Well knock me down and take my sock, thanks so much for the wonderful Birthday wishes yesterday and for the beautiful surprise of so many donations to MSF. Great gift, you’re all lovely, gracious and undoubtedly good looking.
I spent the day working a little more than I wanted to, and then trying to convince myself (with coffee and a little knitting) to go out into the garden and cut it down to size. In the end I took a glass of wine to the backyard and tried to garden with my mind while I knit. 
The garden remains enormously overgrown today, and the baby blanket is a little bit bigger. 
For how big a project it is, and how little time I have, it’s growing so fast. I’m loving working on it. I’ve chosen a simple little cluster of yarn overs, and they’re alternated across the whole field – this panel will be the centre of the blanket, and I’m planning a big honking border all around it. I was right I think… the scope of the blanket is definitely better suited to my work right now, it’s way more enchanting to work on this than my poor little June socks. 
Obviously.
(You will note that it would appear that not a single stitch has been knit on those socks since you saw them last, and you would be right. I’m starting to think the June socks might be November socks.)
That blanket is going to be lovely. Good choice to work in the garden.
Oh my, I actually got the first post. What a cool fun thing. Somehow this means my knittign after work shall go very well in my garden.
Looking forward to the blanket, it’s looking good :0)
But will you cope with grey in November???
Sometimes you want socks… sometimes you want a big honking baby blanket. Loving that inner panel. It’s going to be gorgeous!
I like the idea of gardening with my mind . . . lol!
Gardening with my mind – love it! Lol.
What yarn is that you’re using for the baby blanket? Dale, Lanett, something else? Just wondering… And your garden looks fab; don’t freak out over weeding; it’s just not worth it.
garden with my mind while I knit!!!! I am so going to try this!! You are so very clever!!! You may once again have created a new movement. I’m off to the back garden!!!
The colour of those socks alone says November.
C’est la vie, some socks/days are like that. Another day you may enjoy the delightful variegation more.
I am so impressed with your lovely birthday flowers (peonies, my favourite) that I keep coming back to them, I will keep a window open on them today. So even from 12,000 miles away, I am enjoying them too. You could let the giver know that as well.
Here (where it supposed to be winter, but the weather is still very warm) the daphne is budding, my coloured silverbeet is struggling – poor soil medium I think, and my hanging basket of pansies and violas outside my kitchen window are flourishing, and uplifting my days. I do a lot of gardening and knitting with my mind, though as older DD has cerebral palsy I call it ‘cerebral knitting’ (my little joke, very ‘Diary of a Nobody’ sort of humour).
Enjoy your summer Toronto days.
If you figure out a way to garden with your mind please share the technique, as I’m sure my house would be perfectly spotless if I could clean with my mind.
I have a big honking shawl that I am working on that is making me so happy, I actually dream about knitting on it. Your baby blanket looks dreamy… so soft and squishable, and pretty. Please, what yarn are you using… and what yarn are the barely begun, neglected little June socks knit with as well? You know this group… we just gotta know.
Love the baby blanket! The flowery yo’s look more like June to me than grey socks.
The problem might be in the colour. Grey tones don’t scream “June” to me.
June socks, schmoon socks. Baby blankets are cuter! My mantra in such a situation is, “just let go.”
I was going to post the same idea as Michelle–if I could harness the techniques of cleaning the house with my mind. It would certainly give more time to knit and enjoy the outdoors.
The baby blanket is looking good.
I love how you garden with a glass of wine and knitting~ My kind of gardening- The baby blanket is lovely!
Knitting outside is never a bad thing, unless it’s raining…. or snowing….. Glad you enjoyed it yesterday.
Pretty baby blankie. Dontcha just love knitting baby things?
I can’t wait to see how the baby blanket turns out; it looks great so far.
I think part of the problem with your June socks might be that they’re grey. I suspect that grey things are best knit in July and August (and maybe on through the fall) when one is pining for the return of cooler temperatures. I think June knitting should be bright and cheerful. (Of course, I think there’s something to your matching levels of challenge theory, too.)
When I get home from work I will garden in my mind while I knit. Splendid idea! And don’t worry about the overgrown garden – just a few months ago it was under a foot of snow and you dreamed longingly of this day. Let it overgrow – you can’t stop it anyway – and just keep knitting.
November socks sound so much cozier anyway!
