Socks are on hiatus

I was having terrible luck with the bamboo socks so I frogged them (3 times total) and started something completely different. Using inspiration from Hannelore Wernhard's book, The Knitted Farmyard, and an old knitting book my mom brought down for me last weekend, I've decided to freehand my way around a knitted farm play mat. I have some lovely yarn around, lots of earthy tones, so I started with the grassy meadow and pond square. I plan to make my play mat more of a blanket, so I'm not going to felt it, and hope to use yummy soft (washable??) yarns for comfort and goodness, and hope to make it quite large. I'm planning to use various yarns I have lying around and whatever exciting stitch patterns I find in my new book, so hopefully we'll have an exciting blanket of who knows who!

Pond - The first square is nearly done and should measure around 8" x 8" when it's complete. The Knit Picks Shine Worsted (Grass) makes a lovely soft grassy meadow and the Patons Classic Wool Merino (New Denim) is heather and adds depth to the "pond." The really exciting part is the pond is my very first colorwork! I had a little trouble with the intarsia when I got started, but after a little time on KnittingHelp.com, I got everything straightened out and it's looking great! I'm drawing the pattern up as I go, and have made a few tweaks for future reference, but overall I couldn't be happier with the result! I plan to knit other squares from this one in various directions, so I am really hoping for a mix-matched looking piece when it's all put together.