Sometimes a pattern takes ahold of your brain, and you can’t really let go of it. Years could go by, and you still look back on that pattern longingly for some reason. This was the relationship that I had with the Sleepy Monkey Baby Blanket from Twist Collective.
I don’t have kids. Finding a kid that I wanted to spend this much time knitting for was difficult. Not to mention, this pattern involves the dreaded steek! I had never attempted to cut my knitting before. But still, I kept the pattern in mind. I played with different color combinations of Cascade Eco Wool for probably six months! Finally, I broke down and bought the yarn, but there was still no baby to knit for (and now 5 giant skeins of Eco Wool taking up space in my yarn stash…). So, in January, when my best friend (that I have known since she was in the 6th grade) told me she was expecting her first child, I jumped at the chance to knit this ridiculously adorable and complicated blanket.
I can’t even tell you how many fellow knitters told me that I was crazy. Fair Isle. Steeking. What was I thinking? Still, the 2 panels of the blanket knit up quickly in the round, and they looked amazing. And then came the cutting. I went to the store and bought new scissors. I locked myself in my apartment for the evening, read tons of online tutorials, and finally settled on this one from Exercise Before Knitting…And when I couldn’t put it off any longer, I crocheted the steek, took a deep breath, and cut. Sadly, there are no pictures, since I was at home alone, but I have to say, it was kind of anti-climatic. The end result was pretty great though, after all, who can resist adorable monkeys?
Do you have any knitting techniques you are afraid to try? Come take your knitting to the next level with our techniques series.
~Lesley