Yes, I realize that this makes 3 posts in 3 days. I'm not promising that this pace will continue though – who knows, it could be weeks before the next one 
.
I finished the Mystery Blanket a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't had a chance to block it. Today I pinned it onto my bed and used my steam iron on it. I'm still not 100% satisfied, so I may wet block it sometime when I can figure out where to do it. It's hard to block a blanket!
So without further ado, here it is. Details will follow the pictures:
The pattern is the Mystery Blanket from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. The blanket is the April project. Each square is knit from the centre out, and the live stitches are then put on a holder (I used waste yarn). The squares are then grafted together, so you end up with a seamless blanket.
When I first bought my copy of Knitter's Almanac, I was intrigued by this blanket. The picture in the book is of a solid colour blanket (in white). But when I first saw it, I wondered what it would look like in a self-striping yarn. The yarn I used is Paton's SWS. The inner part of the squares is done in the Natural Navy colourway, and the outer part (and the border) is done in Natural Denim.
EZ recommends grafting the squares together as you go, though I decided not to do that. Because of the variations in the blues, I wanted to be able to arrange the order of the squares. So first I did all the knitting (which, being squares, were great travel knitting), and then I did all the finishing, which took a while. I did 30 squares (5 x 6) and each square had 23 stitches on each side, plus 5 in each corner. That's a lot of grafting!. And a lot of ends to sew in. I could only work on it on cool evenings, because it was way too warm to have on my lap on hot days!
One word of advice if you make this blanket – as you finish each square, count the number of stitches on each side, and make sure they're all the same. Despite the simplicity of the pattern (or perhaps because of it), as I was sewing it up I discovered a number of squares in which I had made extra (or too few) increases, so that the sides were uneven. Had I checked each one as I went, I would have had fewer do-overs to do.
I'm really happy with how it turned out. I love the colours in the yarn, I love the variation in the squares, and it's going to be a wonderful warm afghan to curl up under on chilly nights.
As I mentioned on Saturday, yesterday the Ottawa Knitting Guild held their 2nd Annual Knit Out at the Agriculture Museum. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures to show. There was a great turn out, and I met a couple more Ottawa Knit Bloggers that I didn't know – go visit The Fabric of Her Reality and My Hidden Stash. I also got to meet Gillian, who is a regular commenter here. Hi Gillian!
And finally, an update on the dyeing party from Saturday. I had purchased some white Kroy sock yarn to dye. I did the sock yarn in orange and white (anyone surprised?) and in blue/green/red.
Yesterday I re-skeined them on my swift – here they are looking very pretty. I'm looking forward to knitting with them (especially the orange!)
I'm really happy with the results, for my first time dyeing. I also did some Worsted Weight in reds, but it's not as vibrant as I had wanted. And my skein got very tangled – once I get it untangled, I'll take a picture of it too.
18 Comments
nice work on the seamless blanket! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finished one, but I’ve always loved the idea and the look of the blanket. very nice effect with the striping yarn.
The blanket looks great. I guess you are a Kitchener queen now! And the yarn looks awesome. I’ll have to try that one of these days.
I love the blanket. It’s so gentle in colour and and the way it’s put together!
I LOVE your blanket! I haven’t seen it too often. I’m so impressed that you finished it. Great job!
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Ab fab on the blanket! Wonderful, soothing colors.
The dying looks great! Reds are difficult to get vibrant. Don’t give up.
The orange is VERY you! The blanket is really snuggly looking, fab job.
ooooooooo that orange koolaid yarn is scrummy! Totally FABU on the blankie – I bet you can’t wait for winter now
The blanket is gorgeous! I think I breezed right past the blanket when I read Knitter’s Almanac, but I’m going to have to take another look. The SWS colors look wonderful together. I’m very impressed. Well done!
The orange and white one makes me think of Creamsicles! They turned out beautifully. As for the red one, you could try over-dyeing it to see what happens. I want to overdye one of mine from this week so maybe I should have you over for an over-dyeing exercise and spinning lesson?
The blanket is gorgeous and does look very very cozy for cold winter nights (hey I just typed that “knits” – I wonder what Freud would say about the fact that knitting seems to have replaced sex when it comes to my “slips”).
LOL…
I love the Orange and white yarn. So simple and yet so stark. We seem to be in sync right now. Both of us dying and making squares. Well youy finished your though. How long did it take you to put the squares together? I’m staring at 70 squares myself. Mine are 9″ squares and I may block them all before I start seaming.
I love the blanket and the dyed wool… in particular the orange and white. It’s cool, crisp and summery… perfect. Please post photos when these get knitted up so we can admire them further!
I love your blanket! I’m here from Zimmermania drooling over it. Thanks for sharing it.
Beautiful blanket!! And your wool dyeing was a great success. I have used Kool-aid to dye wool fabric for rug hooking, and it’s a lot of fun.
I love the colorway on the blanket! And your dyed yarns turned out great!
The blanket is gorgeous. It was always one of my favourites in that book too. Along with the tights. Not sure why the tights though!
Thank you for your suggestion regarding my sweater sleeve issue. I’m going to cast on a second sleeve and try the alternating from different balls. I don’t want the sleeves to match thankfully! My brain just can’t face that at this stage. Thank you again!
Beautiful blanket. I love how the yarn varied from square to square. This is an intriguing blanket! I don’t know about all that grafting but you must be an expert grafter by now.
Gorgeous blanket. Fabulous yarn choice!
I love your blanket–now I’ve got to make one! How big did yours turn out after finishing?