Swatching For A Mitered Square Blanket

 The blanket I am currently working on, and hope to finish in the next week, is making me want to get started on a mitered square blanket.  I have watched Cheryl Brunette's mitered square afghan YouTube videos multiple times and think now might be the time to get started.  This is the year I have mentioned for using up all the yarn so a good time to get rolling on mitered squares.  I am making progress on the using it up project: the acrylic is almost half gone.  The wool yarn, fabric, and fiber is another story altogether...!

Since I definitely buy into the idea of knitting swatches before knitting a big project, I thought I would make some swatches for this blanket and get an idea of what I like and what I don't like.

These four swatches taught me things I wanted to know.  The upper left swatch is knitted with an odd number of stitches...in this case 31 stitches.  This necessitates, at least for me, moving stitch markers.  It is a nice-looking block with a nice definite diagonal line across the front of the square.

The rest of the swatches are even numbers of stitches--30 stitches here, and uses one stitch marker in the middle.  The bottom left swatch was knit to two stitches before the marker then SSK was done, the marker moved and a K2Tog knitted then finished the row.

The bottom right swatch was knit the same except that I switched the SSK and K2Tog so...knit to two stitches before the marker then K2Tog, slip marker, then SSK.  I liked the look of this better than the opposite one.

These first three swatches used the cable cast on.  I did not really like how it looked so the upper right swatch was cast on using the German Twisted Cast On, 30 stitches with marker between stitch 15 and stitch 16, then K2Tog, slip marker, SSK, knit to end of row.  All the alternate rows on all of the swatches were plain knitting.

As far as I am concerned, the upper right swatch is the one I will use.  

OH, BIG FORGET!  The first stitch of every row was slipped purlwise with yarn in front and the last stitch on every row was knit through the back loop.  This gives a beautiful chain for picking up when it is time to add in the next square.  

There are many videos for making mitered square blankets/afghans.  I suggest watching a few of them, then make your own swatches to see what you like.  I used the same yarn and the same needles so I could really tell. In this case it was I Love This Yarn and US 8 needles.  I think it is entirely satisfactory.  I will probably watch Cheryl Brunette again and follow her number of stitches to cast on since I like the idea of multiple size squares in the same blanket.  I just think I will use these easy to follow decreases because the stitch marker stays in the same place all the time so no real thinking is involved.

Please feel free to comment on my decision.  I might still change my mind since I am not ready to start...

Recycling of Yarn

 Well, actually, this is an afghan that I started recycling last year...pulling out more than two/thirds of the wool and turned it into yarn cakes.  This one of the three yarns I used for the Love Knots Blanket project.  The last third of the blanket was on the couch.  

I have semi-volunteered to do another test knit, but this time I told the designer right up front that I would not be able to finish on time so she could choose to include me or not.  She emailed me back to say that the size I want to knit is possibly not going to be chosen but someone else to knit  so she might be able to use me anyway.  We shall see.  This is the yarn I will use.  REALLY trying to use it up!

This is Hilda Yates' yarn, spun and dyed by Bartlettyarns Mill in Harmony, Maine.  I have used the same yarn many times over past years but now my taste in yarn is gradually shifting to finer/lighter-weight yarn.  Of course, this means smaller needs and longer lives to the projects but the item in my lap will not be anywhere near as heavy.  I feel like a complainer/baby when I say that but it does begin to make a difference.

Recycling at its Best!

It turns out that Dear One was not actually enamored of the giant blue Bartlettyarns afghan I made to celebrate the addition on our home in Vermont and the wonderful new great room with queen-sized-hide-a-bed sofa so long ago.  This turned out to be in one of the boxes we brought to South Carolina.  It seemed like a perfect project for recycling.  There is so much yarn in the afghan I should be able to make a sweater even for myself...

Because this was made back in the days when my hands still agreed with me and crocheting, to recycle this yarn I just had to find the end.  There were only four corners to try and, as luck would have it, I found the end at the first try.

As I started unwinding, I also began winding onto the back of one of our dining room chairs.  I did this over a period of about a month, until I didn't think I could take another moment, plus we had company coming for lunch and I wanted the job done by then.

You can see why I wanted to complete this part of the project before company came to lunch...!

After stopping the unwinding process I place ties around the huge skein of yarn in four places then dropped the work into the sink which I had filled with lukewarm water. I let the yarn soak for fifteen minutes or so then let the water out and squeezed the yarn a bit.

Out in the garage I found a walking stick and a piece of 2 by 6 I had pilfered from a trash bin at one of the building sites here...same thing we have under the "planters" on the deck!

