Knitting or Blogging

With my current work schedule and all the stuff with putting together this year's Men's Spring Knitting Retreat (which is going to be AWESOME!), I felt that I could either knit, or blog about no knitting.

I Chose To Knit
It appears that Ted, Wondermike and I will be doing a live radio interview on the Friday of the retreat. Once it's fully confirmed, I'll provide all the details (because you'll be able to stream the show/interview live if you care to listen), but in preparation for the interview, we had to really delve into what is the purpose of the men's knitting retreats.

I was reminded again about the odd ways that men are perceived when they knit in publish whilst knitting on the plane this past week (see baby blanket below). I had one of three typical reactions:

1. Completely Ignored - Folks would pretend I wasn't doing anything more interesting than reading the in-flight magazine.
2. Disdained - My seat mate was a somewhat redneck sort of guy who actually grunted a bit in disgust when he realized what I was doing right next to him (is knitting contagious?)
3. Fawned over - One of the flight attendants went on and on about how amazing it was that I knit (and I wasn't doing it with any other appendage than my hands, despite the fact that I'm male).

Being with 45 guys in a few weeks, just enjoying knitting without any other energy spent on dealing with the fallout of knitting in public will be a complete joy.

I can't wait to feel normal(ish).

Current Knitting/Crocheting
First of all, I still haven't finished the crochet baby blanket...or maybe I have...I need help in deciding.

I completed a rather plain, wide border, using varying width of random striping of the colors in the blanket, and then I started to do a simple 5 double-crochet shell edging. When I was about halfway through with the final edging, Thaddeus asked me why I was putting such an old-fashion border on such a contemporary looking baby blanket. I value is aesthetic eye in these matters, but I still thought I'd ask readers which they prefer...a plain, squared off border, or a shell border.

Leave a comment as to which you prefer (by the way, the color of the blank is much more like the first photo than the second).

I also got some additional work done on the knitted baby blanket, using the Asherton Scarf pattern as the stitch pattern.

I love this blanket...love the colors, love the fabric and love that it's reversible.

Finally, I needed a quick, but elegant second birthday gift for a friend who's birthday was this past week. I was able to knit up a beautiful Neck Warmer (Crafty Andy's Urbanite Neck Warmer pattern).

I also got to use some of Regina's Nature Buttons. The light-weight ceramic she uses was perfect on this alpaca fabric and her glaze colors are incredibly rich and perfect on knitted items.

My friend tried it on, and she looked MUCH better than I do in it and she loved it.