A belated happy birthday–and the baby blanket is looking great! I, too, am in the throes of baby knitting, and loving it. Two cousins have produced already this year; my daughter is expecting baby number one (grandchild number three) in December; and all of a sudden (well, it seems sudden to me!), three friends are also expecting. I’m just finishing up two of my favorite Baby Surprise jackets and the second blanket so far for the new group. Are we in a baby boomlet, do you think? Best, randmknitter
Trade those socks out for a spring-y/summer-y color and you will be good to go! The baby blanket is gorgeous, however….the socks will wait!
ARghh. Does that mean a ton of stitches to pick up for the border on the blanket? I’m so not good at that. :/
Lovelovelove that baby blanket. With so many newborns arriving in the next few months, any chance you’ll publish the pattern?
And mental gardening sounds so much better than the physical kind!
It’s only half way through June, and you can knock a pair of socks into shape in a couple of days, without even working through the night. It’ll be fine!
Blanket is charming
xxx
I agree with Meredith. While a bigger project may indeed be the key and the sock yarn is lovely, this is a month whose yarn should match those birthday flowers. Bright, glorious, sunny. At least for me, gray is not the go-to color when everything else in life is threatening to overwhelm!
MMMMMMMM … purple petunias, strawberry flowers, red wine, knittin’ on a delightful project. Can life get any better? Yay! for you Steph.
Strong hugs, indeed.
Maggins
Question. All your baby blankets seem to be white – don’t they get stained when introduced to the actual baby?
I love white baby blankets, but have never made one since babies are so not tidy!
Lovely. I think your blanket is the right thing to take the edge off a stressful busy life.
The end of the month could be potentially very entertaining…
A happy (if somewhat belated) birthday to you!
Just wanted to say ‘thank you!’ for doing the blog. It often makes me smile and it’s always interesting. You definitely have a talent for writing – but also for sharing your life with people in a lovely, friendly way.
Also, interested to know – what wool is that for the blanket? Looks lovely and can’t quite read the label in that photo. What’s your preferred wool for baby projects? Do you go for wool content, cashmere, machine washable?
I’m incredibly jealous of anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to sit outside with wool in her hands right now.
And a late happy birthday to you. I’ll be 43 this year as well, something my mom and hubby had to remind me of a month ago when I told them my cousin MUST be turning 41 because I was going to be 42 this year.
Sherilyn In Texas
Please don’t knit these in November! They are lovely I’m sure but they are also far to gray. You need BRIGHT colored knitting in the winter or you will go insane. 🙂
Gardening in your mind, whilst drinking wine – I think that’s the Mad Hatter’s garden. Love it – sounds like my kinda gardening. 🙂
Baby blanket is coming along nicely!
We can’t all be your favourite socks.
I’ll have to remember the “gardening in my mind” comment whenever someone asks how my yard is coming along.
I will have to remember “gardening with my mind.” when my hubby asks me how the plants are. The blanket looks stunning, but inquiring minds want to know. What sock pattern are you doing for June, is it your plain vanilla sock or a pattern ( and if it is a pattern, which one).
The June sock yarn sure is pretty in a storm cloud kind-of-way!
I hope you will have that pattern available somewhere because it looks lovely and I actually need to knit a baby blanket for a friend of mine!!! Happy late Birthday!!!
I love the yarn overs! If you felt so inclined in your next post, I’d love for a basic pattern description.
Glad you had a good birthday!
Love the blanket.
I think you need to ditch the June socks because the color is dull. Its spring and going into summer and your knitting grey socks?
WTF Steph?
You made the club. You make the rules. Your prerogative to break said rules. So what if Presbytera and Rams call you a slacker?!
… they are far too gray for November… perhaps they can be next June socks and we can all just for get that this June never happened.
Happy belated birthday!!
Love, love, love the blanket.
the twisted rib is nice though.
You know what, sometimes, the garden needs to be let go. Sometimes a girl needs to relax and enjoy herself. The garden will still be there tomorrow.
Yeah, those are way too gray for November.
July socks for the win!
Molly : )
You can’t knit gray in November! You’ll get depressed! Knit gray in September.. or July or something….we can’t have our favourite Harlot depressed!
The baby blanket is sooooo pretty thou…. I can understand why you can’t put it down…
Happy birthday the day after your birthday! (It’s less crowded here now. 🙂
Where did you get the gray yarn I absolutly love it!???
