tikki
  • Home
  • Patterns
    • Support >
      • Pattern Sizing
      • Skill Level
      • Milo cables
      • Knitted Hat Sizing
      • Errata
      • FAQ
      • kfPSOkb
      • Magic Garter Tab
      • cabling made easy
      • Small circumference knitting
      • Surface Slip Stitch
      • Daisy Stitch
      • WARM Special Techniques
    • Shop >
      • Purchase Ready Made or Made to Order
    • Wholesale
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog

knitting blankets and a pattern for mitred squares knit as you go

28/3/2014

 
Picture
Super snuggly handknit blankets.
I'm going to guess that I'm not alone in saying that there is something special about handcrafted blankets. There's something extra snuggly and cosy about being enveloped in a blanket that has been lovingly crafted, one that has had hours of love poured into those perfectly formed stitches. These stitches seem to hold an abundance of memories, memories whose warmth, love and existence is embedded into the yarn.  
Picture
Log Cabin Blanket knit in WOOLganics Head, Hands and Heart.
I have two beautiful crochet blankets that my mother made. Two giant double sided super snuggly granny squares. These blankets are made up of scraps of leftover yarns and jumpers that had been pulled down once they had served their purpose. These jumpers were ones that my mother had knitted for her six children. The yarn may have come from other places as well, I don't really know. These blankets are well loved in our house. The memories they hold are like secrets though, as I don't remember any of the original garments the wool came from. I wonder if my mum does. I suspect if I asked her if she remembered what some of the original garments were though, she would laugh at me!

But this using of leftovers is the traditional way blankets were created, this is the whole premise behind a knitted blanket. It's a great canvas to use up leftovers, pulled down garments, excess yarn.
Picture
Mystery Blanket (pattern by Elizabeth Zimmermann) knit in Noro Kureyon.
I've knit two blankets so far; one for each of my children. I have to admit I didn't take the traditional approach with these blankets. 

The first blanket I knit was made out of Noro Kureyon. 10 balls of Noro Kureyon. Hardly a thrifty pursuit. 

But it is a beautiful blanket, a much loved blanket called Sam. 

The second blanket I made was out of 16 ply organic Australian merino, a now discontinued yarn from WOOLganics. This blanket is almost queen bed size and weighs in over 1.6kg. Again, hardly a thrifty pursuit but again still a very loved blanket called Blankie.

My kids love their blankets so very much. They sleep with them every night in winter. They come camping with us. They snuggle with them on the couch. They take them on sleep overs.  
Picture
A mitred square blanket knit with snippets of memories.
I've just started knitting my third blanket, this time one for my bed. This time I am using leftover yarn all in 8ply/dk weight. All these leftovers are from garments and accessories I've knit for family or friends. The wonderful thing about being the crafter of such a blanket is that I am the one embedding the memories, and each time I select a new leftover yarn it brings back memories of the original garment and where I was at in my life when I knit that original piece. This blanket holds memories of longies made for Lily from the much-lusted after Four Bags Full Merino, the first longies Toby ever wore as a not so teeny newborn, the first milo I ever knit, and various cardigans, jumpers and vests for both my kids and nieces and nephews. There are snippets of garments knit for me. Leftovers from the kids' school jumpers. There are even some leftovers from doll clothes.  As a designer, this blanket also serves almost as a virtual map of a variety of my designs; milos, zeg warmers, ziggy, uwland, lavender, what big eyes you have, tully, gwendolyn, griffin, cassia and many others have been captured in these stitches. 

The kids are snuggling the blanket already, small as it is and love asking where each of the squares come from. They love hearing that this one was a pair of longies I knit for Asher that Lily helped dye the yarn for and that one was the yarn leftover from the vest Toby is wearing. I don't expect them to retain this knowledge or these memories, but it's nice to know that they do have an understanding of the process of this blanket and the memories that are being knit into it. 
Picture
Slowly, slowly, she grows.
I've been sharing my blanket progress in my Instagram feed and had a number of people ask about the pattern. I haven't really used a pattern as such but there are plenty out there. If you google or search on Ravelry for mitred square blankets, you'll find a ton. Some are sewn and I'm guessing there will be patterns for those created modularly, as mine is. My suggestion is to ditch the seaming and go modular.

