Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Hemlock Ring Blanket

Pattern: Hemlock Ring, adapted and charted by Jared Flood
Yarn: Berroco Foliage in Winterhazel (discontinued colorway), 10 skeins + a smidge of Karaoke (I ran out of yarn at the bindoff and there was no way I was picking back)
Needles: US 13 / 9.0 mm
Finished Size: Over 6 feet in diameter when aggressively blocked.

Comments: A very quick knit when compared to some of my recent projects - I actually had it completed within one month of casting on. The biggest trick so far has been trying to figure out just where to block it since its so large! I opted to simply soak the blanket, spin it mostly dry then loosely blocked it under its own weight instead of pinning out each individual loop on the edging.

Speaking of edging, if you do knit this blanket, be sure to save lots and lots of yarn - If you are mathematically inclined you can calculate out how many stitches you'll need and estimate the yarn from there - I had thought I had calculated right, but in my haste clearly made a mistake - and wound up binding off the rest of the blanket with some spare yarn from the stash.

Hot tip for a hole-less center - cast on 4 stitches as if you were knitting a toe up sock :), increase in each stitch once, then carry on with your knitting. I also recommend the liberal use of stitch markers to mark your repeats on the feather and fan section. Count those yarnovers carefully as you knit, or you may find yourself having to improvise a fix or rip back on the next patterned row.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm plugging away on mine. Think I can finish it in four and a half more days for a successful Ravelympics project? May I ask where you decided to end yours?

Oiyi said...

Wow, gorgeous!! And the kitty seems to like it.

Twisted Knitter said...

It's gorgeous, Stephanie!