I’ve been working on this project for a while, between knitting projects. Because the yarn for the next sweater I want to make has been on back-order since the end of August, I’ve had more concentrated time to spend on it.
A little history: Big Blankie v1.0 is the blankie that my mom knitted long ago (while she was pregnant with my brother, I think). It’s huge, acrylic, and I have fond memories of sitting on the sofa on cold mornings, wrapped up in it. It’s probably not in such great shape anymore (I think my mom banished it to the top shelf of the closet on multiple occasions when company was expected), but I remember it as a testament to the durability of petroleum-based products.
My original inspiration for learning to knit while I was in college was the realization that I would have a home of my own and would not have the big blankie to keep me warm. My first large project was my own big blankie (v2.0) – and since I wanted machine-washability, indestructability, was unaware of the wonders of natural fibers, and had the limited budget of a college student, it’s made of cheap acrylic yarn in red, green and blue. I’m sure I’ve regained the price of the yarn several times over in energy savings.
Fast-forward several years to home-ownership and a desire to have a coordinated living room. Now that I have a lot more yarnly experience (and yarn snobbishness) and a job that allows me to buy yarn that costs more than the cheapest acrylic, I’ve upgraded the yarn selection to superwash wool. I’ve also learned to crochet semi-competently. This is the Babette Blanket from Interweave Crochet. The yarn is the lovely Cascade 220 Superwash, in a variety of colors.
I still need to knit six more squares in the largest sizes (indicated by the red outline), then arrange and sew all the squares together and crochet on a border using whatever yarn is left. I should be able to finish the squares in the next week, but organizing and sewing together well over 100 pieces doesn’t sound like the most exciting task ever, so if my sweater yarn arrives during the extended assembly process, further delays could ensue. I’ve worried alternately about the blankie not being adequately large and about running out of yarn, but I now think it’ll be big enough for optimal snuggling and I have plenty of yarn to finish and do multiple rows of border.
That is a neat pattern! It almost makes me want to learn to crochet… I like your choice of colors, and it looks like it will be very warm and cozy.
Cool! Or warm! It’s a major improvement over The World’s First Original Big Blankie, now an historical artifact from the previous millennium. I like the fact that the squares are not all the same size.