New Year, New Project

It seems only right and fitting to celebrate the New Year by starting a BIG project. Last year, that project was the Winter Solstice Shawl - chosen for a variety of reasons which included it's celebration of winter at its best as well as the challenge the pattern presented.

This year's project is quite different.

On New Year's Eve - because I couldn't wait any longer - I began casting on tiny mitered squares to make Shelly Kang's gorgeous sock yarn leftover blankie. While I had read about it online back when the original was being knit, I don't know that I had any serious interest until versions of it started to show up at Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe last winter. After spending some time one morning fingering the squares of a blankie in progress - which to me were beautiful little gems - I came right home and added the blankie to my queue. Still, given the type of knitting I do, I'm sure it's a bit of a surprise to some of you that I would do this type of project. That is, it's a surprise unless you know one little fact about me. My sock yarn leftovers are the only project leftovers I keep and guard jealously. Socks wear out, but I love every skein I buy....and I can't bear to part with such beauty.

The tiny square on the bottom right? That's yarn from the first pair of socks I ever knit. The big square above? It's some of my all-time favorite yarn, and the socks are (sadly, finally) disintegrating. In many, many ways this blanket reminds me of the quilts of my childhood....the quilts that were filled with patches made from leftovers of my own clothes. As I child I loved it when Mom would show me those patches. As an adult, I'm loving the magic of making a memory blanket of my own.

My blankie is fully 63 inches across - 20 squares - and I imagine it's going to take forever to finish. What you see here is literally 5 days of solid work on my blankie. I'm sure I would be faster if I didn't stop to fuss so much over the colors. (I'm trying to be random, but it's just not in me!) It doesn't help - ahem - to have 'help' from the children in picking colors. They already love the blankie as much as I do.
I hope you all had a wonderful New Year Celebration, and have a very Happy and Blessed 2011.
PS. If any of you knitters have any fingering weight sock yarn leftovers that you'd like to share, I'm more than happy to take them! It only takes about 2 grams - or 10 yards - to make a square, and I would love to add my friends into the magic.

Comments

Jenny said…
That's a great first project of the new year! I'm going to enjoy watching it grow - and may have some tidbits of yarn for you too.
I love this project! What a wonderful way to use leftovers. I can't wait to see the progress. Happy New Year.
Paula said…
I've admired these blankets for some time. It will be exciting to watch yours grow!
margene said…
Great project to start the new year! It will be very cool to watch it grow.
Bonnie said…
Ask and ye shall receive! I've got quite a few sock yarn mini skeins and I would love for them be put to good use. Just email me the address to mail them to and they are yours.
Anne P said…
Remind me of your snail mail addy and I'll send you along some bits I've got. I usually send thing to my great-aunt for charity knitting, but at this point, she's probably got more than she'll use this lifetime!
Leciawp said…
Really, really love this.

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