I had been waiting for a beautiful winter day in January because I wanted to put all of my knitted blankets on the fence with the blue sky and the snow covered fields as a backdrop.
Isn't it lovely?
The wind was blowing a little to give the blankets movement
Beau of course inspected everything
This yellow blanket was knit for me by my mother in law. She was making blankets for everyone and so I asked for one too. She of course said: You can make your own! Why do you want me to make one for you?" I am really glad that she was able to finish it. It is knit in Cascade Soft Spun 100% wool that is not plied and creates a lovely texture.
This next blanket is a pattern by Faina Letoutchaia for a lace Entrelac Shawl https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/forest-path-stole; I knit it in a worsted weight instead of fingering yarn as a class sample. A lot of fine weight shawls can be knit with heavier yarn to make into blankets.
I LOVE MITERED SQUARES! And I like knitting DK weight boot socks because they work up so much faster. This blanket is knit with all the left overs from the boot socks and a superwash DK for the borders to break up the mitered squares. I didn't really follow a pattern, the one that is most similar on Ravelry is: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/109-60-a-sugar-and-spices-blanket; after each row of diamonds are knit work 6 rows in garter stitch working double increases at the peaks and double decreases in the valleys to keep the zig-zag pattern going.
This circular blanket https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scoop--twist-baby-blanket, is knit in Lerke by Dale Garn, a DK Merino and cotton blend. I love knitting circular blankets! You start with a few stitches and increase every other round and just keep going until you run out of yarn or get bored.
This Scoop and Twist blanket was fun to knit with all the different textured stitches and the cables separating the "spokes".
This is actually a blanket my grandmother crochet in the late 80's after she moved to Canada. As you can see it is still in really good shape. If you take care of your knit or crochet items they will last a long time!
Rams and Yowes is a stranded blanket knit in the round and steeked. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rams-and-yowes
It is much easier to knit stranded work in the round than flat, all you need to do is add a few extra stitches where the knitting get cut (yes, with scissors) after the stitches to be cut are secured with a sewing machine or a crochet hook. This sounds more scary than it is, here is a great tutorial by Tin Can Knits: https://blog.tincanknits.com/2014/09/18/steek/
A border is usually added to hide the cut edges.
Of course I had to add our two Hungarian sheep dogs Bundas and Beau to all the sheep frolicking on this blanket.
This next blanket is also knit from the centre out, but with double increases to create a square.
Knit in Rowan Superwash Worsted with a stranded border it knits up quite quickly.
This blanket is knit over only 10 stitches at a time https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ten-stitch-blanket; Frankie has created a few different designs working over only a small amount of stitches and attaching the strips as you knit.
"Knit from the center outward in concentric rings of varied charted motifs, Girasole engages your mind and fingers at every spiral of knitting and produces a beautifully integrated whole".
This is one of those centre out patterns that can be knit in all kinds of yarn weights.
I have knit it in fingering weight for a lovely lace shawl or this blanket above is knit in chunky weight yarn. This Girasole, a pattern by Jared Flood, was started at UK Knit camp 2010 in a class with Jared and was completed last year. Please don't think it takes 10 years to complete a blanket! This was one of my UFO's that sat in a bin because I kept running out of yarn and whenever I found some chunky yarn in a complimentary colour I would knit on it until I ran out again, then put it back in the bin until the next yarn appeared.
After I got interested in Brioche knitting I found this blanket/shawl by Stephen West. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/briochevron-blanket
The wonderful thing about Brioche knitting is that it is reversible, fun to knit and it is great for using up leftovers. For the solid colour I used Biolana Fine, a sport weight organic wool and Fleece Artist Wanderlust in colours Fiji, Key West and Faroe Islands with some odds and ends thrown in for some colour pop. Brioche knitting gives a lovely squishy feel without being bulky.
A Log Cabin Blanket knit in bulky Cascade Pacific Chunky Color Wave.
I like knitting Log Cabin blankets, you can use up all kinds of leftover yarns in different colours or just use one colour like this one. All you need to do is cast on 10-15 sts and knit 20-30 ridges, bind off and pick up along one side and knit on...
Great TV Knitting!
Here is another version of the Hap Lapghan, this one was knit in Drops Air, a blown Alpaca blend and very fluffy. On this blanket I worked the border using the mosaic technique. It was easier on my hands than the original stranded method with heavier yarns.
This is another Girasole blanket, this time in a rustic worsted wool.
Below you can see Jared holding his Girasole. This picture was taken in 2010 during the class at Sterling University in Scotland.
This is another of Jared's patterns, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hemlock-ring-blanket which he adapted from a vintage doily pattern.
The original pattern is no longer available but the Rainey sisters have an updated version here: https://theraineysisters.com/?cat=51
Here we have another version of Frankies 10 Stitch blankets, this time knit in the round with short rows. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ten-stitch-twist; Liz actually knit this one out of Cascade Color Wave Worsted.
And here we have a more traditional version of a log cabin blanket. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fussy-cuts-blanket; I used Noro Aya and Cash Island for the individual blocks and Cascade 220 Superwash to put it all together. I have written about this blanket in a previous post.
A few blankets didn't make it to the outdoor photo shoot:
This is a square blanket, knit from the centre out in Ella Rae Sunkissed, a DK cotton.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-blanket-144; a free pattern by Toronto based Ewe Knits and has lovely textured stitches that make sure you don't get bored.
Mosaic anyone? This free pattern by Purl Soho comes in different sizes and was knit in Rowan Pure Wool Worsted. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mosaic-blanket-807453
This Zig Zag blanket was UFO #19 last year, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ziggity-zag-blanket; knit in Drops Big Delight.
Glen Echo is another free pattern from Toronto based Ewe Knits and is knit like a dishcloth.
You start with a few stitches at one corner and keep increasing until the blanket is wide enough and then you start decreasing until you end up with the same amount of stitches as you started. This blanket can be knit in any weight yarn.
I used 3 colours of Jill Eaton Cotton and had fun with the pattern. Do not worry when the finished blanket looks like a diamond; blocking will make it square!
And lastly here is the first blanket I knit for my hubby. I started knitting the squares in a class with Karen at Serenity Knits https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-great-american-aran-afghan.
Of course I didn't follow the instructions and used a DK weight yarn instead of an Aran, so my squares were smaller and I had to knit more squares to make the blanket big enough.
I ran out of the butter colour yarn and added the green as a contrast.
I ended up picking squares from 4 different afghan books and added a second contrast colour.
The first Christmas my husband got a bunch of individually wrapped squares. It actually took 3 years before he finally received the finished blanket.
I am sure I have missed one or two blankets like Cecelia, another circular blanket https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cecelia-2
With this I shall leave you and wish you well.
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