Patchwork Blanket Border

I mentioned in my previous Patchwork Additions post that I wanted to add a border to my blanket. The pattern I chose to use was from the same Crocheted Afghan which book I borrowed from the library in my previous post. The pattern was actually for an entire blanket made up of small squares, which is pictured on the front cover, but I figured I could make it would work as a border as well. 

I decided as the blanket has lots of light and bright colours mixed together, I wanted the border to be a darker colour to tone it down a little without clashing, so I used some navy blue yarn that I had.

Each of these little squares measures roughly 7cm, so I did a little maths and worked out I'd need 8 squares for each short side and 11 for each long side, then 4 for the corners; 42 squares in total. However after 39 squares I ran out of my navy blue yarn. As I had enough squares to cover the sides I chose a lighter blue to do the corners.

  

Once I had all the squares made, I joined them together in strips and pinned them to the blanket edge to make sure they were evenly placed, then sewed them on! I am really pleased with the way the blanket has turned out and I think the blue border frames it perfectly. I feel as though I could leave it for a while now, because it looks finished, but I'm sure sooner or later I will start adding to it. Watch this space.

  

When a Project Goes Wrong

I am sure it has happened to everyone; you spend a considerable amount of time on a project, it goes wrong, you try to save it, but inevitably you have to admit defeat and unravel the entire thing.

I found this beautiful crochet Summer Sprigs Lace Scarf pattern which was made with one ball of fine lace yarn. I thought this would make an excellent gift for my friends birthday, and if it only used one ball of yarn, then it probably wouldn't be too big a project...

I didn't have any lace yarn, but I did have quite a lightweight white yarn, and so used that, also my hook was a little larger than suggested, so I had a second ball of yarn but in pink, which I thought would be good to do the edging in.

It started off well, after a few attempts I understood the pattern and happily spent a few evenings crocheting in-front of the TV as my scarf began to take shape. To start with I was happy with the piece, it actually looked very lacy and pretty.

Unfortunately I ran out of the white before I got to the edging, but I had spent quite some time working on it, so I thought maybe it would still look ok if I colour changed half way... but then after a few more rows I ran out of the pink and I STILL hadn't got to the edging!

I added in another white, I think I knew at this point it just wasn't going to work, as the two whites where slightly different shades, but I was determined to get the project finished, even if just for experience.

I finally got to the point, ready to start edging, and proudly picked up my scarf, only to realise the point was not in the centre! Some how I had only been decreasing alternate rows on one side, so I had a scalene triangle shape. I didn't even take a picture, I just started pulling the thread and watched my multi-coloured mess disappear.

I'm not going to lie, I was relieved to stop working on it, because I knew it was never going to turn out the way it was supposed to, but I was disappointed I didn't end up with a beautiful scarf. I will definitely attempt this again in the future, but next time I will make sure I have the correct yarn and hook.

Blocking

I have heard of blocking before, and I sort of new what it was, but I didn't really think I would ever need to do it... until now.

As I said in my previous post, I am planning on creating a border for my patchwork blanket, but because each square uses different yarn, tension, knit styles etc, they didn't line up as equally sized rectangles. I decided I needed to do something about this before I could add to the blanket, so I did a bit of research on blocking and found this really easy to understand article: How to Block Your Knitting



I submerged the whole blanket into a sink of luke-warm water, then laid it out onto a towel and rolled it up to get rid of any excess water, then I began to measure and pin each square to the size I want (18cm x 15cm) onto a dry towel. In some of the squares, such as the intarsia zig zig, there was a lot less give, so it helped to give it a real good stretch with my hands before trying to pin.

Once I had all the squares pinned, I laid another towel on top to help soak up some moisture, then I used my hairdryer on a cool setting. The blanket was almost dry but the towel was really damp, so I then transferred it to a completely dry towel and left it overnight.

It took me quite a while to get the squares all pinned nicely, but I would definitely recommend doing it to get a nicer finish on your work, it has really improved my blanket. I didn't use any fancy equipment, just pins, a tape measure and a couple of towels. From now on I will block each individual square before adding it to the rest of the blanket.