UFO Landing

Well, I never thought I'd see the day.


Grandma's Mitered Squares
pattern: Mitered Square... thingy.
yarn: Assorted worsted weights.
needles: 5.00 mm (US 8) straights and 36" circ for the borders

This was an extremely consuming project. It took me over a year! And for a while I'd nearly given up on it, but thank goodness, I stuck it out. I wanted to make my Grandma a blanket, and the mitered square phase was all the rage, so I thought, why not? I used mostly stash yarns, though I ended up having to buy more of the burgundy... which was Lion Brand Wool-Ease, and thus the cheapest.


To aid in the knitting, I made up a few rules. I stuck to four colors (burgundy, grey, brown, and white). Each square would have two colors and whatever striping.

Putting the pieces together was a bit of a puzzle. I didn't want any two squares with the same color border next to each other. I think I did a decent job with the final arrangement. If I could "redo" I'd switch two squares, but other than that I'm pretty pleased.


The border isn't quite as thick as I'd like it, but I knit until I ran out of yarn. Such is life.

This is one of my favorites. It was such a pain, but it's so pretty. I love it. And warm! This is definitely going to be the year of blankets (if all goes as planned), so I think this is a great way to kick things off.

Progress

I got another square done.


I actually had another one done, but I effed that one up so, knowing it'd bug the hell out of me, I decided to frog it. It'll be done soon though, probably. I'm pretty happy with how the blanket's progressing. But you know, knitting these squares can get pretty dull, so I started another project...

The 1824 Blouson. I've been reading reactions to this pattern, and I'm surprised to find it overwhelmingly negative. I really like this pattern. I love the simple yet comfy lines and I actually like the inside out look. Why do I always go for these patterns with miles of stockinette? Anyway, I cast on for the back and a Mets-Yankees game and 7 episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air later...


The back was finished.


Here's a shot of the raglan shaping.

It's not really an exciting looking knit, but I like how it's shaping up. I'll probably finish it real soon, so it'll be ready for me when I need it in the fall. :) It's exactly what I like to wear and I'm sure I'll get many wears out of it when the weather calls for it.

I found a (possible) problem in the pattern though. I can't believe I didn't figure it out when I was looking at the pattern. The pattern says to "Repeat the last 2 rows 18 more times." and then it says it should measure about 3.5" from the CO. I took this to mean knit 36 rows... which makes sense, right? But duh. Worsted weight, 36 rows, size 7 needles ... is not going to give you 3.5". I think what it means is to do the last 2 rows 9 more times for a total of 18 more rows. I did that and I got 3.5".

Now my mind is wandering for other projects.

Not a Square

Yes, that's what I've been doing in the last 13 days. Actually, I also did more - like my Print o' the Wave, which I did 10 repeats of. But this is where most of my knitting attention went to. I went so crazy with the squares my hands cramped up and I had to take a break from knitting altogether.

My grandma recently had a stroke, and I decided to go ahead and try and knit a blanket for her... so this is my effort. I'm not quite sure how big I want to make it yet... either 4x5 or 3x5. The squares are pretty big. And I want the blanket to be kind of a throw, not really a massive quilt. I guess I'll reconsider when I get to 15 squares.

Most of the yarn used is just stash yarn. I pulled out all the worsted yarns I owned and picked out colors I thought went together. There's Wool-Ease, some archaic grey wool and acryllic blend (from my mum, when she used to knit), and brown and natural Cascade 220.

As I was knitting though, it occurred to me I did not have enough for the blanket. So I went to go get more brown and natural. I came back with a whole lot more than just Cascade.


14 balls of Cascade Luna to knit the 1824 Blouson in the new IK. I REALLY love that pattern and I REALLY love the color. I can't wait to knit it.

Oh, I also go this cute little guy, partially because I was in need of a measuring tape, but mostly because he was just so cute.