Hello there March!

Seeing as how my last post was from the day after Christmas, I guess you could say I disappeared from the blog world for a while. 

In January I could not find the extra energy to sit down and type out a post.  The family calendar was just jam packed with things we had to do and places we had to be.  February was the month that everyone in my house started dropping like flies as we all succumbed to whatever bug/cold/virus that has been going around.  The kids were nice enough to not be sick at the same time, but it they at least planned it so that the other one got sick right as the first one was feeling better.  The same held true for the adults as well.

Now that it is March I might as well get going on this blog, especially if I plan on joining the 3rd Annual Knit and Crochet Blog Week again this year.

Speaking of March, I decided to join the ranks of all the others participation in March Malabrigo Madness.  One of my LYS had all Malabrigo yarns on sale, so a skein of Rios just jumped into my hands and plopped itself at the register.  =)  Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I should also point out that this one skein was my first yarn purchase for 2012.  Not bad huh? 

Here is what I made with one skein of Malabrigo Rios in Azules:

See?  I even had yarn left over.  I think I might whip up a quick headband for my daughter with that little bit of yarn.

Pattern:  Headband Ear Warmer by T. Matthews

Needles:  US 6

This was a super quick knit for me, and the pattern was very easy to follow.  I slipped the first stitch on each row, just to make it easier for me to pick up the crocheted edging later.

Pattern: Treads by Victoria Anne Baker

Needles:  US 5

Another easy and well written pattern.  I loved the look of the lateral braid so I had to try it.  I modified it for my small hands and cast on only 34 stitches.  I also decided to skip the individual fingers, and just returned to the 1x1 rib at the fingers instead. 

Besides the easy to follow patterns for both of these projects, I love that the yarn I used is a superwash.  Hand washing items is a huge chore, and I tend to avoid it when I can.  Sadly that means that I don't wear some of my hand knits as often as I would like to because they get buried in my "hand wash only" basket.

I have several other projects on the needles, but in order to make blogging a habit again I'll post about it on Wednesday.  I've fallen behind on my Works in Progress Wednesday posts, so I definitely need to get back on the WIP list again.