round white blanket

Knitting projects are of utmost importance when packing for a journey.  In fact, I used to keep a category on my blog ("travelogue") devoted to travel knitting.  I knit socks in India, a shawl in Bhutan, socks in Taos, a scarf in Nepal. For our southwestern road trip this summer, it was a circular blanket in cream Malabrigo. 

This blanket -- which is of my own design -- starts in the center with eight stitches and increases as you knit outwards. The center stockinette body is knit in the round.  The outer lace edging is knit back and forth and then sewn together. This seam is what makes it look "seamless," actually, in the sense that there's no jog in the lace fabric.  So this is what it looks like when it comes off the needles ...

And this is what it looks like when it's sewn together and given a sturdy wet blocking.  It's on the floor with my toes for scale ... though the photo at the top really shows it much better. It's a generous lap blanket

This blanket may look familiar if you're a long-time reader of my blog with an abnormally keen memory.  Back in 2010, I knit the first version of this blanket in sportweight cotton. That took me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to knit.  Truth be told, I knit it as a baby blanket for a friend of mine and then kept it because I'd spent so many hours on it.  I thought I wanted to wrap my own baby in it someday. Nevermind that my dissertation turned out to be the only baby on the way! 

Anyways, that's the sportweight cotton one on the right and the worsted wool one on the left.  Both beautiful.  The sportweight one is crisp and fine, the worsted one is lush and warm and quicker to knit. I love them both. 

I still dream of getting the pattern out someday ... but apparently I've been thinking of that since 2010 so don't hold your breath!  If anyone wants to test knit something, let me know.  Might help me get it out faster.