Sunday, April 01, 2007

Ahoy, Albatross to Starboard!

Albatross rows knit since previous post: 6, p.

Well, it is a bit anticlimactic, given that I hit the halfway point on my Albatross, I mean, baby blanket a week ago, but I finally have a picture for you to see:
It was sunny a couple days ago so I ran outside and snapped a few pictures. I'm no photographer but you'll get the general idea.

I'm now a bit further along than seen above and I am start to contemplate a few tweaks to the pattern. First I think I am going to make it a bit shorter, maybe take off six pattern repeats. It is large-ish blanket compared to some other patterns out there (pattern claims a 35"x40" finished size, my gauge must be a little loose because I am on track for 37"x42"). If I limit it to 30 pattern repeats I'll get a blanket that is approximately 37"x37". The other thing is that the blanket is getting heavy - Blue Sky Alpacas Hand Dyed is soft but has some weight to it (no fluffy nothingness here!) so 5 skeins in this blanket is no longer a lightweight.

Second, the endless navy is getting to me. I love the color, it is very rich but I'm thinking maybe it is a bit much sooooo... I'm thinking of putting in 2-3 stripes of a beigey color (BSA Organic Cotton in Sand, I have almost a full ball in my stash). I would put them near the end of the blanket so I'll have an asymmetrical thing going on. I think it will add some visual interest and also will emphasize the rippled pattern which kind of gets lost in the darkness of the navy at the moment. What do you guys think? Leave as is? Add the stripes? How many? One? Two? Three? (I'm leaning towards 1-2)

And to answer a question from my previous post - A Hummingbird cupcake is a tropical fruit flavored cake...I forget what the three fruits were exactly, pineapple, something and something :)

2 comments:

a. said...

thanks for the info on the hummingbird :) i made it to the wallingford taco truck in the parking lot of winchell's donuts yesterday but still haven't gotten a cupcake yet. maybe i'll drop hints to the boyfriend that i am in need of cupcakes!!!

i've only done one project out of blue sky alpaca dyed cotton. it was a crocheted baby blanket. i had similar concerns about it being heavy and dense but the recipient of it had her baby a couple of weeks ago and she emailed last week saying that she loves the blanket because it seems more breathable than other ones she received. she said she's been putting on her little guy's car seat/stroller thing when they go out for walks. so i wouldn't worry too much about how it seems heavy.

Anonymous said...

The blanket is beautiful. A 'sand' contrast stripe could help emphasize the shape, but I don't think it's necessary.