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I'm sure you did! I was singing from the rooftops Saturday night when I finished my Log Cabin Baby Blanket. It's gorgeous!
It ended up taking 10 balls of Berroco Comfort DK. I did need an extra ball of red for the edging... SO glad I took one on Friday or I would not have finished it. Good planning, for once! The other colors I used 2 balls of were the darker olive green and the darker blue.
It's a great size (26" x 34"), and is just beautiful. I love how the diagonals look.
The entire blanket was seamed with 3 needle bindoff. Don't know how to do it? You're not alone. We're always amazed at how many people ask us to show them this each week. But now you can see it on our new how-to video!
So next week our Berroco Comfort Knitting & Crochet Afghans Trunk Show is arriving!
We'll have 16 gorgeous samples for you to see and fondle! The book shows all of the designs knit in Berroco Comfort, Comfort Chunky and Comfort DK... all wonderful choices.
But our trunk show samples are worked up in Comfort, Weekend and Vintage. All of these yarns are soft and washable, and it's so great to see them worked up in the different afghan patterns.
So come on in and check them out! Anyone who purchases yarn in the shop to make any of these afghans is eligible for a 15% trunk show discount while the samples are here.
Well today was certainly good weather for knitting! And it's a good thing, because I had a lot of seaming to do. This Tuesday, Suzie and I are taking the kids to deliver the goods from our after school charity projects, which include preemie hats and three blankets. We'll take pictures on our field trip, but I had to share a cute photo of a very excited Sophie. 
Tonight I washed everything so that it was perfectly clean for the delivery and Sophie helped me arrange the hats in what else... a Tiffany box! Can you believe we have exactly 50? WOW. Great job girls. I'm so proud of all of them. Thanks to Berroco and Plymouth for their donations of Comfort DK and Dreambaby DK, and to Accessories Unlimited for their donation of Brittany double pointed needles. We still have yarn left, so we will continue to use it for projects like this in the future.And totally off topic, here's a shot of my newest garden resident. I didn't realize he'd moved in when went to pick some rhubarb the other day. So he was greeted with a very loud and high pitched scream. 
Sorry big guy. I'm sorry if I didn't seem happy to meet you. But I don't like surprises!
Boy did I miss some wacky weather! I got back to Vermont last night from Florida after a week of 85 degree warmth and sun to see the remnants of a big spring snowstorm, that dumped over 2 feet of snow on parts of Vermont. It was spotty - Barb had over 2 feet where she lives, with many trees down and many hours without power. In my town, and by the shop, there wasn't quite as much. But it did cause hiccups for late April that's for sure!Yesterday morning we found out that both of our flights home to Vermont were cancelled, because of this wacky weather (snowstorm in VT, high winds at JFK). Marc and I worked our cell phones and laptops simultaneously to re-book some tickets. After many moons on hold (no worries, it's not too tough to be on hold when you are sitting on a beach, watching pelicans and dolphins frolicking in the sea) we were able to secure a route home. We did have quite the layover in Philadelphia, which was pretty boring. Thankfully we were all connected! 
Shawn was worried I might not come home to the cold weather, but I did, and I must have brought the warmer temps with me. It's supposed to be close to 80 degrees this weekend!My favorite picture from the trip is Sophie jumping some waves in Miami:
And a comparison shot... We've been going to visit my parents in Sanibel for 8 years. This was taken 5 years ago, when the girls were almost 6.
And this is from this week. They're almost 11. What a huge change! 
There was even a little knitting on the trip home. I'm making a baby blanket. The pattern is the Cottage Creations Log Cabin Blanket pattern, and I chose Berroco Comfort DK in 7 shades. It's looking awesome so far, and was a perfect, portable project. Lots of ends to weave in, I confess. But I do them as I go, and it makes it much better.
Can't wait to see it when it's finished!
I blocked the OpArt baby blanket last night. This blanket is so neat! One of our sample knitters made it for us after Shawn dug up the free pattern from the Fall 2008 Knitty.
