Back around to another Friday and hard to believe we are not far away from March. I do think we want to rush through January because we have all had enough of those early nights, wet weather and dreary skies, and long for brighter evenings and mornings, blue skies and sunny warm days. Before you know it, spring is arriving and nearly two months into the year.
Anyway, despite the storm we managed to get out on Monday and had lovely blue skies. We visited Batsford Arboretum which was pretty although there was not a huge amount of things to see. I’ll look to go back later in the year maybe.
As you know, I finished the hat and it has been worn regularly. It also got a little damp in the rain, so I think it has gone through its own blocking by chance. Especially when I rested it on a radiator to dry whilst we had hot chocolate. It was nice and toasty when I put it back on.
I started work tonight on a garter stitch swatch for a blanket. I wanted to check if the yarn I have, when doubled, works with the 10mm needles. It is meant to be on 7mm/US11. I think it is working out fine. I didn’t bother with any fancy edge. I just wanted to check the definition of the stitch.
The yarn is from Viking Garn and is called Naturgarn. It’s from Norway and 100% wool with 50 mtrs to a 50g ball. A hand wash yarn, so not great for easy care, but it will be fine. The yarn is soft but with a little roughness to it. The swatch is nice and squishy though.
I picked up 24 balls of it, I think. I want to have a navy blue stripe in the blanket, so I need to get that contrast yarn. Or maybe I add different colours such as a yellow or pink good contrasts to the grey background. But I have not yet decided on what that stripe will be; thick, thin, one line of garter. It is just to add some interest. Thoughts from you experts are greatly appreciated. 🙂
Also, I picked up a new book. All about knitting called Knit, Step by Step. It looked good and was more of an impulse buy. Probably because the yarn shop in Broadway was closed on Monday and I had withdrawal symptoms from the lack of ogling yarn. I shall let you know how I get on.
That’s it for now though. Now the swatch looks fine, it will be frogged and I shall start properly.
Hook This, Weave That 
I think a navy stripe would look very stripe with this oatmeal coloured wool. I think you could go for a fairly wide stripe – maybe as much as a couple of inches – and, if you wanted another colour, perhaps you could do a thin stripe either side of the wider navy one. I look forward to seeing what you decide on.
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Thanks. It looks oatmeal but it’s actually light grey. I didn’t notice that it hadn’t photographed true. I shall have a think. Maybe I’ll keep the swatch active so I can test when I get the contrasts, but start the blanket anyway. Thanks for your input. 🙂
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Oops! Still half asleep. “I think a navy stripe would look very smart” 🙄
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That yarn knitted in garter stitch should make a very warm blanket.
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