After hanging on the deck for a week the yarn was mostly dry so I brought it into the house to get ready for the next part of the process: winding the yarn into a cake.  Well, it will be several cakes because there is so much yarn.

One note, there was still enough of the yarn in afghan form to have a lovely lap blanket so it is folded up and placed on the love-seat in the living room.  Assuming some day it might be cool enough for a bit of covering...

Mission Afghan: Completed!!!

Finally, a year after starting it, the mission afghan is done.

It turns out that I had gotten rather sick of this knitting project and just wanted it done so I did not continue on with stripes at the ends to make it longer as I had planned.  I just picked up stitches along the long side, knitted in garter stitch three plus garter ridges then bound off.  The ends were 140 live stitches on threads on each end so I picked up along the gray garter borders then knitted the live stitches, ending up with picking up the other long side garter ridges then knit three more garter ridges and bound off.  Did this on both ends then started weaving in the ends.

At this point I will make a confession. every other square had four long ends to weave in.  After a couple of rows of weaving in I was done with the weaving in.  Well, it was late at night and I wanted that sucker DONE.  So...what any lazy knitter might do, I just tied off the yarn with very sturdy knots and cut the extra yarn.  Since it is not a garment and the only one who will be annoyed by the knots is me, I decided it was okay.  We will find out if it is really okay the first time, or maybe second time, I have to wash it.  If the ends work loose, then it was a problem.  By then I will have probably made another blanket and will let this one go.

Happily unconscious unsuspecting napper.  I guess the blanket was successful.

Things I learned with this project:  how to make small parts into a large whole with no seams.  Bingo!  Sewing together is not my cup of tea.

Something I WANT to learn:  how to weave in the ends as you go.  Now that I think of it,  if I look at the Philosopher's Wool website and watch their videos again, I will be reminded how to do that.  When I was doing stranding years ago I remember it worked great.  I just didn't think of it at the beginning of this project.  Too bad...

Knitting Vicissitudes

The afghan is coming along.  Two stripes are on one end and one stripe is on the other end.  I noticed a problem on the one-stripe end.  I tried to fix it with a crochet hook, something that has worked many times before.  This time, not so much.  After taking the stitches back to the error a second time I think I have decided that the problem occurred when I picked up the knitting after having left it for a while, and instead of continuing on in the correct direction, I started back the other way.  This left a loop and a hole.

This is what it looks like now that I have "fixed" it.  Not very good.  Having said that, I am going to try not to think about it again.  This is just a throw blanket for Dear One for the couch.  It is not a blanket that I will enter into Tunbridge Fair next year...!

If I had been smart I would have taken a picture of the flaw before I started the fix.  I can tell you with absolute sincerity that it looked MUCH better before.  There was just a small pink bigger loop.  That there are two extra loops plus the problems all the way back to the  needles.  Oh well. Into every life a little rain must fall.

Mission Knitting: Afghan Progress

Here is the central medallion of the afghan completed, viewed from the back so you can see all the yarn ends needing to be woven in.  The next part of the project is to use the leftover yarn to garter stitch bands along both end to lengthen the afghan.  It is a great size for me just sitting in the chair, but since this is really for Dear One for when he naps on the couch, this size is not as good! 

There are parts of seven skeins left to knit on since I finished knitting on the 8th skein since I took this photo. I weighed each of the skeins then put them in two bags with as close to the same weights as possible so each end would be more or less the same length.  We shall see.

The plan, after the lengthening, is to use up some more yarn...a nice soft gray yarn...to make a border around the whole thing.  I think maybe five garter ridges will be enough.  Well, I will definitely be ready for it to be enough.  If I was not putting on the lengthening strips the border would be 540 stitches.  Adding the extra stitches for those garter rows will probably be another 160 stitches or more, so 700 stitches around, times ten round. 

This is planned to be a use-up-the-yarn project.  It amazes me that I could have acquired as much yarn as we have here in the workroom.  Unbelievable, actually.  Some we brought with us.  Unwise.  Will I ever learn?!  Maybe.

Mission Knitting: The Afghan is Progressing

The afghan has been sitting in the knitting bag for ages.  It has been above 90 degrees F. so many days lately.  Over the weekend there was a bit of a cooling breeze blowing through so I finished another row.  Only 8 more mitered blocks to go.  Then the ends using up the left over colored yarn, and finally the outer borders.  It should be long enough to be a large lap robe/couch blanket.  At least that is what Dear One is hoping to see.  He does not mind the heat.  He does mind the cold so a cozy afghan will make him happy.

