Blocking, Blocks, and Ponchos

It took me long enough, but I finally did it.  I finally blocked my Where the Wind Blows Cardigan.  Okay, so I suppose I could have done it more properly.  I didn't exactly measure and make sure it blocked out to the right size.  I wasn't really worried about that.  I just wanted to be sure of two things:

1. The color doesn't run (because leaving pink dye on my white and pink dress for the wedding would suck).
2. I want to make sure the lace yolk really pops the way it should.  It's not a big or complicated lace patter, but the way it sits in general makes it look bunched up, and I'd prefer a much more crisp sort of look.  I'm going to a wedding, so I may as well look nice, right?

Of course, you can't see it too well in that picture.  It's cloudy out so the room is dark, though you can clearly see the art supplies scattered on the floor (thanks kids!)  It isn't totally blocked the way it should be, something I'm going to have to work on more in the future, but it doesn't look half bad either.  I hope someone captures a good picture of me wearing it tomorrow so I can post a good picture of that.  If nothing else I can make sure someone catches a photo of me before I leave or something, right?

And I've managed to get a whole second section down on the Hue Shift Afghan!  It's now half finished, with a whole row done on Section 4.  I decided to skip Section 3 because I'd heard some people didn't have enough yarn to finish the project so I decided to skip to where I'd be finishing off balls of yarn in the process.  Besides, it's going to free up room in the box I'm keeping everything in, which definitely helps too.  The scraps are going to be gifted to my daughter, though what she's going to do with them, I don't know.  Thankfully, I'm going to have enough yarn to finish the blanket, which makes me happy.

I'm really loving the way this blanket is coming together.  I'm not totally in love with the colors (again, not a great picture since it was in a dark room) but it totally works.  I've taken to calling it the Dr. Seuss blanket because the colors in Section 2 & 4 look like something out of those books.  I'm super excited to see how it turns out.  Being just past the halfway point I'm really excited about finally finishing this project, though I know I've still got a long way to go.

Finally, I've started a new project, the Oakwood Poncho, also by Knit Picks.  I ordered this on a whim because it was cheap and looked like it would be good to wear when the weather turns.  I have to say, aside from lace shawls, I've never worked on quite such a large project.  I was shocked at the number of balls of yarn I got, though the Wool of the Andes definitely has small balls of yarn.  I've worked through a good number of those balls already and I'm only 2/3 of the way up the back.

I have to say, I really like the way this poncho is knitting up.  I picked the "Wildcrafter" color set, and the colors are some lovely earth tones.  The beige the poncho is mostly comprised of is really lovely, and the gold and browns the rest of the poncho is made of look like they'll be a great combination for the color work section.  I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out.  I think this is the first project in a long time that hasn't started out with me having my doubts.  I'm really loving it.  I think the more I knit the more it grows on me.  I'll probably have more to say when I'm out of the plain stockinette and on to the brioche pattern on either side of the poncho.  I can't wait to get to that point.  It's not long yet, maybe a few more days until that happens!