Anyway, this is how I made mine. 

Square one: (Pink square in bottom right hand corner)
Using a 4mm/US#8 needle cast on 40 stitches.
Row 1: (WS) knit placing a stitch marker at the halfway point, 20 stitches in.
Row 2:  (RS) knit to 2 stitches before the stitch marker, k2tog, slip the stitch marker, ssk, knit to end of row.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until 2 stitches remain. 
Cast off.

Square two: (Green square above pink square)
Cast on 20 stitches. Place stitch marker.
Holding the first square as a diamond with the cast on edge at the bottom, pick up and knit 20 stitches along the right side of the square.
Continue as for square one.

Square three: (blue square next to pink square)
Pick up and knit 20 stitches along the left side of the pink square. Place stitch marker.
Cast on 20 stitches. (I usually cast on the first stitch using a backward loop and the next 19 using a cable cast on.
Continue as for square one.

Square four: (yellow square diagonally above pink square)
Pick up 20 stitches from the left side of the green square. Place stitch marker.
Pick up 20 stitches from the right side of the blue square. Knit across all stitches.
Continue as for square one.

Continue building the blanket as set out by the first four squares. You will need to build the edges (repeating squares two and three) before knitting inner squares (repeating square four).

Picking up along a garter edge is slightly different to picking up along a stocking stitch edge. The best way to do it is to pick up all the stitches first by sliding your needle from left to right through the stitches closest to the edge (not the little knot thing that forms on the edge itself) then knitting the stitches onto your left needle once they're all on your needle. Easy peasy.
Picture
So are you thinking about knitting a blanket?

I say do it! Don't feel that you have to finish it all at once, but I suggest making sure that you get a reasonable amount done initially. Four squares is pretty easy to ignore. But a good 20 or so is a blanket of promise, particularly when you can see the design or colour palette unfolding. I spent a week knitting nothing but my mitred square blanket. It's now a sort of almost usable size that is encouraging me to add further to it. It is quite addictive too I must say! I took the same approach with both of my finished blankets. A good bit of initial time, and then I would pick them up intermittently. 

Consider carefully whether or not you're a seamer. Or even a bit of a lazy crafter whose strong point is not finishing. If so, consider going modular. All the blankets I've shown here were knit as you go, modular knits. The squares in the Noro Mystery Blanket were actually grafted together rather than sewn. You'd need to like grafting a bit to tackle that one is my suggestion. I do so love grafting. Seaming, not so much. 
Picture
I'll keep posting updates of my blanket on Instagram (click in the icon in my footer to find me) and the occasional one here. I'm tagging them on IG with the hashtag #tikkisscrapblanket.  Yes, very original, I know.

Right now I have a whole heap of prototype knitting to do but I'll still be squeezing in a square here and there. The progress is just going to be a bit slower from here on in. Besides, I need to create more leftovers! Now, I'm finding myself in the situation where I'm contemplating what colours to knit next based on the colours I think the blanket needs more of! Orange yarn, I'm looking at you.

If you're knitting a blanket too, I'd love to see your progress shots either on IG or Rav. Shoot me your username in a comment.  It's pretty magic watching them grow.
sallyravels
27/3/2014 07:14:11 pm

I've knitted one and crocheted two blankets and I can't wait to knit my next. I have it planned - in fingering-weight. But I have a tonne of other stuff to finish before I get to it.

I so enjoyed reading this post. :-)

pyrrha
27/3/2014 08:09:45 pm

I've made a couple of Stella blankets (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stella-baby-blanket) and am thinking I might start another one soon with scraps. But I'm quite taken with your mitred squares, so perhaps I'll do that instead!

Michelle Lee link
28/3/2014 12:15:53 am

I've knitted a log cabin blanket for my daughter but haven't gotten around to taking a photo of it yet!! I

Sandy
28/3/2014 05:55:16 am

Great post Georgie, I'm working on a cot sized western hills blanket for a dear friend expecting her first bub later this year. Like you I knitted solidly for a week until I was half way through, now I just pick it up here and there and knit a few rows, now it's 2/3 complete :-) I love all of your modular blankets

kgirlknits link
28/3/2014 06:32:40 am

That's my kind of blanket knitting. No seams and small, bite-sized milestones! I've always been put off log cabins by the loooong stripes by the end.

