Sunday, January 4, 2015

Epic Chevron Blanket

I finally finished my ginormous blanket!

couch cropIt fits the couch perfectly. It’s about 6x4 feet when spread out flat…maybe just a little bigger, like 73x49”. It took me six months to knit, mostly because it became very unportable as it grew. That said, I knit through the last 4.5 or so balls of yarn sitting in my minivan on a long ride to Texas and back. I don’t recommend giant blankets for car knitting projects, but I knew I had a lot of hours and I really wanted to finish this (even if I had to crank up the AC the further south we drove).blanket crop

I used 18 balls of Cascade 220 Superwash and a US 6 needle (4.0 mm). The result is firm but still drapey due to the endless miles of garter stitch. IMG_5392I made a rookie mistake in the very beginning that turned out not to be a problem due to dumb luck. I didn’t weigh all my yarn. Now, we know that 100 gram balls of yarn don’t all weigh 100 grams, but I think these varied quite a lot. I knit the first color until it looked like I didn’t have quite enough left for another couple garter ridges and then stopped. I have 7 grams left of that color. I have more of the orangey-red left than anything else (35 grams). If I had started with the orange, I would have turned up short on the others.

IMG_5377

The patterns Fancy Tiger Crafts’ Heirloom Chevron Throw. They use their own heirloom Romney yarn in it, which is bulkier than Cascade 220. Their pattern calls for rows that are 217 stitches long (mine are 329) and stripes that are 50 rows (mine are 78). I figure I have 153,972 stitches in this baby, more or less.IMG_4302The colors are Turtle, Pacific, Doeskin Heather, Provence, Aporto, and Chocolate.IMG_5396The blanket is already fully incorporated into family life. Boy 1 said “it’s like a wool sock for your whole body!” I’m actually considering beginning another blanket project, but my next one will be knit modularly so it can go with me more places.IMG_5386I might even start knitting little squares of my leftover sock yarn. Now THAT would be an epic project to span a number of years. For now, though, I’m glad to have this done so we can all enjoy it.

4 comments:

  1. So epic!! Love it!

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  2. Truly awesome! You chose great colors and I LOVE how it looks on your couch. Enjoy plenty of warm family time under your blanket!

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  3. A sock for your whole body! This is great inspiration for knitting a whole blanket. I think modularity is a good plan, though. These colors couldn't be more perfect for your new couch.

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  4. Sorry to be tardy weighing in but I haven't caught up with my blogs lately. The blanket is STUNNING and the colors work so well together!

    Over the winter break I tired of following patterns and DID start mitered squares with my left over sock yarn. It will take forever to make enough squares for a blanket but I look forward to the day.

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