This post talks about the February pattern blocks for a year long mystery knit along blanket. You can read more about it in the January post.
It's All Gone Wrong. Again.
The February blocks were deceptively simple: cast on 216 stitches, join in the round, knit a three row stocking stitch pattern decreasing to eight stitches, then gather together and bind off, with two colour changes along the way.
The plan is to make six of these blocks, either all in February or spread through the year in months when there is only one other pattern block to make. They cover basic skills - knitting in the round with circular or double pointed needles, managing repeated decreases, managing colour changes and managing a decreasing circumference.
In the opening picture, you can see two blocks where it went wrong. The lovely red-browns on the left was twisted - hard to tell at first because the stocking stitch is so curly. Then you can easily twist during knitting by picking up the needles the wrong way. In the end, though, I had to admit I had joined it twisted right at the start and will have to start over.
The second block on the right suffered from incorrect counting as I was decreasing. I must have decreased on plain rows as I ended up with 57 and not 72 stitches for the last colour change. It's an easy enough pattern! I was experimenting with swapping the colours about to see if they looked different placed next to different colours. Another one to undo and start again (good for those evenings when I'm not in the mood for knitting).
February Blocks - The Ones That Worked
I have a palette of eighteen different colours for this blanket (here's the shade card); the original design uses five. The yarn manufacturers assure me that all the colours in the palette go together, so we'll see when I come to assemble it at the end. The one on my right was my first attempt, I wanted to try putting more neutral colours together with the rich sloe colour in the centre.
My second tempt was one of the ones that went wrong above, where I swapped the light and dark colours, putting the darker one next to the sloe in the centre. I will re-do that because I'd like to see the result of the experiment.
The colours in the lefthand block were inspired by this picture I took years ago of spring flowers. I love the colours of the flowers at this time of year. It's always fabulous to see them. The brightness of the yarn is a much better reflection of the flowers - I think this image must have been taken with my very old mobile phone, so it's a bit fuzzy and faded.
I'd like to get a bit more experimental with the remaining blocks. I have an idea for the red brown blocks to have more stripes and to join the different colours with a purl row, so you get the little semi circle contrasts in those rows. Perhaps I sabotaged the counting deliberately so I could try something different!
One of the things I like about knitting is that, over time, it finds its own equilibrium. The bigger and smaller stitches even out so it looks perfect. I'm sure when the blanket is being used, I'll be more interested in warmth than technique, and the colours will look stunning against the beige of the caravan.
The next block is published on 6 March - it's another texture pattern.
Knit Happens
I've missed the Knit Happens online knitting group for a week or two. One week I was out and the second week I was away. (This week I might be going to the cinema). I'll get back there, sooner or later. It's on Wednesdays 6.00-8.00 pm UTC.
It's hosted by @artemisnorth, and I've enjoyed being around other knitters, chatting and sharing ideas. Everyone is welcome. Artemis is a great host and, between us, we have already signed up another Hive user!
