on the needles

Labor Day has passed, it's been raining for 24 hours and we had to use the quilt on the bed last night.  It's fall!  I am so looking forward to it.  I'm antsy to get to all the projects on my queue so I can wear them as the weather invites woolies out of the closet! 

I have one more obligation project before I can turn to purely selfish knitting.  It's my Abby's Blanket from Through the Loops, designated for a friend from high school who's having a baby in November.  I love this pattern and it's going to be hard to put this one in the mail. 

This lace blanket starts in the middle and is worked in the round.  I just finished the last pattern repeat, which means I have 424 stitches on the needles, and it's so squished, it looks like nothing but yarn spaghetti.  I'm so excited to cast off and see the blanket take shape as each stitch jumps off the needles.  I'm using Cascade 220 Superwash in an incredible heather teal, color 859.  The border is in a soft yellow which picks up on the yellow flecks in the heather.  Blocking should make this one beautiful!

I just couldn't wait to start some of my fall garments, so last week, I cast on my Angostura vest. 

This is in Berroco Vintage, a wool/acrylic blend I've been wanting to try.  It's very soft, inexpensive and hopefully easy to care for, but it doesn't scream acrylic.  This is color 51190 and is a beautiful heather with red and purple flecks. 

The pattern calls for a very tight row gauge of 9 rows to an inch.  I went down to US 5 needles, but could still only get 8 rows to the inch.  I blocked my swatch to the st/inch gauge, but it takes quite a bit of stretching to get there.  Despite the acrylic content, my swatch has held the blocking, so I'm hoping that the piece will block out to the measurements in the same way.  I've finished up the back and it looks beautiful.  I'm disciplining myself to wait on the front until I finish the blanket.