So what is the best travel project ever?  I'm pretty much an expert on this subject and while I know many of you are shouting "socks" or "Citron" or "Easy Folded Poncho"; and I do agree that they are all great for travel knitting...I did, however, find a project that bested them all by far: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl.  In her book she tells you why she also thinks it's the best, and I agree on all points:  1.  It takes lightweight fingering weight wool so takes precious little luggage space.  2.  It takes forever to knit, so it doesn't matter how long your vacation is, you needn't worry about running out of knitting.  3.  It's purely mindless knitting in the round so you can chat with friends, read a map, etc., unless you want to add fancy lace, and I didn't as I really truly needed it to be mindless.  I did, however, add a few inches of gull lace before the bind off.  4.  Because it's mindless, it picks up and puts down quickly and easily; you'll never have to figure out where you are.  5.  Lastly, it folds up into itself with the yarn inside like a hobo's bindle, and off we go together, into the plane, the train and the automobile.  Carefreeeee, tra la la.

I had 14 skeins (1680 yds.) of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4 ply in Lime and knit until I had one skein left, then started the gull lace edging (also in the book) leaving a bit for the bind-off.  This yarn has been in my stash for years and it's one of those old Rowan discontinued classics that I'd been saving/hoarding for the perfect project.  When we recovered our living room wing chairs in this fabric with it's inky gray/navy and limey/pucey green medallion, I thought, hmmm, don't I have yarn in this color?  Of course I do!  It makes a nice afghan.

I think you can find Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl formula in several of her publications, but I got the pattern/recipe/formula from her little book, The Knitter's Almanac.  It's quite old, but it's still in print and a must for every knitter's library.  It's got some classics in it, plus her style of writing is so endearing, it reads as a bedtime book.  Sweet dreams!

Knitionary

When my girlfriend Ellie asked me to help her knit a blanket for her soon-to-be-born first grandchild, I was only too happy.  I love my friend and love her daughter and can't wait to meet little Max!  Ellie is a beginner knitter and, understandably, did not want to go with a terribly adventurous pattern.  I showed her examples of the two most basic stitches and asked her to choose her favorite.  She preferred stockinette over garter, so the first choice was made!  Next we went searching for the perfect yarn, which is almost always a far more difficult choice. Her number one priority was that it had to be soft; however, she did not want wool as this baby lives in Houston, Texas where the temperatures are mild to hot -- REALLY hot, not to mention humid!  I reminded her that the yarn needed to be machine washable and dryable, because after all, no one wants to have a precious baby wrapped in a not-so-clean blanket. While she kept moseying over to gaze at the acrylics, I gently shoved her away, because when you ask for my help, it does not include working with scratchy pilly acrylic, no matter how appealing it may look to a novice. She thought she wanted a super-bulky yarn so it would go fast, but I had to no-no that too.  "Your hands will get tired holding those enormous needles. Let's find something more delicate that will still knit up quickly." I bee-lined to Rowan All-Seasons Cotton and prayed that we would find colors that would coordinate with the baby's room.  We were fortunate, because we found the perfect colors! Ellie purchased three skeins of a grey blue called Tornado and two each of the pale green Atlas and the pale cream Organic. I wrote out a simple pattern, and then after casting on, we knit for about a half hour until she felt confident to go home and do it on her own.

I see Ellie most every week, and soon after starting the project she proudly reported that she was knitting a few rows a week. Ooops! At that rate, it would be finished when the child was a high school student. Devoted friend that I am, I gave her a little pep talk that might have included a kick in the rear.  Last week she told me she was done and would I help her finish it?  Honestly, I don't know why I was astonished at how gorgeous it turned out! It's a treasure, and who knows?!  It may become that all-important "blankie" that Baby Max just can't be without! I took pictures and wrote up the simple pattern in case you want to knit a beautiful baby blanket, beginner knitter or not!  All-Seasons Cotton is an absolute joy:  it's soft all the way around--soft when knitting and soft as a finished fabric.  It has lots of bounce and give and even a novice knitter will have no problem getting an even tension.  I love these colors together so much, I'm tempted to knit up a striped scarf!

I'm offering the pattern as a free pattern download on Ravelry.

a baby blanket for all seasons

Linked to the Dedicated House

Finally, the average knitter can make a Kaffe design!  Rowan has just announced a new afghan (or cushion option) knit along in an easy design that takes advantage of Kaffe Fassett's unfailing color instinct.  Seriously, is there anyone else like him? There are 4 colorways: red, turquoise, pastel and brown.  When I was at the Rowan mill in June I saw all four knitted up and it was hard to choose a favorite. All four are stunning examples of Kaffe's extraordinary explosive color sense. If you are a teensy bit apprehensive, no worries, as no special knitting skills are required.  This KAL is for ALL knitting levels, pinky swear.  Really, it's all about celebrating COLOR!  The KAL will commence Oct. 1 and will continue through January.  You will receive a clue every week and a half and will be knitting squares that will be joined together at the end of the KAL.   Below are the four colorways.  Join me, I'm going with a brown cushion, or maybe the red.  Which colorway is your favorite?  To get started, all the pertinent links are at the end of the post.

Kaffe PWW Mystery KAL Links:

Download the shopping list (4 languages, 4 colorways, print out only the pages you need!)

Become a member of the Rowan club, it's free and gives access to free patterns and more.

Join the Ravelry discussion

Follow the Rowan FB page for updates

Kate Buller interviews Kaffe Fassett about the KAL  

Download the Pure Wool Worsted color chart

Kaffe KAL map!

Many knitting stores are kitting the color ways up.  My lys, Uncommon Threads is doing just that.

You can also purchase the yarn online; here are some stores I recommend
with links that take you directly to their Pure Wool Worsted:

Webs
Jimmy Beans
Churchmouse
Black Sheep
John Lewis
Love Knitting
Deramores
Jannettes

Please note that many of these online stores ship internationally.
If yes, there will be a button to click that changes to your currency.  

I decided to follow Anne's advice and re-block all my squares.  I wanted them to be 8" square and my knitting was not quite perfect enough to fit those dimensions without blocking them correctly.  Here's what I did:  I pinned them to 8x8" on my foam blocking boards.  I had to stretch most of them lengthwise and squish them widthwise to fit those dimensions.  Some of them, like the two above, were a bit rumply.  Next I put them on the grass and doused them with my sprinkler nozzle until they were soaked through.  Then I put them in a shady place and patted them to shape and allowed them to air dry.  Even the most rumply ones patted into shape and looked fine.  I don't know why I was so surprised when they ALL dried to perfect 8" squares.  I have 36 squares now, so just 12 more to go!  I'm really looking forward to seeing all the finished afghans!

I've planned several posts while I'm gone.  Come back next week and see how my girlfriend and I found a brilliant way to control our stash by making kits!  I've also got a Very Berry post in store and will definitely be making a Postcards From Holmfirth post!  Bye for now!  PS, don't forget to enter my 5th blogversary giveaway!

The Links

It's never to late to start the afghan.  Download the free patterns here.

Machine washable Rowan Pure Wool Worsted is fantastic to knit.
Boye Blocking squares, I found them at Wallmart.  I love them.