It looks amazing in high contrast colors (red & white, black & white) but if your nursery doesn't allow for those, it also looks great in many other colors. I had a hard time choosing the sample colors, but in the end I went with the bold red & white in Berroco Comfort DK. If I had to make a baby gift right now, this would be it!I'm still plugging away on my Canopy Fingering Sweater... it's taking a while - I've been having some issues with my right hand, and the needles are tiny, so it's a bit slow going. It is precious though!
Well, not yet! We have a long winter ahead of us, I'm sure. But this week I've been meeting with a lot of sales reps... and fondling some fun spring yarns. It's scary but I have quite a few yellow carbon sales orders stacked up on my desk, which means lots of new SKUS to put into the system.Some yarns that are already existing have just had new colors introduced. Some of these new colors will be here by next week (like Berroco Comfort DK... FUN new variegateds! We added all of them, this yarn is so great for kids and babies and the variegated shades are super additions to an already spectacular color range!) And other new colors in existing yarns will be here later this month (Berroco Vintage... oh such scrumptious new colors!)I ordered some Lobster Pot sock yarn... it's not cashmere, but it's in the beautiful bright Lobster Pot colors that we all know and love and it sells for $23. This yarn should arrive in a couple of weeks and there's a really cute little baby sweater pattern that only takes one skein. It's free with yarn purchase. We'll definitely make it up into a shop model.There are some other great spring yarns that will be arriving in the beginning of January. Seems so far away, but it's actually right around the corner!
WOW. I've always loved Dreambaby DK. It's a "go-to" yarn for all baby items - whether preemie or full sized. But over the years we've grown a little tired of the colors. They've added a few muted shades, that are pretty, but they haven't really deviated from the pastels of old. And new moms these days are anything but old school!
We have new moms coming in wanting oranges, browns, bright greens, teals and more. So when Comfort DK was introduced, we were thrilled!
The color range is so fun, it's actually outselling the Dreambaby DK now. And I have to say, it's just a BIT thicker than Dreambaby DK. Which results in the softest, cushiest little baby hats EVER! So give Comfort DK a try. We think you'll love it!
I have several friends who are pregnant and due to have their babies soon... a sign that spring is here! The tough part for me, is to decide what to knit for them. We have several books and patterns to choose from, so it makes the decision even tougher. I love all of the patterns in the book Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss. Most of the patterns in this book are knit with sport or DK weight yarn. This may give me an excuse to finally knit with a few of the new yarns we got in, like the Rowan PureLife Cotton, the Cascade Cotton Rich DK, Berroco Comfort DK, or the so soft Babyboo! I also have my eye on a few Plymouth Patterns... I've just been helping Jill to add hundreds of patterns to our website. I've been doing lots of data entry on over 100 Plymouth patterns and let's just say I am now very well acquainted with these patterns! During the process, I found several I'd like to make... including the Booties, Sweater, and Hat pattern. 
Pattern #1121 is a Baby Sweater, Hat, and Blanket which would be a great gift set especially for someone having their first baby (and like all things knitted, can be passed down to the future kiddos too.) 
And, since I love color so much, I am immediately drawn to the Adriafil KnitCol Yarn. We just got in more colors that are ideal for babies, and children too. Since the yarn changes color all the time, you never get bored. In fact, you don’t really want to stop knitting, because you want to see how the pattern evolves. I find myself saying, just one more row! Patterns #1213 Baby Cardigan, 
and #1214 Baby Pullover are super cute and easy to knit with this yarn. So I’m back to my original problem of what to knit. Too many projects and not enough time!
It ended up taking 10 balls of Berroco Comfort DK. I did need an extra ball of red for the edging... SO glad I took one on Friday or I would not have finished it. Good planning, for once! The other colors I used 2 balls of were the darker olive green and the darker blue.
It's a great size (26" x 34"), and is just beautiful. I love how the diagonals look.
