Support thread - new blankets

[tribpot]

I'm starting to pull together some ideas for our new blankets, very sadly knit for MNers who have both lost a beloved baby recently :(

You will have instructions from Pistey about wool colours and some suggested shops to buy from - personally I buy mine from McA Direct and have found their service excellent, but there are lots of alternatives out there. Warning: Hobbycraft do not generally stock the required yarns.

The question of how many stitches to cast on comes down to the question of gauge; how tight or loose your knitting is with the yarn in question. Best way is to knit a sample (or a plain square); just measuring how wide it is once you've cast on won't be a very reliable measure because it stretches out once you start knitting. Equally, if it's already more than 6" wide you're on a hiding to nothing. For most people, on 4mm needles, 33-ish stitches and about 45-ish rows should give you a 6" x 6" square but don't do a whole one if you're not sure or a slow knitter, as it's mega-frustrating to have to pull it all back down again.

What follows is mostly links to patterns that we've done or revised in earlier blankets, or ideas for things you might want to try. I know there are some specific pattern requests for these two blankets and I'm looking those out. Warning: many of these are links to patterns on Ravelry, which is like the Facebook of knitting. Registering is free and 100% worth it, although it may mean you start sending your salary direct to your yarn shop of choice at the start of each month as you discover more and more amazing things to knit.

If you want to start with something more adventurous than garter stitch (knit every row) or stockinette (knit one row, purl the next, and so on) why not try the Chinese waves pattern? (Non-Ravelry link). Or maybe stars - this is a bit more difficult - (Non-Ravelry link).

Birds have been specifically requested so we're starting with this lovely Owl pattern - this involves cables and ends up looking a bit like this.

Note, though - before having a go at these patterns you need to know what your gauge is, so you can modify the pattern (so in the case of the owl, cast on fewer stitches / chop out a few rows in terms of length for example) or change needles to get it close to the 6" size.

If you want to follow our adventures in trying to get a particularly devilish heart pattern right, please see the support thread in which Team Heart did battle with hearts, trees and elephants.

More to follow ...

knotty, where do you stand on using other wool for 3d stuff? And using orfentic colours for flowers and peanuts etc?

trib love that nelly square, the colourway of the elephants is very pretty.

Well I'm glad you've got to see it lemon, since apparently it's locked up in knotty's dungeon forever

Glaikit, are you sure you're on the same size needles? I can't quite see how your gauge can have changed that much unless you've grown extra fingers or something ...

If you hang on until tomorrow when I can get to it, I think I may have some wool in a dark cream/ peanutty colour.

The trouble is with going off the colour spectrum with totally different colours, it can mean that that one colour 'pops' ahead of all the others because there isn't a smattering of it across the blanket. Can make things look less balanced.

One of the blankets we did, I spent ages shuffling squares around as there was a certain colour that really didn't like being up against most of the others. I ended up having to add bits of that colour here and there to make it work.

Oh, I was going to try and do some daisy's, so a little bit of pale yellow. And a lady in my knitting group wants to try little pale brown mouse? Ir the mice and the peanut's are done in the same shade, would that balance overall?

Nope same size needles, but knitting faster and not having to stick my tongue out in a concentrated manner. I can even have a convo with DH while knitting now. The last time he got shouted at if he spoke to me mid row :o!! Maybe my last chinese wave square was smaller, just not as obviously so.

Let us raid our stashes - I've got lots of odd bits of various colours left over from previous ones, i'll have a look when I can be arsed to get up later

Morning
Catpoop square? A legend.

Morning

I'll raid my stash after I'be done the school run.

Cheer, Pistey

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=214089715294700&set=a.193171460719859.38621.155559454481060&type=3&theater

Tis catpoop square!

Tis indeed

Never tire of it. Catpoop square. Aww....

That has set me up for the day.

Glaikit (do you think the Sassenachs know what that means?! ) - you may find that your knitting loosens off again as you get more "into" it. But until then/if not, you might want to use 4.5 or 5mm needles.

My gauge has gone a bit awry. I may have to send an SAE so I can have my squares back if they're no good.

Heart square is square but a tad small. Little shells square is ... not. I'm making sure it IS 6" long so if it need to be pulled widthways it won't end up short as well.

Thanks prettybird! If I'm asked what it means I say I regularly look a lot like this so I guess my name is quite apt for these knitting threads!!

Don'tCallme, what size is the heart and how much stretch is there in it?

Lemonly, I have a little bit of a very soft beigey brown that tones nicely with the colours we're using. It is either Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK 043 or Rowan Cashsoft DK 'Donkey' - similar colours. If all the peanuts and mice were made in those shades or darker creams, they wouldn't 'pop'.

Also, are you talking about making separate knitted/crocheted daisies to stitch onto a square? Would the pale yellow be just the inner of the daisy or the whole flower?

Thanks knotty. I was planning on doing a couple of small daisies to stich onto a plain square, would just be a little bit of yellow in the centre of each flower. Petals would be white/cream.

Do all the embellishments have to still be cashmerino or cashsoft? If not, I have some soft yellow that tones nicely with the blues and greens I have. If so, I'll skip the daisies and try a mouse...

I remember now why I don't bother with tension squares, reknitting the blooming first square for about the fourth time .....still I will know how many to cast on for the rest once this one is finally done!

I shall love knitting the boy his next jumper, at least he can grow into it whatever size it ends up!

The daisy's sound lovely

Forgive me for I have sinned........

I have a dreadful admission to make

Some of the pink bits in my previous squares weren't either Cashmerino or Cashsoft

My excuse is that I had some spare pink MillaMia Merino wool and got it mixed up with the almost identical Cashmerino pink when i was doing some of the Icelandic patterns. The washing instructions are the same and the fact that I couldn't tell the difference meant I just left it.

Am I forgiven??

my blooming square is 6.5 inches!!!

hee hee prettybird! I'm glad someone else cocked up with wool. I used baby cashsoft last time. To be fair I was a novice and had no idea about different wool types! now obviously I'm an expert

Lemonly, the daisies sound loverly Go for it. The other wool should be fine for embellishments.

We use wool that we know will wash and shrink the same: pretty important for the squares, less so for fancy bits.

Prettybird... I'll be having words with you later!

McKayz - don't panic! I can work with that there square. A slight variation is workable.