The Big O

In doing research for a book on environmentally conscious knitting & crochet that I’m co-writing, I’ve come across a TON of great, greener yarns. I’ll probably mention a few of them over the next couple of months but right now, I thought I’d scoop you on my current yarn crush. One of Skacel’s (best known for their super-slick Addis Turbos needles) yarn lines, Zitron, has added a brand new ball to the bunch called, Nimbus. It’s a you’ll-wish-you-could-roll-around-in-a-pile-of-it soft, single-ply merino wool. It comes in beautiful, classic colors, knits up super quick on US 7-9 needles (I just swatched on 10s though, and it still looks great) and, wait for it…it certified ORGANIC (meaning that the sheep were fed properly and raised humanely). That dear readers, is everything this knitter could ask for!.

Check out the color options on their site and look for Nimbus in stores this fall!

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

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