I actually ripped something out. Yes, it was just a cotton test swatch, yes it was headed to the washcloth bin any way, but felt I was taking on too much and had to simplify. So instead of trying brioche knit, vertical stripes, and cables, I took out the vertical stripes and concentrated on understanding cables in brioche knit.
The cables in brioche knitting are intriguing, but I really don’t want horizontal color changes in the next project. I’ll try a different swatch.
It is done. My Grandma (according to her notes on her laminated pattern) started this project on 4/22/2006, then restarted it on 4/18/2013 (I’m not sure on the reason for the restart). I picked it up in January 2022 and finished it August 10, 2022. My Mom remembers the project sitting in Grandma’s room in the nursing home, so it was one of the last things she was working on before she passed in November of 2013. If I am reading her notes correctly, she made this particular pattern 10 times. She would write down the start date, the color, and sometimes for whom it was intended and the finish date. She finished one of the afghans in three months. She was a true knitter.
The pattern is by Mary Maxim, no. 8048 Cable Afghan. The yarn Grandma picked out was Mary Maxim Starlette 100% Acrylic 4 ply Knitting Worsted Weight Yarn. She used size 11US circular needles. I did change out needles to Prym circular needles, and I made a copy of the pattern rather than write on her pattern, but I used the same pencil she used, with a new eraser.
The blanket came out well, soft and stretchy. The finished measurements, without tassels, is 45 by 70 inches. The left over yarn is less than a quarter skein.
I should probably have some emotional comment here, something profound and inspiring. I don’t usually roll that way. I’m glad I was able to complete this project, and tie up loose ends.
Time to sew the borders on Grandma’s blanket! I laid the center field and borders out on the king bed, and set up a stool so I could sit and sew. As an extra precaution, I used quilting pins to secure the borders to the middle at regular intervals.
I used a mattress stitch, but with the border over lapping the center, by picking up stitches under the border edge and from the top of the center field. This hid the curled edge of the middle, but showed off the neat edge of the border.
Izzy tried to get her tail into the stitching, but luckily I am adept at sewing around cats. She has been waiting for months to lay on this blanket. She made the most of it.
I did wash the blanket and dried it in the dryer (deep breath, it is acrylic yarn, it can take it), to get most of the cat hair off.
I still have a whole skein of yarn. Hm.
My plan was to do a knitted i-cord seam to connect the border to the center field of Grandma’s blanket. Before delving in, I made a swatch of stockinette stitch and tried out the seam method by joining the sides of the test fabric. I’m glad I tried it on scrap yarn first. I don’t like it at all. The seam ends up thick and bulky and not very elastic.
So I guess I will sew the seams. I don’t mind sewing, so it isn’t a hardship, but matching up everything can be quite daunting.
I know Grandma’s blanket isn’t done yet, but I had to scratch a brain itch. I have an idea for a brioche knit using vertical stripes of color, and I just had to start a prototype. This is scrap cotton yarn (yup, when I’ve done my experiments, it will go in the washcloth bin).
That the colors match my knitting bag is complete serendipity.
Critters and Craft 