June, shmune…that blanket would enchant me, too…and what’s wrong with June socks in November, I might add? The Sock Police aren’t going to fine you for being late.
And Happy-Day-After-Your-Birthday…”yarnstruck” is right, is is way less crowded today!
The baby blanket is so pretty. Just enough interest, yet not enough “holes” to catch little fingers. Hey, turning your June socks into November socks is fine. My January socks have morphed into June socks!
Love the Blanket! I also love the color of the sock yarn but i agree with others in saying it’s a November Color 🙂 Keep up the great work on the blanket, I’ll keep checking in to see how it’s coming. I am also working on socks at the moment, nice multi-brown color for my cousins husband.
Some projects are just so perfect you can’t put them down and some for whatever reason, you go “meh”. I made a giant sweater for a huge man whom I loved, in a yarn shade that he loved but I hated. The pattern was repetitive and the colour blah, but I forced myself to finish it and wouldn’t you know, he never wore it and it ended up in my closet where it did absolutely nothing for me. Some projects are just no-go right from the get-go and should simply disappear or be donated to someone who would absolutely adore them.
I really like the baby blanket. Hope there is a pattern coming before my next opportunity to knit for a baby.
I want to master cooking in the mind. I’d get so much more knitting done in the late afternoon. You should see all the incredible gardens I got onto paper, planted nicely in my mind. The weeding is so much more efficient.
Missed the links for pattern and yarn. Hope to see them in a future post, maybe the end of the month crunch for June socks.
You certainly have some agreeable opinions and views. Your blog provides a fresh look at the subject.
Pretty blanket so far! My June socks are in an even worse state:
http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2011/06/yarn-along.html
I’m doomed.
Happy (belated) birthday! Sounds like you had a wonderful day.
The baby blanket is adorable. I have a baby blanket on the needles in the same colorway, though not your beautiful design. Some day I may even be able to knit again.
I hope you enjoyed your birthday! As for the socks – dude, it’s June. Do you really need socks in June? Even in Canada? Get a pedicure and wear sandals!
I think your blanket is lovely. Enough holes to be lacy, but few enough so fingers and toes won’t constantly be getting stuck.
I agree with some earlier comments that the socks should not be in November. Earlier in the fall – September or October – you will be looking forward to cool weather and shorter days. That is the time to knit in gray, not after a few weeks of snow. Of course, you really want to avoid gray in late January.
Here in northern California, we finally are getting season appropriate weather. I have been knitting socks and summer sweaters in bright greens for the past month in anticipation. Today I finally slowed down – I think because the weather and my garden match the colors I’ve been knitting.
I’m with Jennifer… I kind of love these socks. What is the yarn, & what will the pattern be?
No offense to the baby blanket, it is lovely.
I don’t tweet, so I must comment on the twitter feed here, I feel.
What I love best about the cat message is that it wasn’t just all j’s. It started with an i. What’s that about? Hitting the wine and the paw slipped? It happens. So great.
The baby blanket is lovely, so sweet against the green garden. A bigger canvas is what you needed 🙂
I’m not surprised about those socks I think you need a brighter colour to pick them up. Love the shawl though.
Hmmmmm… I wonder if I could weed the garden with my mind.
Love the baby blanket!
Oh please you’ve got to explain the bare bum lady tweet.
I too try to garden with my mind, if you figure out how to get it to work let me know
I often have the same experience: when there is an overwhelming schedule in my life, my knitting output is profound and complicated. In the summer’s when I have down time, I tend to knit more dreamily and use monotonous patterns. Good luck getting your to-do list accomplished along with your beautiful blanket.
PS Consider your garden as an “urban jungle” – it’s the big trend…
PPS Happy belated Birthday!
you know what it means, don’t you. These are not Junesocks, so start another pair for June, you have not knit that much, time enough for June socks in bright colours. Personally I think this wool is not meant to be socks at all, it is for Septembre and handsocks, I mean mittens. Do your selfimposed rules say socks must be socks or could they occasionally be mittens?
Happy Birthday all year long!!! We’re all certainly glad you were born.
