OK...it's finally time to come out in the open with my latest love...the Babette Blanket.
Originally featured in Interweave Crochet/Spring 06, I remember thinking it looked like loads of fun and then, as often happens, the magazine just plain got buried in the piles of publications that abound upstairs. What can I say.
Recently, fate intervened in the form of a group on Ravelry dedicated to Babette. I kept thinking it was a project I could ill afford to stop and do (always pressure to do things for the shop), but Linda Sunflower twisted my arm on a recent Sunday that we worked together. We raided the Malabrigo 
wall and off we went...Linda in the lead, but in all fairness, she doesn't work 5-7 days a week. (Sense some self pity there? Sorry.) For those of you who are familiar with Babette, I have sections 9 and 10 left to go. I can barely get through dinner and dishes to hit the rocker and work on her.
I was going to keep her all for myself, but reading more on the Babette group this past week I learned that Interweave Press will soon be publishing this as a stand alone pattern (if I understood this correctly). Yay! This means I'll be able to hang Babette in the shop for all to love and inspire others to make her. If you love to crochet, and you love color, this is the project for you. I am already dreaming of another in a different color scheme... ---Martie
10 comments:
How long did this baby take?
Hi Martie,
Babette is beautiful! Do you have to sew the squares together or does it work like the "Modern Quilt Wrap" where you can pick up stitches from each square as you go? And isn't it nice to have something warm in your lap to work on this time of year?
Interweave Knits now has this pattern available for online purchase. Go to their website:
http://www.knittingdaily.com/
and click on the "Pattern Store" tab at the top of the page.
Hi there!
Leslie: I started about 3 weeks ago and don't work on it every night (sometimes I'm just too beat), but when I do, I manage about 2 hours either crocheting or assembling.
Ruthie: Thanks for the link on purchasing the pattern! I'll check it out. I am sewing the blocks together, which is how Kathy Merrick did it when she designed this wonderful project...but I suppose you could crochet the blocks together and have the little ridge be an additional design feature. I am following the lead of Linda and sewing each section together as the blocks are done, so that I don't end up with gazillions of blocks to be assembled at the end.
Martie,
Makes me wish I was a better crocheter(sp?)..Love all the color and random mix for square sizes.
K
Beautiful! I, too, have fallen under the spell of Babette - mainly due to the aforementioned Linda Sunflower egging me on! It's so great to see yours! I've got sections 1-3 seamed & 4 ready to block. All other projects have been put aside while Babette has taken over!
Sandy
Sandy: I didn't know you came under her spell, too...what yarn are you using?
Fabulous piece. Thanks for sharing. Passion justified!
Martie - I went the cheap path & am using Plymouth Encore - you can see my progress on Ravelry at:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/bonchin/babette-blanket
Sandy
Sandy: Good idea...you can get lots of yardage at a good price. I actually like Encore, although it was a big flop in our shop when we carried it. Of all the acrylicy inexpensive yarns, I think it has the best quality and hand.
I like how you blindly chose the colors and then assigned them numbers. I am just choosing them blindly throughout the entire project, which keeps my excitement level up. I get bored easily without lots of surprising colors changes!
Martie - I got the 'blindly choosing colors' idea from Linda - who said that's what you & she were doing - but after I'd done the first 12 round square, I thought, what the heck, I'll just label them as I pull them out the first time - otherwise I'll be way too tempted to MAKE it match by peeking a little!
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