The plan was developed in stages. I went to the store, looked at yarn, and found what I wanted back in July some time.
Initial skeins of yarn: 5 (2 multicolored, 1 green, 1 purple, 1 yellow)
Skeins of yarn purchased by the end of the process: 9 (3 multicolored, 2 green, 2 purple, 2 yellow)
Dan and I tossed around ideas for how to use the yarn I bought. We each used colored pencils and graph paper to brainstorm. Dan's design ended up being the one I used. Then, he calculated how many of each kind of square I needed to knit (4 solo multi, 10 half multi half multi/purple, etc.)
Ideas drawn before determining a winner: at least 10
Squares in winning design: 64
Patterns used in squares: 64 different (each square a different pattern)
Patterns I made up myself, either stitch patterns I knew or ones I concocted using graph paper: approximately 40
Patterns I obtained from a pattern book: approximately 24
Squares with suit patterns I made up: 4 (1 heart, 1 club, 1 diamond, 1 spade)
Size of each square: 6 by 6 inches (approximate; some squares were slightly larger and some slightly smaller)
Size of blanket, finished: 4 feet by 4 feet (after blocking, it appears to be somewhat bigger)
Hours spent knitting blanket: approximately 100. Maybe more.
Places I knitted: the couch, my national conference during sessions, hotel rooms, airplanes.
(Loki liked to help, too.)
Hours spent stitching blanket together: approximately 6
Time spent blocking: 1 hour, plus 15 hours drying time
Time spent finishing (crochet border): 2 hours
The yarn is machine washable and dryable and I hope I have constructed it such that it will be fully functional and easy to care for. Mostly I hope that it helps keep a very special baby warm through a cold and damp Bay Area winter.
Made with love,
Emily, who met his parents on the internet
7 comments:
Oh wow, I am way impressed with the suit patterns! Amazing!
Amazing.
Inquiring minds want to know-is that Loki or Petra under there? I'm putting my money on Loki.
wow - you are a knitting rockstar!
AND it is the softest yarn EVER. We seriously can't stop cuddling it (which was especially awkward when I took it to work to show my knitting coworker).
I'm going to print out this entry and put it in Wombat's scrapbook.
Monkey - You'd win your bet. Loki, true to his name, is always in the midst of everything. Petra doesn't get up on the bed these days.
This is a truly beautiful baby blanket. You are so talented! I am just learning how to knit and appreciate all of the intricacies that you have going on here. :)
GORGEOUS! You are so sweet (and talented!).
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