I wanted to make something special for Phil and Aggie’s wedding – something that they could share and cuddle up in. I settled on Jared Flood’s Girasole – a piece of traditional circular lace that can be worked as a blanket or a shawl. It looks much more complicated than it was to knit. The chart sections flew by and the lace was really fun to work. I used Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk so the blanket would be soft and cozy but not too warm.

What special projects have you made or received as wedding gifts? I have a few more weddings to attend this year and am on the lookout!

[Photos courtesy of Chris]

[Ravelled]

My quilt squares are ready to be shipped off to Portland where they will meet hundreds of other quilt squares. These two are my contribution to Larissa Brown’s Barn Raising Quilts to benefit Doctors Without Borders. If you’re interested in getting involved there’s still time! The squares are due in Portland by June 9, 2009. The pattern and full details are on Knitalong.net.

I’m looking forward to seeing the finished products! And this knitalong has encouraged me to get involved in another one. I signed up for The Purple Purl’s February Lady Sweater knitalong. Any excuse to order some Tanis Fiber Arts merino!

Knitalong by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown, opened to Barn Raising Quilt

Larissa of Stitch Marker has put a call out for volunteers to contribute to several Barn Raising Quilts. The finished pieces will be raffled off at the Sock Summit in Portland with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. The pattern is available for download on the Knitalong website and more details on how to get involved are on Larissa’s blog. If you haven’t picked up the Knitalong book yet I would highly recommend it. The pattern can also be found there, along with many other great designs. The Blessingway Blanket is one I’m slowly making my way through…

This will be my first knitalong and I’m pretty excited about it! I’m going to contribute two squares to the project. The yarn I’m planning to use (Estelle Cadenza) was actually bought for a Barn Raising Quilt. My knitting partner for life and I were thinking about doing some sort of Boise-Toronto knitalong project for her new niece. So this will be my Barn Raising warm up!

I picked up many, many skeins of Misti Cotton in Kiwi at Romni’s summer sale a couple of months ago. I’ve wanted to get started on the Blessingway Blanket from Knitalong ever since I saw it and figured this yarn would make a soft and cozy blanket for a friend’s soon-to-be-born baby.

So far I’ve completed one of the two Piece As. It was really fun to work on and forced me to overcome my fear of charts! Four more pieces to go and three months until the due date . . .