I can't wait to see what it looks like!

Mission Knitting: Afghan Growing Again

Recently I started working on the mission afghan again.  I have decided to make it 7 squares by 9 squares then extend it by using up other leftover yarn.  This is what it looks like today:

I am sorely tempted to turn them into garter stitch miters but know that the gauge, thus size of the squares, will be different, so, so far, I have restrained myself....

Mission Afghan: More squares

Here is the current situation with the mission afghan.  I was rather saddened to discover that not all the skeins of yarn were in the "Stripes Collection" as I thought. Just goes to show that when you go to the store and are tired and in a hurry, you can make significant mistakes... Well, I guess I will continue on with the project since we do want to have a nice warm blanket on the couch.  There are two more colors to add then I will start again with that luscious first square in the corner.  Square seven goes above the pink one then eight is in the cubby hole between the pink and purple/blue one.  The nice stripe will be next then one more and that diagonal will be finished.  If all goes well, that will happen this week.  There are other projects looming that need knitting....

Mission Afghan

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch after a shower and shampoo.  The fans were on since I like to feel the fresh air from the open window.  (If I were a dog, I would be the one with my head out the window in the car with my tongue hanging out enjoying the wind on my face...). All of a sudden I was freezing cold.  I realized in a moment that the only sweater I brought with us was the big old Elizabeth Zimmermann Adult Surprise Jacket made with Hilda Yates' Bartlettyarns.  That is perfect for winter but I did not want to get into wearing in before fall even sets in.

So what should I do?  I had been in the work room taking care of a few more things. I began putting items in the bureau drawers in the bureau Fred from downstairs helped Dear One put in the work room last week. Anyway, I came upon an afghan pattern that I had brought in my luggage by a fluke!

It is a pattern I always wanted to knit but never got to.  Now was the time!  So off I went on a two-hour journey.  Well, if I am going to risk life and limb going out into all this city traffic, I certainly want to get as much done as possible before my nerves give out.

So, I took the Costco receipt with me to make things right there.  (On Friday we had purchased thirteen 2-pillow bags of pillows for the incoming missionaries who will be here on 25 September.  We provide a pillow, a fleece blanket, and a comforter for each missionary.  They bring their own sheets, but in case not, we have a few they can buy. You can imagine the spectacle of a flatbed cart with 13 very slippery bags of pillows driving out of the store trying hard not to bash into any of the other Costco customers.  We did make it to the car and Dear One stuffed them into the trunk and the back seat.  Anyway, when we got to the storage garage to unload the thirteen bags of pillows, we found we had fourteen of them.  Yikes!    Someone had to  go back to Costco and make it right.  That was my first stop.  The girl at the desk was flabbergasted that I would come pay for the extra pillows.

After the Costco stop I went to the beautiful Hillsboro Library to return two books.  After that I went to Joann Fabrics and Crafts to find needles for the sewing machine the nice Relief Society presidency has loaned me (which I discovered I REALLY REALLY NEED!  Today the long slinky skirt that I love but which hangs wrong due to my wretched midriff bulge had had enough of me stepping on it, and the hem started to tear. I have now pinned it and will stitch it sometime soon...).  While there I went through their yarn aisles.  They actually have a lot of them, unlike Michaels which is cutting way back on their yarn aisles.  I found some variegated yarn that I liked and bought it.

There were three more stops: the Asian market so I could get ingredients for Orchid's Cool Tangy Noodles, Pizza Hut for Dear One's pizza fix, then Grocery Outlet for some more bananas for the smoothie machine and scallions for Orchid's noodles, then back to Pizza Hut to pick up the pizza then home.  These long trips are a bad idea because I was so tired when I got home that my resistance was low and I ate two pieces of pizza and tall glasses of dairy milk....

So tired that I was in bed and asleep before 9 PM so I woke up at 11.  Since I knew I would not sleep, I did my Jesus Project reading then went out to start knitting the afghan.  Rats!!!!  I had left the yarn in the car and I was not about to get dressed to go down to get it at that time of night. I looked in my knitting bag and found some yarn I could use for a sample.

This is the sample square:

Of course, it is not blocked but you can get an idea of what it looks like.

Today after Church we picked up the yarn from the trunk and brought it in.  After lunch I sat on the couch and worked up the first "real" afghan square.  After this one you connect them together as you knit. I do not know how that will go but will show it off when it happens.

Here is the first mitered square ready to start square 2:

The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver Stripes collection. I picked up 8 different stripes patterns.  We shall see if they go together well. I think this is the brightest of them.