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Inspiring a repeat
April 20th, 2011 07:48 pmThis throw exists for a few simple reasons:
Having now had this at work for about a week, I can tell you that it's light but warm and easy to fold up and put in a desk drawer when not in use (given the temperature of the office this week, it's been in use pretty constantly, so that last part is a bit of a hypothetical).
Between the occasional afghan I knit or crochet and the linen closet's worth of throws that I own, one lap blanket might be fine, but I hardly need a collection. But in making this one, I've got a few ideas about how I could improve the next one, and how can I do that unless I actually make another one? I think it could stand to be narrower yet; unless I pull it up just right, the corners trail on the floor. The pattern called for two balls of Marble Chunky. Even though I got stitch gauge, I didn't get row gauge, and learned how crucial that was when the first ball ran out before I got to the halfway point of the pattern. I ended up dropping one pattern repeat to keep from having to order a third ball—and the finished blanket is only a couple of inches shorter than the projected length anyway. Since I think the lap blanket would benefit from a slightly tighter gauge anyway, maybe I could drop down a needle size or two and see what dimensions the blanket was then. On top of which, I'm thinking maybe I could work the pattern in Homespun, which is much easier to get locally.
So I want to make this second lap blanket right now. Really not a good idea. Yes, it's only April, but if I want to enter the Mitered Diamonds Afghan in the state fair this fall, I need to keep working on it. It's not on size 11 needles, it's bigger than a lap blanket, and it's a lot more complicated. But if spring keeps pretending to be winter, at least huddling under a half-knitted afghan won't be a hardship.
- I was curious about the yarn (Marble Chunky).
- It's perpetually cold where I work.
- Lap blankets work well with office chairs: large enough to cover your legs, but narrow enough that they're not trailing all over the floor with little tire tracks along the edges where you ran over them with the chair.
- This one was knit on size 11 needles. I'm in desperate psychological need of a quick project, what with almost all my projects having ground to a halt.
Having now had this at work for about a week, I can tell you that it's light but warm and easy to fold up and put in a desk drawer when not in use (given the temperature of the office this week, it's been in use pretty constantly, so that last part is a bit of a hypothetical).
Between the occasional afghan I knit or crochet and the linen closet's worth of throws that I own, one lap blanket might be fine, but I hardly need a collection. But in making this one, I've got a few ideas about how I could improve the next one, and how can I do that unless I actually make another one? I think it could stand to be narrower yet; unless I pull it up just right, the corners trail on the floor. The pattern called for two balls of Marble Chunky. Even though I got stitch gauge, I didn't get row gauge, and learned how crucial that was when the first ball ran out before I got to the halfway point of the pattern. I ended up dropping one pattern repeat to keep from having to order a third ball—and the finished blanket is only a couple of inches shorter than the projected length anyway. Since I think the lap blanket would benefit from a slightly tighter gauge anyway, maybe I could drop down a needle size or two and see what dimensions the blanket was then. On top of which, I'm thinking maybe I could work the pattern in Homespun, which is much easier to get locally.
So I want to make this second lap blanket right now. Really not a good idea. Yes, it's only April, but if I want to enter the Mitered Diamonds Afghan in the state fair this fall, I need to keep working on it. It's not on size 11 needles, it's bigger than a lap blanket, and it's a lot more complicated. But if spring keeps pretending to be winter, at least huddling under a half-knitted afghan won't be a hardship.
