The Partial Blankets in My Life, Part 1

This project began as an Albers Cowl by Ann Weaver, but quickly evolved into a sort of freeform patchwork blanket. I am slipping the first stitch of each row to facilitate pick-up, and am increasing the size in a willy-nilly way, working in all directions according to whim and yarn quantities, until I reach 100 stitches on a side.


















The first square is the more Albers-inspired so far - I started it in the middle of the new living room, surrounded by boxes in the midst of our move, because I needed a break from deciding where to put unpacked items, and because I had just unearthed my Ziploc full of fingering weight partials. It consists of sock yarn scraps from my stash: madelinetosh, Rowan, Yarn Hollow, Carpool Sock, Jitterbug, Malabrigo, and Sunshine Yarns.
















The second square contains Erin's sock yarn scraps, which she listed upon their delivery, but the specifics of which I did not note. I may ask her to identify them again once I have finished the square. The layout of this one happened even more organically, and the majority of it was knit while watching My So-Called Life on Netflix Watch Instantly. Did you know that there is only one season of that show? Shocking.

I have more of my own scraps, and Jen has given me some as well, but I know there will be many sections added to this item which I haven't purchased the yarn for yet, let alone knit the socks or shawl to leave me with oddments. I am picturing this as an ongoing project, which I will add on to now and then as a meditation, whenever I feel like it and also have sock leftovers available.

















And this one is a Mitered Crosses Blanket--for Japan by Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm using Noro Taiyo for the center crosses and Rowan Amy Butler Belle Aran for the borders. The yarns are very different from each other, but work well together and I like the way that each draws attention to the texture of the other. I selected three colors of each, and paired them off, which I'm hoping will ultimately create a harmonious effect. We'll see.
















I am enjoying working on this - it makes excellent modular, portable bus knitting for those long commutes. It also indulges my semi-random-self-striping-Noro fixation, with a little bit of slubby silkiness to boot. I'm using size 8 needles (instead of the recommended size 6, for Silk Garden), and I'm slipping the first stitch of every row. I'm yielding 4 crosses for every skein of Taiyo, and 1 border for each ball of Belle Aran.













I have at least three more unfinished blankets - one of which dates back to high school. If they ever see the light of day again they may get a write-up.