Blankets Galore

When my grandmother-in-law passed away last year, she left behind the beginning of a crocheted afghan and two skeins of green yarn, Bernat Vintage in the Fern colorway, with which to complete it. As the first of the skeins was already being used in the afghan, I assumed that the blanket up to that point was created using the start of that skein. With that in mind, I figured out the stitch pattern and started in where she left off.

When I reached the end of the first skein, I realized that what was left would only create the same length and width of fabric to match what I had just created, and that I wanted a blanket larger than twice the size already completed. In my stash, I found a skein of dark green and a skein of white that were also Bernat Vintage. Both colors worked well with the lighter green color, so I figured out a configuration that would use up these partial skeins and still look symmetrical as a blanket. I did a thin stripe of white, a thicker stripe of dark green, and another thin stripe of white. Finishing that, I took up with the Fern colorway again and figured on finishing off the skein to finish the blanket with a stripe of the lighter green to match the size of the first section of the blanket.

I crocheted on, hoping to finish before the end of Christmas break. I was sitting in my mother-in-law's dining room, crocheting away when I reached the end of the last skein but with significantly less repeats of the stitch pattern than the first light green section, and it hit me: there had been another partial skein she used at the start of that first section. I didn't have enough yarn now to finish the blanket.

I eyed back over the remnants of the last skein and noticed a price sticker from Meijer. I decided to take a shot at finding another skein, hoping against hope that they had not discontinued the colorway. My husband rushed me to the local Meijer, where, fortunately, they had copious skeins of Fern. I bought one and finished the Multigenerational Blanket without additional heartache. It became an extra Christmas present for my husband (slightly belated) and now resides in our combination blanket chest and coffee table in the apartment. I think we did a pretty nice job, all considered.

The next blanket on the agenda will be my brother's Christmas present, what I have deemed the Maize and Blue Stained Glass Afghan. I purchased all necessary yarn and, to make it feel more manly, I "wrapped" it inside a manufacturing bag I gained at an expo in Chicago. Becuase yarn is a less-than-thrilling present for a non-fiber-enthusiast, I decided to make a sketch of what the final blanket will look like. I pulled an old sketchbook out of the desk cabinent and opened it up, ready to find the next blank page and realized it was a sketchbook used for one of my undergraduate drawing classes, circa 2003. I how it was 2003 because there are sketches of baby bottles, a safety seat, and my son when he was a newborn. Talk about a flashback.

I managed to finish the sketch of the blanket, a log cabin style with intarsia and assorted mono-colored rectangles that vary slightly in stitch patterns. At this point, I'm thinking a mix of garter and a lace pattern I found called Corn Stalks (maize, get it?). The family seemed to like the look of the blanket and I think sketching out the idea really helped to solidify it in my mind. I plan on getting started within the week.

Despite how much my brother has been wanting such a blanket, I went back and forth about making it. I have an ever increasing list of projects I want to tackle and really wanted to do one for myself. However, I'm more of a gift knitter, so the blanket won. To make me feel like selfish knitting is on the horizon, I updated my ravelry queue with some of the projects I want to knit with the yarn from my stash I want to use for them earmarked for those projects.

In the meantime, I'll work on the blanket slowly and start in on the Cogknitive Podcast's mother bear KAL/CAL. For the months of January and February, the KAL/CAL participants, including me, will work like mad to make bears for the Mother Bear Project. I have two bear feet crocheted so far. Wish me luck.



Not Yet, I Want to Knit Like Jane Austen

What happened to Not Yet a Circus Scarf?, you might ask. Well, there was this yarn clearance and there was yarn with wooly fiber content that was bright and cheery, and my son proclaimed that this bright, cheery yarn must become a big fluffy scarf to keep him warm this winter. I love my son. My son is this tiny, growing person who has ideas and dreams. He's so smart and fragile, and I want to be able to protect him all the time, even though I know it's impossible. What better way to attempt the impossible than with this scarf he wants so much?

The problem is two-fold.

1. I really don't like the cheery yarn. It's loud and vibrant and it makes me wish my horrible nearsightedness didn't restrict my ability to wear sunglasses and see more than two feet in front of me at the same time. I hate this yarn. I want to throw this yarn in the dumpster out back and never look at it again. However, I can't do that, because my son loves this yarn and is expecting a bright, cheery scarf to unintentionally lose on the playground after the first snowfall.
2. It's been a ridiculously hot summer, and sitting on the couch with an extra-wide wool scarf draped across my lap is not going to help me not get heat stroke.

What this amounts to: I've put the scarf in a time-out. It's in its project bag with its required needles and all the remaining balls of yarn necessary to complete it. That bag will not be opened until the weather drops to consistently below 80 degrees, and I'm not going to apologize for it. Oh, I'll finish it and my son will either wrap it proudly around his neck or refuse to wear it's hated, hideous uncoolness. Just not now.

While I'm not working on said scarf, however, I do need a project to work on. Lately, that's been the multigenerational blanket. As I've been doing an extensive amount of lace knitting lately, it was a pleasant change of pace to mindlessly double crochet, with a slight pattern change every row. The pattern involves a four row repeat.

Row 1: Double crochet into every other chain, with a chain one in between each double crochet.

Row 2: Double crochet into every chain for seven chains, chain one, skip one chain, and repeat.

Row 3: Double crochet into every chain for three chains, chain one, skip one chain, and repeat.

Row 4: Double crochet into every chain for seven chains, chain one, skip one chain, and repeat.

I've just about finished up one of the two balls of yarn that were in the bag with the start of this blanket. After one ball is gone, I'll measure the length of the blanket thus far to determine if the one other ball will get it long enough. If not, I'll have to add a stripe of another color to the center.

That will not necessary be the next yarny endeavor I tackle, however. I don't count this blanket as my work in progress. It's someone else's and I'm just finishing it up for her when I have the time. The next project I'm planning is for the baby one of my coworkers is in the process of adopting. I'm thinking about the Beloved Baby Bonnet from the Jane Austen Knits Summer 2012 issue.

Jane Austen Knits, by the way, is a knitting English major's dream. This issue combines articles about the life and times of the late, great Jane Austen with knitting patterns inspired by the time period in which she wrote. There are bonnets, reticules, all manner of Victorian finery, all for your knitting pleasure. In particular, I'm taken with the Margaret Dashwood Shawl, the Middleton Waistcoat, Miss Jane's Hat, and the far more impractical A Book Cover for Edmund. If they just allowed yearly subscriptions to this particular publication, my order would already be in the mail. I want to make everything. I know this is a really unrealistic want.