Thanks for sharing your method, your blankets are gorgeous

Jessica link
28/3/2014 07:47:45 am

No seams?! I always thought the mitred square blankets were seamed so I've never made one. I must make one now!!!

I am knitting a basic garter stitch blanket from leftovers but I have no pictures of it on Ravelry yet. My username is totheskydear.

Becci Sundberg link
28/3/2014 08:13:24 am

I haven't learnt to knit yet, soon though, but have been crocheting for about 15 years or so.
I have made many large blankets for family. Currently I am in the middle of hooking two extra large single bed granny patchwork blankets for our youngest two boys (aged 5 and 4). One will be finished today (fingers crossed). The other, well the squares are done and I have the joining and border yarn. Will hopefully get to play with the squares tomorrow and get the positioning right.
The aim is to have them both finished by Easter,
Then I'm onto a large king sized blanket for my bed. In all the years I have been crocheting I haven't made a blanket (bar a lap rug I made last year) for myself!
Then I plan to learn to knit!

Linda link
28/3/2014 09:16:53 am

I have knit a few blankets when my daughters were born. They were all a little larger than baby blanket size and not fancy in any way.

I love the idea of a scrap blanket and have been wanting to start one for a while. I've been thinking of just crocheting a big granny square, adding scrap yarn as I go, in no particular order... finishing it when I decide it's big enough!

I'm keen to try the log pattern you've posted here... it's beautiful.

Have a good weekend, Linda. :)

Safiyah Ribis
19/5/2014 09:57:34 am

Like you, I have fond memories of crocheted granny square blankets in grandmother's house. They were also scrap blankets, using all manner of colors. All in acrylic! :)
I was a crocheter for years before I was a knitter, and crocheted a blanket for each of my baby brothers. The first was a chevron in cream, purple, brown and teal; the second was a bowtie quilt pattern with the bowties in rainbow variegated and the background black. The third, was a Tunisian crochet baby blanket in rainbow colors, each block cross stitched with something different (hearts, stars, etc)
Then I made my own firstborn a white basketweave blanket in afghan crochet, and also started a grandmothers flower garden crocheted afghan for my niece. Sadly, I had to leave it behind when we moved across the country.
After that major disappointment, I put the blanket making bug to rest for a few years, and embarked on a Frankie's ten-stitch afghan in Noro Kureyon. I've knit almsost 20 skeins into it, and won't stop until it's king-sized. I also knit a lace baby blanket in cotton for my first girl, and started another for my new girl.
I also have an on-going scrap beekeepers quilt that hasn't been added to in over a year. :)
I'm Safiyah on Ravelry-- some of my blankets are on my Project page :)

genessa
21/5/2014 11:23:53 am

I am so glad you posted this! I've been wanting to make a blanket for destashing/scrap using/cuddle having purposes, and this is the perfect pattern for it. I enjoyed the stories of the other blankets too! and I'm now going to stalk your blanket progress on Instagram--I'm @nessathemoodie.


Comments are closed.
    Keep in touch

    RSS Feed


    ​Follow my blog with Bloglovin

    Picture

    Who am I?

    Textile artist, knitwear designer and teacher. 


    Print Patterns for LYS available from:

    Picture

    archives:

    January 2019
    February 2018
    October 2017
    July 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013


    Stuff I talk about:

    All
    Adult Designs
    Buddhism
    Child Designs
    Knitting
    Milo
    Milo May
    New Pattern
    Non Mystery KAL
    Non-mystery KAL
    Recipes
    Recycling
    Repurposed
    Sewing
    Vegiegarden
    Yarnies


© Georgie Nicolson 2009-2019.
All rights reserved. 
Shopping cart powered by Ravelry.
  • Home
  • Patterns
    • Support >
      • Pattern Sizing
      • Skill Level
      • Milo cables
      • Knitted Hat Sizing
      • Errata
      • FAQ
      • kfPSOkb
      • Magic Garter Tab
      • cabling made easy
      • Small circumference knitting
      • Surface Slip Stitch
      • Daisy Stitch
      • WARM Special Techniques
    • Shop >
      • Purchase Ready Made or Made to Order
    • Wholesale
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog