Finis!!!

I finished the stripey blanket for Philip and Kara! Yay! It was a fun project again this year. I hope they like it.

Honestly, it might be a bit colorful for Philip's tastes. Hmm.
And now, for giggles, here is LAST YEAR'S blanket:

I planned on a beige border, but in the end, I had just enough of the light blue, which I definitely prefer. Just enough, as in ... I had about a foot of yarn left when I finished the border. Yikes! I live dangerously - haha :)

The border on this blanket pattern is my favorite part. It's three rows of single crochet, so it takes some time, but it's good and stiff and stabilizes the blanket. And the picot trim pattern is so nice.

Truly, the blanket is probably for Kara, since men don't usually like such things. But really it just is a labor of love, telling them how pleased I am at their upcoming wedding.

So after its photo shoot, I folded it carefully and placed it in a clean plastic bag. I'll need to take it to my friend Linda at the post office and decide the best way to ship it.

After the blanket was finished yesterday, I quickly crocheted a pair of smittens for a lady at the farmers' market who wanted a pair, but whose hands would not fit in the selection I had already.

And then my weary thumbs had a rest as I returned to what feels good to my hands: knitting. Crochet is hard on my thumbs. They ache and sometimes have sharp twinges, after lots of crocheting. Knitting is easier on them, somehow.
I'm making a quick little dish cloth in cotton yarn.

This pattern is so easy and can be adjusted larger to make a baby blanket. It has a little yarn-over pattern around the edge. I'm using size 7 needles. The yarn is Lily's "Sugar and Cream," the color is Barnboard Twists.

Who doesn't need a few clean dish cloths?