Saturday, February 14, 2015

Exciting knitting progress...

Well, it's exciting to me to actually finish something, even if it is only a 9 x 9 inch square!

My first experience with binding off! I have scrounged up a needle to weave the ends in, but haven't done that yet. I did, however, complete ANOTHER square. That took about an hour.

Why am I making a bunch of squares? Because I'm too chicken to try knitting something large in one piece. My plan is to make nine of these squares and then sew them together. Is that allowed? Well, whether it is or not, I'm doin' it! :) It will be my attempt at a baby afghan/blanket/thingy.

I have a question for you knitters out there. When one actually knits a baby blanket in one piece on round needles, why on earth do you begin with 3 stitches and keep increasing each row until you have 154 and keep decreasing until you get back down to three?!? Why can't you cast on 154 stitches in the first place and just knit it so the rows are horizontal instead of diagonal in the finished blanket? The answer is probably obvious to someone with experience, but I don't get it right now. :-/
Here's the blanket I'm speaking of...
Well, that's all I've done so far this morning. I think I need a nap! ;) Still planning  a visit to dear daughter's house later, and some other projects. Happy Valentine's Day to all. Wish I could send you all chocolates!


Shalom!

12 comments:

  1. You could cast on a bunch of stitches and just make a square, but it's more fun to increase and decrease with that little yarn over on the ends to make it more decorative. You can do whatever you want, good knitter.

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    1. Yes, the little decorative edge is pretty. I'm just not sure I have enough concentration powers to remember to keep changing things on each row. ;)

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  2. easy answer...to get a square but you could just cast stitches on a circular needle and make that square. Increase and decrease - you may, or may not get a "perfect" square. depends on your tension. don't worry about it. just do what you want and it'll turn out warm. that's the goal, right? made with love and warm?

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  3. Happy Valentine's Day to you ! I wish that the chocolate you would send if you could would arrive right about now since I just made a pot of tea. And I in return would send you a piece of the Pecan pie I made. The crust is thicker than it should be but I crumble most of it off anyway. I'll just top it with whipped cream and it will taste good.

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  4. Dear Lisa, I think you will create a wonderful blanket!!

    And I want to say to you, that your comment in Thistle Cove Farm is so very very wise and wonderful!

    God may bless you!

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  5. I am no knitter, but I'm thinking of your squares like "granny squares" the way crocheters do it. My DD is making a granny square baby blanket. I think it would be fun to have all different squares knitted and then stitched together. Rah Rah!!! Way to go, Lisa!

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    1. Yeah, I was thinking of the granny squares, too. I think it'll work! :)

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  6. First, about your squares -- have you thought about joining them together (eventually) using crochet? With a contrasting yarn? It's an easy thing to do, and looks nice. Also, instead of using a needle to weave your loose ends in, use a crochet hook to draw them in and hide them. Then you don't have to thread them on a needle.
    As far as the question about knitting a blanket, the difference is just in the look. The "stripes" of the rows go a different way, from corner to corner, instead of from side to side. But the shape and size of the blanket will be the same, and if you cast on 154 and just did it straight across, you wouldn't have to mess with all that increasing and decreasing. But some people like the way it looks with the rows going from corner to corner :)
    You're gonna be a pro!

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  7. I'm really proud of you with all your craftiness and spunk. You could try making a square in the diagonal fashion to add even more variety to your pieced blanket; that way it would be a sort of practice for the bigger baby blanket.

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Thanks for dropping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)