Small Town Hermit

My knitting for at least the last year and a half has been almost exclusively socks and sweaters. I discovered what I call my magic formula for socks in terms of yarn weight, needle size, and stitch count, and I can just knit at will. The great thing about it is that the stitch count is 48, which is divisible by lots of numbers, so it works with lots of different stitch patterns. I have lots of choices. Knitting socks has been relaxing.

Knitting sweaters is generally relaxing as well, but they have a lot more stitches and take longer to knit, so my output isn’t as prolific. They do use up more yarn which is good when I am motivated to knit down the stash.

One exception has been a corner-to-corner blanket pattern. I would cast on a few stitches, increase until I had used up half of the yarn, and then decrease. It’s fun, meditative, and uses up a pile of yarn. The slight drawback, which isn’t really a drawback, is that they all turn out as squares, and for some reason my brain wasn’t realizing what I needed to do to make a rectangle.

Enter Purl Soho, specifically the Colorful Corner Blanket. The version I initially came across was made in worsted weight cotton. That link goes to a bulky version. That is the beauty of a pattern this simple. You can use any weight of yarn you want with a needle that gives you a fabric you like.

The increase and decrease sections use a slightly different technique than I used on my square blankets, but what I needed was the addition of the bias section in between the increase and decrease sections. It was obvious once I read the pattern. I have knit shawls and scarves on the bias. It is a delightfully simple technique. You just have to increase a stitch on one end of the row and decrease a stitch on the other end of the row.

Spending 10 or 15 minutes rummaging around in my yarn stash yielded three potential projects. I started with this pile of yarn:

I am quite a bit further along than what is pictured, but I haven’t taken a more recent picture, and it is too dark right now to get a good one. There was a stitch count issue once I got to the bias section, so I had to pull out a bunch of rows and reknit them, but otherwise, it is going swimmingly.

The only problem is that I keep thinking about other color and yarn combinations in my stash, and I also keep thinking that I want to make one on a bigger needle and hold the yarn double so that the blanket is extra squishy and cozy. Yesterday, I finally gave in and started a second blanket.

Double-stranded yarn and a big needle make for quick work. I am completely hooked on this project. Since I am using up some odds and ends as well as different yarns with slightly different weights and yardages, I am figuring out the striping sequence and widths as I go along. I am also weighing each ball of yarn and keeping track of stitch counts at the end of each section so that I can figure out how much I need to reserve to work the decrease section at the end.

It is so much fun!! You can use leftovers or a bunch of single skeins or a combination. I keep eyeing the stash of fingering weight yarn, mentally trying out triple-strand combinations. That could put a serious dent in the stash.

The only dilemma is what to do with the blankets once they are finished. I will have to see if I can find some of them good homes. Who doesn’t need a nice, snuggly blanket, right?