I’ve got Fiddler on the Roof stuck in my head and fingers itching to start my next project. We knitters are nothing if not creatures of tradition (or, if you’re being uncharitable, habit). Everyone has a story of their mother/grandmother/cool next-door neighbor who taught them to knit. And everyone has a traditional project that they keep making over and over again. (Mrs. Weasley’s famous Christmas sweaters spring to mind.)
For Christmas, I make socks (sometimes).
For new babies, I make sweaters.
For weddings, I make blankets.
I started this tradition back in college, when my friends started getting married. I’ve done fancy blankets and simple blankets. I’ve crocheted and knitted. I’ve made them with cotton and acrylic and wool (depending on the weather in the recipient’s hometown and just how broke of a college student I was at the time).
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a wedding- now that I’m in my thirties, my friends are more or less done getting married and starting to have kids (which means I’m knitting baby sweaters instead, which is a heck of a lot easier).
But, I’ve got to get my blanket-knitting muscles going once again because my brother is getting married this summer! It’s very exciting!
Now I’ve just got to pick the right pattern.
My first instinct is to try something super-simple, and bang out a blanket as quickly as possible (after all, my knitting time is severely limited these days).
Garter Squish by Stephen West
But, it’s for my brother! My only sibling! On his wedding! It’s gotta be nicer than a regular old garter square.
I could break out a fancy pattern. Maybe something lacy and textured like this:
Sweet Pea Baby Blanket by Suzanne Middlebrooks
While that’s really pretty, I don’t know… it might be a bit too twee, even if I use a nice masculine color. Plus, that looks incredibly time-consuming.
I could go somewhere in-between, a simple 2-row texture, heavy on the garter stitch. This chevron pattern could work, but I’d have to play with the colors- my brother’s not really a “rainbow” person.
Garter Chevron Blanket by Catherine Anderson
I’ll keep looking. I’m sure I’ll find something that’s casual enough for my brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law (that’s a lot of hyphens!) to use every day, but nice enough (and maybe heirloom enough) for a wedding gift.
What are your traditional knitting projects?
Essentially, Farm Twist is a 2 ply version of Tosh Merino Light, which is one of my other favorite yarns. 
It’s going to be lovely when it’s done, but man, I gotta wonder about the sanity of the designer. Who designs a men’s sweater on 3’s and 2’s? I’m currently working on the body, and each row has almost 300 sts. It’s not even that big of a sweater.
There’s plenty of yarn in there, but none of the colors are terribly cohesive, and there isn’t a ton of any one brand. I’ve always had grand plans of working up a lovely set of fancy matching dishcloths and towels, but… clearly that hasn’t happened.
We’ll just have to see how many I make it through before I get bored- so far two and a half, and I’m still going strong.
It’s a super-cozy, extra-comfy, everyday sweater in the softest superwash wool you’ve ever seen.
I love this sweater, for real. I’ve got one in a gorgeous deep red that is just a delight to wear. It’s made with super-soft Provincial Tweed (which, despite my turbulent relationship with my 
The 
It’s been a long time since my first “Hello World”, my life has changed significantly, and I’ve learned so much, both about knitting and writing (and writing about knitting). I’ve written dozens of patterns and grown in my confidence as a designer. I’ve made a whole stack of sweaters (my entire family is very warm these days).
It started snowing Friday around lunchtime, and kept on going all through the night, until we ended up with knee-deep (or at least calf-deep) snow blanketing the city. We hit 9 inches on our back deck on Saturday morning!
I know that as a transplant from the Midwest I’m supposed to go on and on about how “back in my day we’d drive in three feet of snow, uphill both ways, with our eyes closed, just for fun.” But, I gotta say, I kind of love the Seattle way of dealing with snow. Here, we don’t tough it out, we don’t fight it, we don’t shovel or salt or plow. We just stock up on food when there’s snow in the forecast, call out from work and hunker down. This morning, I’m fully embracing my inner Seattleite and enjoying the snow through the window, cozy with my knitting and a cup of tea. Maybe we’ll go outside and make a snowman later, or maybe we’ll just stay inside until the snow melts. 
Is there snow where you are? What do you do when the snow hits?
Anyway, the kid is napping right now, so I’m going to take advantage of the quiet and hop back on the couch and get in a little speed-knitting.
On the Needles 