Knit Large

I know how to enjoy myself at Christmas.  Who cares about mince pies and tins of Quality Street when you can wrestle with six half kilo balls of wool and ginormous needles?

My Mum was here so, as usual,  other projects get put on the back burner and I do the sociable thing by joining her in a ‘knit-in’.  I was almost finished knitting a jacket (next post) but she was intrigued to see how my mammoth blanket would work out.  You may remember me showing you the needles and one ball of wool recently.  You take 6 x 450ish grams of wool and a 20mm circular needle and, because you have to knit with 6 strands – one from each ball – careful preparation is needed in order to avoid tangling.  As you can see, I have made use of post Christmas Day gift bags to encase three of the six balls and all these go inside a cardboard box.  There are other ways of arranging your project but this was sort of the one suggested although the gift bags were my contribution and add a festive touch to the proceedings in my opinion.

Surprisingly, it is not that difficult to wrangle with and I have worked out that, taking an average of 5 minutes per row, the whole thing will take me 13 hours to complete, barring accidents and mishaps (and possibly dogs and cats discovering the hiding place of the box).

The cabling is fun.  I declined to buy a 20mm cable needle and am, instead, using the huge crochet hook that you need to help with the initial cast on.

I like the way it’s turning out – the colour is supposed to be a bit tweedy (it’s called ‘herringbone’) but the lighting was pants when I took these photos so you can’t see the little brown and black flecks amongst the grey very clearly.

It will be a good size when it’s finished – 49 x 64 inches – and no sewing up to do which is always a bonus.

It keeps your hands busy and out of the biscuit and sweet tins although I managed to lift a glass or two to my lips occasionally it has to be said.

From time to time we were disturbed  pleased to see visitors and, if accompanied by dogs, they were not allowed to leave unencumbered by a dog bandana after a quick photo session.

Thank you Storm

and Rocky

he wasn’t fed up that’s just what a boxer dog’s face looks like 🙂

Happy New Year to all.

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