The Blanks

If there's one thing a Parkinson loves it's a blanket. We're famed for being found curled up on the sofa underneath what we call a 'rug' in almost any weather. And perhaps that's why, wether crochet, quilted or knit I love to make blankets.

The photo above is a rather strange looking blanket being dried on the washing line. I started this particular project over a year ago in January 2012! But with blankets you're not really looking for a quick knit, it's something you need to be able to pick up and put down when you like and also to forget about until you need a 'filler knit' in between projects. This one started off as I stared at a mound of acrylic yarn I had in my stash and wondered what to do with it. I began making a scarf in moss stitch and as I changed colours the idea of a blanket came to mind. Searching for colour combination ideas I found this picture of a modern quilt top and loved it.

So I continued knitting moss stitch scarves or strips, randomly changing colours as I knit. With each strip complete I checked on the length of the blanket, hoping for a single bed size; enough for two people to snuggle under on the sofa. The blanket's strips are too thick to be a replica of the quilt top above, but it was the general idea and colour combination of brown, yellow, grey and blue that I took as inspiration.

I had never intended to keep the blanket for myself. It was something I always thought I wanted to give as a gift for a special occasion. And so when my Sister in Law Brooke moved to a new house recently I thought it was time to finish the blanket and give it a loving home. To give the project a nice finish I used some baby blue brushed cotton as a backing, which makes it extra squishy.

The blanket was given to Brooke and her boyfriend Andy this week at Brooke's birthday dinner in their new home. My sister in law is certainly a worth recipient of the blanket as she loves cuddling up under mine at our house and 90% of the time will fall asleep when under it. However the Davis family don't call it a 'rug' their name for it is the 'blanks'. So here are Brooke and Andy enjoying their first snuggle under their new blanks.

Not sure what happened there

So my 'Blue Period' Seems to have stunted my blogging! What happened to the whole of August Laura?  It must have been all the lovely summer that we actually had this year, meaning that I was outside enjoying life, which was of course lovely! Here's a summary of the fun had by all:

Not a lot of knitting going on in those particular photos but I promise you, it has been happening. Although all the yarn does remain blue!

There was the Baby Sophisticate for Henry which is a lovely free pattern and knitted up quickly over a couple of weeks. I have yet to see him wear it but hopefully it still fits him now the cold weather is setting in.

I used some lovely (of course vintage) buttons on it from a vintage fair I went to yonks ago. I love it when all these bits and pieces you collect come into use in the end. It makes more hoarding acceptable.

I also sewed in one of my labels which makes it look that little bit more shop bought in a weird way! Hopefully people will recognised its handmade merits.

A friend from Uni had a baby called Charlotte, so out of the leftovers from the cardigan I made an initialed washcloth. I sent it with a bar of baby soap all wrapped up in pink ribbon, but it's nice to have some things that aren't pink for a girl, which is why I thought of the blue for the cloth.

I've made these little washcloths before and they're really great little projects that don't take too long but are lovely and personal as well as being totally useful.

I have no current pictures of the (of course) blue cardigan I'm still working on from Pom Pom Magazine called Fieldwork, but I can report that I have finished the back sections and am now onto the first front section. It's slow going because I started another, you guessed it, blue project! But I'll tell you all about that in another blog post, because I'm back in the game people: BACK - IN - THE - GAME.