THE Blanket!

BlanketI don’t like long drawn-out projects. I like feedback and knowing the end is in sight. When I was an IBMer, I interviewed for several Customer Engineer positions, but knew I wouldn’t do well in a job where you plug away and plug away and it can be months or even years before the customer makes a decision.

I’ve written previously about this project, the Lion Brand Yarns Slip Stitch Sampler Throw. I wrote first in July, at the three-blocks-complete stage, then I updated my status a couple of weeks ago.

The true timeline? I bought the kit from Lion Brands in mid-November last year. The kit contained 14 balls of acrylic yarn (translation: washable!). I ran short of one color so used 15 balls total. I told myself I would cast on as soon as my opera stint on Nov. 30 was finished. Of course, that stint never finished, as (stop me if you’ve heard this) 20 minutes before the performance, I fell and broke my left wrist. Pulverized the wrist bone. And then had surgery to install a plate. And then three months of recovery before I could see my bare skin again. And then a couple of months of physical therapy. I kept trying to knit, but the hand and wrist would not cooperate. There were only a few ways I could bend that joint and use those stiff fingers.

I didn’t document when I finally cast on. I believe it was in April, but serious work didn’t begin until the Jazzman and I returned from our May trip to France. In fact, so much time passed that Dear Son #2 didn’t remember looking at the picture that I showed him and saying, “Yes, I like that. I’d love to have it in my apartment.” I plodded along, but in September I got really serious. Let’s get this thing done!!

And now it’s done. What a relief! There are six squares, log cabin quilt style. Each square has a center block, then six logs above that center block. Each square contains 20,163 stitches and measures 25″ x 25″. The entire throw contains 120,978 stitches and measures 50″ x 75″. It’s just the right size to keep a grown man and his two adolescent children warm on the couch in front of the television or for story time.

What happens when you pick up and put down a project that many times over a long period of time? Your pattern of holding the yarn changes; your tension changes. The squares are not exactly the same size. I washed and blocked and pulled and tugged. It’s not perfect, but here’s the thing: the new owner loves it! (Or at least has the grace to tell the maker/mother that he loves it.)

Honestly, I didn’t love it. For myself, I would have picked out different colors, colors that I felt had more in common with each other. I saw several projects pictured on Ravelry and liked seeing how other knitters had translated the pattern. But for a man’s apartment, thrown across a tan couch, it’s Just Right.

But if Dear Son #1 decides he wants a blanket knit for his new place, we’re going to have to have a long discussion. I’m not thinking I want to start a project of that magnitude again!

My feeling at the end of this project? Whew!


 

And now, for an “awwww” moment: DGD, curled up asleep under the new blanket.

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About Jan

Musician and geek and Juris Doctor; lover of fine art and fine craft; mother and grandmother and significant other and friend. Passionate about sewing.

6 Responses to THE Blanket!

  1. Tina says:

    LOVE this! First of course I love your knitters perserverance but I am quite taken by this blanket! Would love to knit one for my son and he’llnevermarryherbuticallhermydaughterinlawanyway. But—whoa, what a project!!!

  2. Dee says:

    Hi,

    I just came across your website as I was exploring this blanket on Ravelry. I love it! I am hoping to make one sometime and I am giving a lot of thought to picking the colours that I will love best. Did you take note of the colours you used? Was it the default colours for the Lion Brand kit?
    It’s amazing to see the sheer magnitude of this blanket as you hold it up! Wow!

    • Jan says:

      Thanks, Dee. I bought the kit on sale at lionbrand.com so used the default colors. I didn’t love them, but my son and grandkids do, and they’re the recipients. I’d love to know what you end up choosing.

      Re size, the acrylic – especially when doubled because of slipping stitches while doing color work – is heavy! The result is a very warm blanket.

      Best regards,
      Jan

      • Dee says:

        Thanks, Jan!

        I haven’t looked at the colours in person yet, but based on the website swatches, I am leaning towards:

        THREE colours that use three balls:

        1. Aqua
        2. mustard
        3. raspberry

        SIX colours use two balls:

        1. fern
        2. sapphire
        3. magenta
        4. dusty green
        5. toffee
        6. silver grey

        I don’t expect that I will be able to start this until the new year… and then… well, maybe I can try to finish it by year’s end? We’ll see…

        Glad the recipients love the colours! What an epic afghan!

        • Jan says:

          Dee, those are beautiful together. I went to the Lion Brand website and put them all in my cart so I could see them side-by-side and think you have a great eye for color!

          I made at least one visible mistake in each square (NOT on purpose,). Most were discovered after I had moved on to the next log, and there was no way I was going to go back and correct the error! In fact, in the picture I just added of my sleeping granddaughter, you can see one of the errors. It’s on the right side – a mustard and (brick? purple? Don’t remember) center square where one mustard row was purled instead of knitted, or vice versa, so it doesn’t stand up like the other mustard rows.

          Oh well, it’s a rainy day game waiting to happen – find all of Grandma’s mistakes in this blanket. 🙂

          I hope you post some photos when yours is done. Would love for you to follow me on Ravelry so I can see them. Good luck.

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