Penny's Notebook

babysoft blues blanket

Baby Soft in little boy blue is tricky to photograph.

August 2026: a new plan and it’s one I hope I’ll finish knitting … some day.

I really wanted to knit this motif and was delighted to receive five skeins of BabySoft in a pale blue. I decided this blanket was meant to be. While the design is written for a chunky weight I did maths for the DK and cast on 210 stitches and knit for a while. The next morning I realized that was nuts. I redid the maths for the DK held double.

Photos

light blue project on a circular needle.
210 sts
Light blue yarn being knitted off a metal needle onto a bamboo one
Blue knit blanket in progress shown mid row laid on a tuxedo cat asleep on a multicoloured knit blanket on the knitter’s lap

Log

second time now has charm

21 May 2025

Last night I cast on with the DK weight and 210 sts, which I got right on the first try.

It created a nice fabric, but I knew it would feel like it was taking Forever if I were to continue.

I spent time today thinking about the stitch count, the fabric, and the project. It didn't take long to decide to hold the Babysoft doubled. This time I cast on 126 sts (and again got it right on the first try). I love this fabric! It's much squisher and I'm already past where I was last night. Now it feels like the right blanket.

Now that I'm more familiar with the stitch pattern I can more easily read the fabric which will help speed things up.

light blue project on a circular needle.

third times the charm?

28 May 2025

When I pulled this out of the project bag tonight, I realized not only had I skipped one aspect of the main chart, but two. That meant the motif I was planning to work wasn’t being knit. My whole intention for this particular project is the motif!

I took a quick photo and posted about the yarn as a little acorn swatch. That helped soften the blow of ripping out.

Since I finally measured gauge (unblocked), it also meant that I did the maths and I can cast on even fewer stitches this time. I often like to cast onto a long (14 inch) straight needle and work the next row onto the needle of my choice. I didn’t knit as much as I hoped tonight, but I believe I’m now on track.

lesson learned! I glanced at the chart and instructions and didn’t really read them. Oops. There went about a week of work (not a full week, there were other projects.

Light blue yarn being knitted off a metal needle onto a bamboo one

Saturday night progress

12 July 2025

Saturday night is for watching Brokenwood on Acorn and tonight to work on this blanket. Now that the pattern has been established and I’m in the second repeat, it’s a lot easier to work.

Blue knit blanket in progress shown mid row laid on a tuxedo cat asleep on a multicoloured knit blanket on the knitter’s lap

I hope to spend some more time working on it this week. We will see if that happens or not.

new plan

30 August 2026

After not touching the blanket for over a year, i frogged it. I then cast on well, I’m honestly not sure how many stitches as I did stitch maths on an ephemeral post-it that’s now been lost (oops). It’s somewhere about 32-24 inches in width. I’m working a slipped stitch rib of sorts and it’s going much faster, this is after only a few evening TV knit sessions.

Three things make this a good blanket project:

  1. I don’t have to read a pattern to figure out what I’m knitting, I can easily read my knitting.
  2. It’s a reversible stitch pattern.
  3. The stitch pattern is interesting enough I don’t think I’ll get bored in another few rows.

I am happy to have a mindless yet productive knit project again.

As Am Yisrael Chai has basically disbanded at this point, I’m not sure how this blanket will get to Israel, so I will likely donate it to my Sisterhood’s blanket project, we knit and crochet blankets for children undergoing long term medical treatment at local facilities as well as local underprivileged infants and toddlers.