June isn’t a time for wearing socks anyway….get a pedicure and go barefoot!
yes, i would love to know what yarn you are using as well for the baby blanket
November socks are more handy than June socks…this is a time when feet should be bare as possible and free! I’d be wearing sandals about this time now but I’m recovering from ankle surgery so no sandals for now. And the blanket…it’s looking lovely. I’ve never done one. Maybe one day!
Your garden is going for the natural look. That can be good.
Maybe you should stretch the rules of the self-imposed sock club and change the pattern to one more challenging and engaging. I do love the baby blanket, btw.
What lucky baby gets the blankie? I think the June socks are not calling because they are not a summery color. So they deserve to become Nov. socks.
What ever happened with those Artyarns cashmere socks you were working on? Did I miss it? I was very curious to see how they came out, as I made a pair myself with that yarn and still haven’t recovered from the luxurious results.
I think we’ve already had at least 10 days over 100*F in Austin already and it hasn’t been out of the 90s for almost a month. When it is this hot, the only gardening I do is with my mind, from inside. So from about May to late September that’s the only gardening I do.
But if it was 20 degrees cooler, sitting outside with knitting and a glass of wine in the garden sounds wonderful. On baby blanket, or on socks, knit away and enjoy it for those of us stuck inside on life-support (also known as air-conditioning). I’m enjoying your garden vicariously.
I wish the weather down here was pleasant enough for me to knit outside! But it’s too darn hot at the moment. Come on fall!!
The blanket is lovely…can’t wait to see the finished product. What a lucky baby to receive such a thoughtful and beautiful gift. Good luck on those November socks!!
Happy birthday to you. Glad you spent it outdoors.
Self imposed sock club rules are made by the self, aren’t they? Can’t you entitle yourself to one month off? ; )
I don’t know – I love the dark gray – but I think you should turn them into summer socks before the sun goes away again. The baby blanket is going to be beautiful, that is plain to see. Glad your day was good – despite that little extra work sneeking in there!
Happy (belated) Birthday! Knitting with wine while gardening in your mind is totally my preferred method of gardening :).
I had a question about your knitting style. I’ve recently been doing some research on the lever method/Irish cottage knitting to try and speed up my knitting as well as minimize repetitive stress injuries. But I prefer to knit on circular needles, in fact I don’t even own any straights (other than DPNs). So I’m wondering if you use the same method when you’re knitting on circulars and if there are any resources available that would help demonstrate how to do this. I’ve ordered some straight needles to practice on, but would really like to make this work on circulars as well. Thanks in advance!
I made a baby blanket, nice and solid, for my new and first grandson, and later a delicate christening blanket. I had no idea, till my daughter–in-law said something, that the very holes that I’d tried to avoid reminded her of her own favorite childhood blanket and that she found great comfort poking her fingers through them while nursing the baby in the wee hours.
You’re knitting June gardens into your blanketscape, it seems to me. “Across the whole field” there are flowers. With holes. Perfect.
Yeah, those socks are just the wrong color for June or any summer month. Too gray for March when you are dying of Winter, but perhaps September when there is still some sun and the air is cold and clear.
Happy Late Birthday! I’m a June baby, too. : )
Happy birthday for yesterday. In your honour, the rescue ferret who came in on that auspicious date is called Stephanie. This morning she produced five babies to add to my collection of ferrets named after yarns – the knitweezils.Mum and babies doing well so far.
Oh, I had completely forgotten it was your birthday the other day! How could I?! (well, I did almost forget my own too) My only excuse is that it was freaking busy for several days — and maybe I’m getting a little older too.
I liked being 43. I was 43 for a very long time! It is a good age. It sounds real, no one would lie about being 43. Who believes you when you are 39, or 50, but who would lie about an odd number like 43? When my kids thought I was 43 (even though I was only in my 30s), I just let them. And I became 43 just for them for many years. It felt right. But now, I think I should mature a bit, and maybe I’ll be 46 for awhile. Sounds good.
All the best to you, YH!! Enjoy it for all it’s worth. It don’t get better than this!
I just knit a baby blanket with a pink center and green border. The center has small flower lace motifs. I picked up and knit a border all the way around with a few garter rows separating the center and the main leaf lace border pattern. For the mitered corners I used another leaf lace pattern so there is a small little leaf growing out of each corner. It worked better than I could have imagined and if it wasn’t going to celebrate a family friend’s first grandchild I might keep it for myself. Best of luck on your project!
I do love the yarn. Very pretty. These socks are going to be beauties!