Am I Crazy?

Should I just stop now before it's too late? 

I want a big, wooly blanket for my couch. Well, when I buy a couch.

I don't have one yet. But when I get a couch, I want a big, wool blanket tossed on the back of it.

And I really, really want it to be wool, not acrylic.

I bought some Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool and started on this sample in the round.

The blanket is very simple but pretty.

The red stitch marker marks the beginning of the round. Barely noticeable. After blocking it should all blend in.

It's worked in the round, center out in alternating groups of 4 knit rows and 4 purl rows.

Good mindless knitting. Perfect for working on while I'm reading or doing other things.

It's soft and squishy and has that soothing wool smell to it. So far I love it.

But those nagging thoughts keep popping up in my head.

For one, if I keep going to full size like I planned, this thing is going to be heavy.

I want it to be big enough to fully snuggle under so it has to be at least 72 inches wide.

I already know that a blanket that size worked in the round is going to make me crazy toward the end.

I have considered working in blocks approximately 20 inches wide and seaming them together.

I figure if I end of a purl ridge and then work one round of knit stitches I could kitchner the stitches to the next block and it would all blend in.

That would solve the problem of working a big, heavy blanket in the round. But I keep thinking the real problem here is the fact that Fisherman's Wool is labeled as "Perfect for Felting."

I love Fisherman's Wool. I love the smell. I love the softness after it's washed. And I love how large the skeins are. This sample is already at 14 inches and I am barely halfway through the first skein.

But I really feel like the felting thing is going to come back to bite me.

I am knitting it at a firm gauge to make it less likely to felt. I'm knitting at 6sts/in. The ballband is labeled at 4sts/in.

Even so, realistically, there is no way I can hand wash this thing. It's going to be way too big and too heavy to wash in the bathtub.

And where would I lay it to dry?

Eventually I am going to have to throw this beast in the washing machine to clean it.

Did I mention I have 3 cats? Yeah, I'd also like to toss it into the dryer to get the cat hair off of it.

I know this seems crazy. I was planned on knitting it extra big to account for a little bit of felting and shrinkage. If I was it on delicate and dry it on Fluff could I get away with it?

I'm thinking I will finish this ball off and see what happens when I wash it gently in the machine.

I Was Looking Right At It

I'm a big fan of mindless knitting. I have an attention problem so I can't knit anything too complex without extreme effort. Even though I know I have trouble paying attention, I still find myself shocked when I do something so stupid.

Isn't is amazing how far into a project you can be before noticing a giant, in-your-face, how-can-you-not-see-me error?

I like shawls. I usually knit simple triangle or heart shaped shawls in simple stitches. This time I decided to mix it up a little. Mistake number 1. Instead of working the usual triangle shape, top down, I thought let's work the triangle back-and-forth, working top up. After working a garter stitch triangle back and forth I planned to add a simple YO, K2tog edging.

The triangle part started out just fine.

It was going well... K2, YO, knit to last 2 sts, YO, K2, next row Knit, repeat.

About half way up the triangle I think I started doing double increases on each edge because it started to take on more of a heart shape. But it was still fine.

When I was around half way through the ball of yarn I began the edging. A very simple YO, K2tog.

I only have a little bit of knitting time every day so I spent weeks working on this. Literally. Weeks went by without my having a clue what I was doing.

Some of you have already caught it and are laughing the sympathy laugh right now.

I was almost to the end of the ball and was trying to estimate how much yardage I used on each round so I could figure out exactly when to begin binding off.

And then I finally saw it. 

I had been knitting the edging onto the neck edge instead of the bottom edge of the shawl. There was no way to turn this into a design element. It had to be ripped out.

Off to the frog pond it goes.

How to Make a Simple Garter Stitch Dish Rag

This is an easy pattern that explains how to knit a basic garter stitch wash cloth.
These are sometimes called Granny's Favorite or Granny Washcloth.

Making dishrags or washcloths is fun and easy. But let me warn you, once you start making these you get addicted! Washcloths make great take-along projects and are a perfect mindless knitting project.

What you will need:

• Worsted weight cotton such as Peaches & Creme by Elmore Pisgah or Lily Sugar'n Cream.
• A pair of size US 8 (5mm) knitting needles, or size to obtain gauge.
  Worsted weight is generally marked as a US size 8 needle. Go down a size or two if you knit loosely. Go up a size if you knit tightly.
• A needle for darning in the ends

Cast on 3 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 1, Make 1, Knit to end.

Repeat row 1 until you have a triangle that is half the size you want your finished cloth to be.

Begin decrease rows:

Knit 1, K2tog, Knit to end of row.

Repeat decrease row until 3 stitches remain.

Bind off the last three stitches, weave in tails and you are done!

Variations:
This pattern can easily be modified for any yarn, any gauge.

Any Yarn
Try making this washcloth in a hardy acrylic such as Red Heart Super Saver for an indestructible dish rag. Cotton and cotton/linen blends make great face cloths for the bath.

Any Gauge
This granny square can be knit in any gauge yarn. Try using crochet cotton for very fine cloths. Sport weight linen blends make luxorious bath cloths.

In the next post we will talk about how this basic pattern can be modified for many different uses.

Stay tuned. Until then...
Keep knitting!