Tags
AIWCC, blanket, charity, Knitters Guild, Lizard Ridge, Noro, Ravelry, stripes, yarn
I’ve knitted 23 pairs of socks to date. Most of these pairs have used significantly less than 100g of yarn. I’ve been saving the remains for emergency repairs and darning but I don’t really envisage using them for such (particularly as my own pairs have had the heels reinforced prior to wear). I thought it would be nice to use the leftovers in a blanket. Ravelry has hundreds of projects, ranging from rows of stripes to patchwork squares and even stuff-as-you-go hexagons.
Before browsing too much, I drew up a shortlist of criteria that would hopefully help me decide which kind of scrap blanket would work for me:
- Work in pieces to enable a good arrangement of colours
- Project should be easy to carry around
- Add in a neutral colour to balance some of the highly variegated yarns
Finally, I decided on making a Lizard Ridge blanket (pattern by Laura Aylor), using grey as one of the striping colours and all my leftovers for the contrast. Lizard Ridge is knitted in worsted-weight Noro yarn so each square is larger than one you’d get using 4-ply/fingering wool. I started off by knitting a square that was one-repeat (i.e. about a third) wider. It seemed a bit on the floppy side. I decided to knit as written and just make more squares. I was fortunate enough to sit next to Caitriona at December’s Knitters’ Guild meeting and she commented on her dislike of sewing together her Lizard Ridge blanket. It made me think. Seriously. About all the squares I would need… I recalled the fund-raising charity blanket that the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch group at the AIWCC made (I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones involved in its assembly)…
- Should I start all over again and knit bigger squares?
- Should I just bite the bullet and resign myself to a lot of sewing-up?
The solution is a compromise of sorts – my squares are now rectangles. They are still 43 stitches wide, as in the pattern, but they feature six not four sets of stripes.
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soknitsome 
Ooh, that’s an interesting blanket. Before you get too far in, if you want to avoid sewing up, there’s the Sock Yarn Blanket which is worked as one piece (albeit in pieces, so there are never too many stitches on your needles)
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I looked at that one but decided I don’t yet have enough different coloured yarn to be joining now.
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This looks beautiful already! I’m interested to see the final project!
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Thank you:-)… I think it will be quite a while till it’s finished!
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This will make for a beautiful blanket, the grey works wonderfully to clam down the brighter colours. I would probably be too lazy to sew all the pieces together!
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Thanks. By the time I’ve got enough pieces, I’ll be determined to finish it!
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I think it was a good decision to add in that neutral. It really sets off the colors.
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Thank you. I have too many similar shades for them to be striped together but I’m glad I didn’t choose black or white. The grey is pale enough to not distract from the colours.
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