Graduation/Going-to-College Blanket

This will be Ashton’s graduation/going-to-college blanket.

**Running Block Count:**
**6/26 – 9/108**
**6/28 – 14/108**
**6/29 – 18/108**
**7/1 – 25/108**
**7/2 – 29/108**
**7/4 – 35/108**
**7/6 – 40/108**
**7/7 – 43/108**
**7/9 – 50/108**
**7/11 – 54/108** Halfway there! 😀
**7/13 – 59/108**
**7/15 – 65/80** (Adjusted after laying things out and realizing it was going to be a lot larger than necessary.)
**7/16 – 68/80**
**7/19 – 74/80**

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6/24 – This week, I finally decided I was going to do this as a mitered square blanket. This serves two purposes:
one, squares feel more manageable as “bite sized” pieces rather than endless rows of stockinette back and forth; two, this eliminates a huge blanket on my lap as it grows.

I made the first few garter stitch squares and was happy with them, though I also played with doing a stockinette version (very misshapen and too drapey), and I also tried going up a needle to a US 8 and doing a vertical double decrease in the center instead of the SSK/K2tog I started with. While I like the visual presence of the VDD in many things, I felt like it made the square more rigid in the center than I wanted it as it affected its drape. So I’m back to my original plan:

Cast on 50 stitches. Marker placed after 25th stitch.
Knit one row stockinette.

Next row (RS): K to 2 stitches before marker, SSK, slip marker, K2tog, knit to end.
Next row (WS): Knit.
Repeat until 6 stitches left.
Next row (RS): K1, SSK, drop marker, K2tog, K1, slip all stitches back onto left needle,; SSK (wrap yarn opposite way around right needle to do this since it’s coming from the far left stitch…it’s easier this way), K2tog, slip first stitch on right needle over the second; cut yarn and pull tail through last stitch.

That last row technique helps me to keep this corner from being pointy and elongated like it seems to like to want to do.

On the squares that I’m striping with both green and gold, I’m casting on with green, knitting one row, then switching to gold for the next two.

6/26 – I’ve added my schematic for how I’ll put the blocks together. Rust colored blocks represent the green/gold striped blocks. I could just start seaming them together as I finish them. We’ll see. (I know I can also knit them onto each other as I go, but that would defeat the purpose of doing blocks to avoid having a huge blanket on my lap to work on in the heat.)

6/29 – I’ve laid out the first 18 blocks in the configuration I think I’ll use with regard to the direction of the miters. Theoretically, I could start seaming now too, but I think I’ll wait a bit on that. But at least I’m past the 15% point on squares!

7/15 – Ok, so square progress is coming along well. I have 65 squares at present, and I just laid them out to see how it’s looking size-wise.

What is clear is that 9 rows across is going to be too wide. 8 is plenty wide. That’s 46″ laid out, without joining or a border. Ash isn’t a huge kid…he’s tall, but slim, so that width seems fine to cover up with.

Lengthwise, 12 rows is also going to be too long I think…that would be nearly the length of my queensize bed. 11 rows would be fine, and even 10 would probably work, though it wouldn’t be long enough for him to be covered shoulders to feet. The only problem with doing 8 x 11 squares, is that kind of messes up the pattern that happens with the miters. There will be one “extra” row lengthwise (which, previously, there was one extra row widthwise when I was planning on 9 rows…sigh).

To finish 10 rows, I need 15 more squares, which isn’t a problem. To do 11 rows, I’d need 23 more squares, which is probably also doable.

I think I’m going to take the practical approach and get enough for the 10 row layout, possibly start seaming it, figure out what I want to do for a border and then if there is time, I can knit one more row of squares and add them before doing the border? I basically have 12 days to get this finished, so we’ll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, I’m going to change my total squares needed count to 80 above, just to keep it more realistic. I’ll change it to 88 if I end up going that route. It’s all a mind game for myself anyway. LOL

8/2 – It’s finished!

I ended up adding an 11th row afterall to make it long enough, so it is 11 rows by 8 columns. (I think I switchedto 11 x 7 at some point between now and my last entry…LOL)

I thought I had it finished last week on its target date, but I wasn’t happy with the edging I’d done (just a single crochet edge). It was fine where it was on cast on edges of the squares, but when it was on outside edges, it was very wibbley wobbley. A podcast viewer suggested a crab stitch edge, which I’d not done before, so I watched some YT tutorials for that and it seemed like a good possibility. I let it sit over the weekend though while we were away and ripped the old edge out on Monday morning before Ashton got here. I figured I’d have time to work on it in the mornings while he was here and I did.

As for seaming, I mattress stitched the lengthwise columns first and then those columns together width wise. I had to work flat to do it, rather than on my lap, but I’m happy enough with how it turned out though it isn’t as neat in spots as I’d like. But it’s fine.

The crab stitch was perfect for the edging. I alternated going into every stitch and every other stitch, except on the corners where I did every stitch. It lays super flat and there is not wibbley wobbleyness. It looks nicer on the front that the back, but honestly…it is FINE overall!

And he can take it home with him this weekend, so, win!

I have the equivalent of three balls left of each color. I know I’ll use the gold for something because I love that color. Not sure what I’ll use the green for. Maybe he’ll get a hat. Lots of hats? Hm….