Friday, April 22, 2011

Sock Yarn (and more) Blankie

There are so many ideas temptations on Ravelry.  Recently I found this Sock Yarn Blankie by Shelly Kang.  I've written to her for permission to post her picture and haven't yet heard back.  So, until I do, I'll just post a sneak peek, and if she asks me to take it down, I will.  If you want to see the full, finished afghan, visit Ravelry, and the tutorial/instructions are on her website, here.


I was tempted to do a different sock yarn afghan that I found on Ravelry, but then I spotted this one, so will try it instead.  The appeal for me two-fold:  it's a good way to use up a lot of those leftovers from sock-knitting projects, and it reminds me of designs by Kaffe Fassett and Missoni

How did she get so many different yarns to add into her blankie?  She enlisted the help of the Yarn Harlot back in 2006.  I may tap the stashes of friends, so if they are reading, watch out, I may be asking you for your ping-pong-sized balls of yarn!!  My plan is to use any fingering-weight yarn, not necessarily just sock yarn - anything as long as it's interesting, any fiber.

The first instruction is to do a gauge swatch.  I think I'll skip this step and jump right into starting the first square.  If I don't like the results, I can rip it out and change needles.  You start with a provisional cast on and the best little video I've seen of the technique is by Lucy Neatby on YouTube.

This will be a very long-term project.  No hurry on this one.  No pre-planning as to colors.  A possible timeline is to work one block every day.  Well, almost every day.  Maybe!

Today is Earth Day and it seems like a great project to celebrate the day - using up leftovers to make something useful.  Does anyone else want to knit along with me?

1 comment:

junieann said...

A unique and wonderful way to use up sock weight leftovers. You spoke of Kaffee. His friend Brandon, did a terrific piece out of left over 4 ply and fingering Rowan yarns. A rectangular, stripped shawl/throw done in a spectrum of lovely colors. I guess he knitted it in his spare time. The pattern is in an old Vogue. Perhaps I should try to find it. Great idea and lovely project for Earth day when we should all be recycling.

Thanks for sharing.