The Great Blanket of 2008 thread

[innit]

loads of my squares aren't machine washable, as I've been using up my stash... if anyone is not bothered then I can swap those ones with them, if not I'll just have to separate them out (and keep the non washable ones for my own blanked )

 

[Biddlybee]

Was having a think last night... if we're going to go with eme's idea of swapping via lucky dip method, do we all need to be swapping the same number of squares?

If so, how many are people thinking of swapping?

 

[eme]

Surely it doesn't matter how many you do - you just get to pick the same amount as you have to offer? I am in double digits now... (admittedly pre-teen ones... )

 

[Biddlybee]

I guess... I'm easily confused if I think about things too much

Yay for double digits

 

[Biddlybee]

Getting there slowly...

Decided to do a slightly bigger blanket though, 8x10

 

[innit]

I am up to 39 1/2

I took a picture yesterday too, I'll try and upload it when I get home (then we can imagine what the blankets might look like once we've swapped a few)

It looks lovely B! Nice stripes, and the mitred ones blend in really nicely

 

[eme]

Sweet sixteen!

B - how did you do the one that looks like it has dots on it? (bottom row, 2nd in from the left)



Mine: Not all squares come out square - blocking will be my friend...

 

[Biddlybee]

It looks lovely B! Nice stripes, and the mitred ones blend in really nicely

Cheers innit, need to do a few more mitred ones. Didn't put them on the floor in any order, just plonked them there

They're lovely eme

B - how did you do the one that looks like it has dots on it? (bottom row, 2nd in from the left)

I just made that one up... K3 or 4 then K1 of grey for a whole row (front and back), couple of rows in maroon, the K3, K1 again - does that make sense?

 

[innit]

this has been a bit of a mission - I tried to compress my images and attach them but I couldn't get them small enough

then I had to set up another flickr account cos the one we have has our real names on.

but finally here are my pics:

Yours are cool eme I like the "quilt" style one.

 

[innit]

Decided to do a slightly bigger blanket though, 8x10

I'm getting a bit tempted to do a bigger one too

When I laid all the squares out on the bed, they looked quite nice there and I thought it would be lovely to make a blanket big enough for a bedspread.

 

[toggle]

I'm getting a bit tempted to do a bigger one too

When I laid all the squares out on the bed, they looked quite nice there and I thought it would be lovely to make a blanket big enough for a bedspread.

my bedspread took 2 years

 

[Biddlybee]

They're lovely innit

I'm getting a bit tempted to do a bigger one too

not sure I'll go quite bedspread size, but at single sized blanket.

 

[toggle]

mine are going to be 6x4 ft

 

[Biddlybee]

8 squares x 10 squares = 48" x 60"

... what's that in feet then?

 

[toggle]

8 squares x 10 squares = 48" x 60"

... what's that in feet then?

5x4

 

[Biddlybee]

I'm a short arse, so that'll do me

 

[innit]

my bedspread took 2 years

It's already taken me over a year to get this far so 2 years sounds about right!

What dimensions are your bedspread toggle? Just wondering how many squares I'd need if I did want to go down that route.

 

[innit]

Well I have made 45 squares

and decided to go for the original plan of 8 x 8, so I have only 19 to go.... (although I might still make extras to replace the ones I'm not so fond of)

I've ordered some more lovely New Lanark wool to help me along the way, as I really love the way it knits up, but sadly it isn't machine washable (BOO) so I'll have to carefully sort mine into washable and non-washable before the swap.

 

[toggle]

It's already taken me over a year to get this far so 2 years sounds about right!

What dimensions are your bedspread toggle? Just wondering how many squares I'd need if I did want to go down that route.

that was MUCH smaller squares, like 10x10cm. and i did 400 of those. Reckon you would want over 150 of the ones we are doing to make a double bedspread

 

[innit]

that was MUCH smaller squares, like 10x10cm. and i did 400 of those. Reckon you would want over 150 of the ones we are doing to make a double bedspread

I bet it looks beautiful, but I don't think I've got the stamina for the sewing!

 

[toggle]

I have no idea why i decided to take on that as a project because i hate sewing as well. I'm better at it now though

 

[RubyToogood]

Incidentally, when I made my blanket (of all different types and sizes of squares), I didn't give a moment's thought to what was washable and what wasn't. It has everything in: wool, acrylic, mohair, silk, cotton, etc. It's been through the delicate cycle of the machine a few times and it's been fine. The only slightly iffy thing was chenille, which tends to worm its way out of the fabric.

 

[toggle]

most stuff is fine on a wool wash in the machine imo. only stuff of mine that doesn't go in that is really delicate lace or something softspun that has 'felt me' written all over it.

 

[toggle]

Who was it who told me i had to sew in ends on my squares, because you smell.

I've just spent the morning doing this and I've done about 20 so far. I hate sewing in ends. I utterly loathe sewing in ends.

On a better note, my mother has offered to dig out a bag of leftovers of wool blends that she used to make stuff for the kids which should give me enough to just about finish my squares with the few balls I've still got from swaps and stuff. I think squares will make good mindless knitting for when i'm dopey and hormonal

 

[Biddlybee]

Who was it who told me i had to sew in ends on my squares, because you smell.

I think it was just decided... it better not be undecided though, I'm not unpicking all my ends

 

[toggle]

I've sorted out 80 squares to sew in ends to offer for swap. I've sewn in 34 squares worth of ends so far. I'm hoping to finish the rest of the 80 today, then whenever we decide to do the swap, I can just grab that bag and go.

I've got a lot of cotton stuff here, it's all bright coloured and feels pretty nice though.

total squares, 192, that was my original target, so I'm now 2/3 of the way there in my knitting. I'm going to work on sewing all my squares into sets of 4 and doing ends for them for the rest of the week and knitting a few more squares.

 

[Biddlybee]

Before you start sewing in any more ends toggle... we were having a chat yesterday and I think the number of 5 squares per person came up for swapping... so that'd only be 20 (iirc).

 

[innit]

I have 54

only 10 to go! so I'm having a break from squares for the time being.

 

[toggle]

Before you start sewing in any more ends toggle... we were having a chat yesterday and I think the number of 5 squares per person came up for swapping... so that'd only be 20 (iirc).

I just came here to boast about finishing off the 80 and starting on sewing together squares to make son's blanket.

now i know you all smell,

 

[Biddlybee]

Just found out about this 'learn how to crochet' day at RFH http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/visual-arts/productions/jumpstart-crochet-41087 I can't go because I'll be having a tooth drilled out but might be useful for when we come to edge our blankets.

They have got a few evenings of crochet, but they sound like they're for the more advanced http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/all-events/productions/crochet-nights-41494