move - but it’s cool to remember something that seems unuseful for the brain to store. 

The only time I ever crocheted with the intention of actually making something was for a little blanket in my university colors.  It was made out of scratchy acrylic, because A) that’s what I could afford, and B) I don’t think I knew that anyone bought yarn if it didn’t come from Jo-Ann’s.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Jo-Ann’s.  I just didn’t know.  Did. not. know what awaited outside the world of Jo-Ann’s.

But I digress.  I don’t think I even finished that blanket, which is understandable, considering I probably wouldn’t have used it unless it was sandwiched in-between two things appreciably softer.  It certainly wasn’t complicated:  I’m pretty sure it was entirely comprised of double-crochet stitches.  In two colors, though - hot stuff.

I think the Summer Blanket border will be pretty, based on the nice smorgasbord of stitches that are charted out on the pattern.  That and the proud-as-punch picture from the pattern that says, “Check me out, I look so awesome all finished.”

In planning ahead (a few minutes ago) by looking at my handy-dandy Ravelry needle chart (which took me a year to fill out, but I did it), I can see that I don’t have the crochet hook I need.  Um, not surprising considering that the only hooks I have (for weaving in ends) I bought in a little convenience pack.  F, H, I, J and K. 

Mr. G is suspiciously missing, so I might have lost him.  Who knows. 

Maybe he’s just less popular than the other kids and doesn’t get picked for the convenience packs.

So in Japan, where my designer originally slapped this border on the blanket, their millimeter-based sizes don’t always jive with the US lettering system.  Of course they used a 2.5-mm hook, which is between a B and a C.  Neither of which I have; guess I’ll round up and make this sucker with a C, 2.75 mm.

Come on, LYS - don’t let me down when I come knocking. I don’t want to drive all over creation.  Stock those crochet hooks.

Maybe I’ll go nuts and buy another convenience pack that has the rest of the elusive crochet needles I’m missing.  Maybe even Mr. G.

UPDATE:  LYS did not hook me up with the C.  The smallest they had was D, so for $1.95 and half a millimeter difference, I paid the lady and hustled out of there, slightly embarrassed to be popping in solely for crochet purposes.  I’ll give it a shot.  Scratch the itch for tonight.

Oh, and I saw Mr. G Hook.  There were plenty of him in stock, darn it.  Nobody wants to take him home. Poor little bugger.

OK, so since we’re at about a month from blast-off, I’ll go ahead and unveil my Summer Baby Gift in the making.

Not that it’s some huge impressive project, or even that big of a surprise to at least one person reading this, but since it’s for a baby that’s not born yet, it seems worth putting a little drumroll to it, a nice sense of occasion.

Usually I wait until the kid makes an appearance, but ehhh.  Spill the beans.

So Sissy B is having another one; this’ll make three.  She’s already got plenty on her hands with my two little nieces, and this will spice up all 24 of her waking hours come June.  Not sure if this one’s a boy or girl as they’ve elected to wait to find out. 

At least that’s what they’ve told me.  It’s possible they are sneaking around giggling behind everyone’s backs, secretly knowing.

Maizy calls her little brother- or sister-to-be “Cellpho” (as in, yeah, get ready to dial), and she does this with some confidence, as if this common name has already won the contest for her sibling’s playground moniker.  Hence the blog name of this child is born, ahead of the physical debut.

Regardless of whether Cellpho is a girl or a boy, this kid is going to get a lot of girly influence, what with the two older sisters and all.  (It seems weird to call E-dot - pictured here: awwwwww - an older sister, since so far she’s been the little guy.  Girl.  You know.)

So is it weird that I always make blankets when it comes to baby gifts? 

I know it takes much longer than booties or a layette set, but I always think to myself:  if you’re going to knit something, then really knit something.  Something that the little bundle of joy won’t grow out of in five minutes. 

Sweaters for toddlers make more sense to me: you might get a good year out of that before it’s handed down.  But for a baby, a blanket seems like something they can really use (to the extent they can use anything, other than a breast).  They can lay around on it, drool on it, burp up on it (ah, the joy of machine-washable cotton), all for a good little while.  

Then, once they can walk, that blanket can be really used. 

Beat up.  Dragged around for a long time.  Colored on.

Loved.

But.  Am I boring?  Should I branch out?  Put a little more thought into it?  If you had a kid, what would you want to receive?

Too late now on this one - but your opinions would either pacify my concerns that I’m in a rut with baby creativity or spur me on to make interesting-er tiny things in the future.

On the color, as I believe I announced when I started this thing, we have Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed in Pear (yes, that’s another name for green, and I think this may have been the start of what Clumsy Knitter kindly called Greenmersion, rather than a Green Problem).  But this hue seemed a good bet for a maybeboymabyegirl baby.

Here’s a little preview.  The repeats bunch up a bit unless they’re nice and stretched: blocking will help this.  (Yes, that is my new red bedspread behind it.  Oh, glorious red.)

Now that I look at it (a lot, often), the lace pattern on my Summer Blanket (otherwise known as “24-25-48 Lace Baby Blanket“, which is the catchy name the Japanese designer gave it) does look a bit more feminine than not feminine.  I was shooting for neutral in the beginning.  But hey - even boy babies are all soft and pretty.  I think a daisy-like pattern will probably fly if indeed a penis makes an appearance.

And there is the aforementioned girly factor that will surround this child. 

Right, OK, stop worrying about the lace pattern.  Good thing, since I’m probably about 2/3 through on the length.

I think what sold me on this pattern is the cool crochet border.  Not everyone who made this (and reported back to Ravelry) followed through with the border, but for me the blanket is a bit lukewarm without it.  I’m not usually a crocheter, but I can hold my own, and this border is going to be spectacular.  I hope.

Feefers is chugging along in the few minutes I can find here and there to work on it.

More time lately on Summer Blanket, which tends to get done on planes, when for some reason the monotony doesn’t bother me as much.  And I don’t like hassling with patterns when other people’s elbows are already touching mine in a fight for the armrest.

So this is the state of affairs that leads me into the weekend.  At this point I’m craving quiet:  sweet, still, quiet laziness.

And some fries with that.