Lagoon Pineapple Quilt

Note: this post contains affiliate links and is not sponsored by Creative Grids or Amazon.com. I purchased the products linked here for my personal use and thought you might like them too.

Summer’s almost over here in Michigan (yay! fall is the best) but I’m finally getting around to sharing a make I finished last summer– a pineapple block quilt made from Rashida Coleman-Hale’s Lagoon fabric! I had just seen Moana, and wanted to make something tropical and cheerful.

I used Creative Grids’ Pineapple Trim Tool ruler (affiliate link) to make the blocks,and it’s now one of my favorite tools! The blocks are a bit time consuming, but the ruler makes them simple and turn out perfectly every single time. I absolutely love that it can work with my #1 favorite ruler, a Creative Grids Quilting Ruler 2 1/2″ Square (affiliate link) for the centers! I made the biggest size blocks the pineapple ruler makes, 10″x 10″.

To get the “pineapple” look, I alternated rounds of colorful Lagoon prints with the Nanners lawn from the collection in pink and yellow. I absolutely love mixing lawn and quilting cotton– the quilt has such a lovely texture with the lawn being just a touch thinner. I used wool batting, my favorite, because it’s so light and soft, but warm and has a nice cushy loft when quilted. It’s a little quilt, about 30″ square, so I’ve just been draping it at the bottom of my bed for a pop of color, but this will definitely get hung on the wall at some point.

The map print from the collection is so perfect on the back!

I’ve definitely added a scrappy pineapple quilt to my “to make” list, maybe something nice and big for wintertime!

Knit Picks Caspian Needles

Note: not a paid advertisement, and I am in no way affiliated with Knit Picks. I just love this product. I feel like sometimes knitting needles get left out in the cold when it comes to knitting supply love. Yarn gets all the attention. True, if one was desperate (and gauge was unimportant), one could theoretically knit on twigs, pencils, heck even on your fingers or arms (there are YouTube videos on this topic if you’re curious.) The thing is, needles are literally the foundation of everything you knit. Having good ones means more energy focused on the task and not fighting with the tools.

I learned to knit on wooden needles, grateful for their warm grip and light weight. Wanting to save money as I grew my collection of needle sizes, I switched to Susan Bates metal needles– slick and cold, but once I got the hang of using them, much faster than the “sticky” wood or bamboo. Slickness is wonderful for speed knitting, until you begin working with fine gauged yarns, and batting lace weight and fingering weight on steel is frustrating. That’s where Knit Picks Harmony needles come in. Smooth and light, just grippy enough but still sleek and not sticky, these polished wood needles are the perfect pick for fine-gauge patterns. The newest addition to KP’s needle family, Caspian, arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago, proving needles can be useful and visually stunning.

The wood is stained in a gorgeous blue-green pattern, with varying oceanic shades dipping and swirling in the polished wood. I purchased a pack of size US 2 DPNs in the 6″ length for my first foray into sock knitting (more on that in an upcoming post.) I previously used the Rainbow Harmony wood circulars, and they’re among the most frequently used needles in my collection.

At $6.49, the needles are reasonably priced, particularly considering the fact that smaller needle sizes are not typically sold at craft stores (this is a problem when your wonderful sweet glorious LYS is a monumental pain to get to involving limited hours, no nearby parking and serious temptation to spend lots of money because you did you take the trouble to get there.) I also love the fact that you get 6 needles as opposed to the more prevalent packs of 4 or 5. The tips have a very gradual taper with a decently “sharp” tip for picking up stitches.

As far as faults go, I’ve heard complaints from other knitters about wooden needles having a tendency to break (not specifically about KP needles, but wood needles in general) though I’ve never experienced this. I do take care not to bend them, leave them on the floor, store them in a purse,  or any other potential snapping situation.

In the end, even though I love all the great qualities Caspian needles have, I’m a sucker for beauty in functional things. I love the fact that the name is the same as that of a particular seafaring Narnian prince. I like the way wood, as a natural element, combines with the natural wool and cotton yarns. Most of all? I love the colors, and sometimes that’s enough.