This is the project that inspired the Snapdragon Gallery - so please indulge me the little photoshoot.

This baby blanket was knit up over the course of several months, because I am slow. But, as a happy side effect, it is very well travelled. I knit this project in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Washington. I even finished up the border on a cross-country flight!

The blanket is a combination of two patterns: the main knit from a free eyelet baby blanket pattern from Lion Brand and the border from a tried-and-true (and now discontinued!) shawl pattern which I hope to re-create in the coming season. Remind me to upload a scan of the paper pattern here before it’s lost to history. I should probably scan all of my patterns to a collection here… a task for another day.

The yarn is Kraemer Yarns Perfection Worsted in the colorway April Showers - a wool/acrylic mix from Cece’s Wool Yarn store in Guilderland, New York. Living in Albany, I would drive to Cece’s every weekend to pick up some yarn and needles, ask advice from the ladies there, and wolf down a bagel on the way home. Holy crap the bagels. I will include a picture here so we can get the whole vibe. But the bagels will probably get their own post in the Culinary Arts section.

Back to the yarn - I do not like acrylic! It makes my hands sweaty. I understand that the ladies at Cece’s speak from experience and that an acrylic blend will stand up better to wear and tear and spit up. But I would not willingly choose to work with an acrylic mix again. However, the color way was really beautiful: a muted baby blue color, perfect for gender-neutral gifts or for moms who want a mellow nursery.

The body of this blanket is knitted corner to corner. So, I started boldly on some long, straight size 6 (4.0 mm) wooden needles from Common Thread Saratoga. I quickly realized my mistake and switched to a set of Chiagoo circular needles from Cece’s.

Because the acrylic irritated me, I decided to use up the last bit of the Kraemer yarn on a matching mouse figurine. This little pattern cost about $4, and it was so worth it! I have never before knit in the round or tried some of the increases written in the pattern. But I somehow ended up with something that looked exactly like the picture!

The mouse was knit up on metal size 4 (3.5 mm) double-pointed needles. The nose was some pink polyester thread from a sewing kit. Now, I would substitute DMC cotton embroidery thread. The eyes are 6mm safety eyes that came in a pack of several hundred. (Can someone please explain to me what makes these safe? They still seem very chokeable.) He is stuffed with torn up cotton balls. No way was I going to buy a whole bag of Poly-Fil for this little guy.

The little hats were knit from scraps of cotton and wool yarn from previous projects. The interchangeable hats were the best part of this project. Weaving in the ends was the worst. Between the ears, head, arms, legs, and tail - there were something like 18 ends to weave in. If you attempt the mouse, weave in the ends as you go, or your little critter is doomed to be a UFO forever.