The Most Adorable Granddaughters have been asking me to teach them to knit. I warned them that their Nana would not be as patient as my Nana had been when she taught me. [How old was I when I learnt to knit? Four? Five? I can remember learning to crochet - I was probably around ten years old - but it seems that I've always knitted.]
I had put it off and put it off until last week I went out and bought five pairs of needles and several balls of yarn. I figured that The Most Adorable Granddaughters#6 and #7 wouldn't want to learn - yet - hence only five pairs. And I knew better than to buy only five balls of yarn as there would be at least one colour that several little people would want - so I tried to cover all bases by providing a good selection. (Strangely enough, the colour I thought would be least popular got snapped up immediately.)
The plan was to teach all five at once (I know - absolutely insane!) but as it turned out, only The Most Adorable Granddaughers#1, #2 and #3 were able to be present. I have an inkling this was probably a good thing.
Fortunately (for my emotional and mental state) The Most Adorable Granddaughters#1 and #2 already knew how to knit and just needed some assistance with casting on. Once they got started, there was no stopping them - and both began to show some alarming tendencies towards knitting addiction.
The Most Adorable Granddaughter#3, however, showed no such tendencies. Well, not at first. She declared, after knitting one stitch, that it was too hard. I was happy for her to give up at that stage (anyone who has taught a child to knit can imagine that my nerves were terribly frayed by this point) however her sister, The Most Adorable Granddaughter in the World#1, who also happens to be the only one blessed with left-handedness in her generation so far, decided to persist with her and by the end of the weekend, The Most Adorable Granddaughter#3 could claim to have knitted five rows by herself!
(I have a sneaking suspicion that the four of us sitting with our needles and yarn must have been a sight to behold to anyone not inducted into the knitting circle.)
All this knitting gave me the opportunity to work on my blanket and I am now pleased to announce that it's finished. And in time for the cold weather. I sewed most of it together before finishing the last square and used it in that state to keep me warm while knitting that aforementioned square. Based on the amount of use it has had already in its short life, I suspect all that effort was worth it! Not that it feels like any effort whatsoever to a knitting addict.
I was very, very tempted to cast on for another blanket but decided to refrain. Actually, in the interest of truth, I did start another and then thought better of it. Firstly, I do not have enough scraps to knit another blanket (these blankets take a lot of yarn) and secondly, I really don't think I need three bulky blankets on my couches, despite how warm and snuggly they are and how much fun I have knitting them. After a few uses they tend to stretch a little (since they are knitted on the bias) and one blanket can easily accommodate two people.
So ... do I really need another? And would anyone else want one since Son#5 returned the one I gave him when he was a poor student and couldn't afford heating, claiming it was 'too heavy'? Perhaps others are less bothered by weight. (In all fairness, he did put it on his bed when my intention was for him to wrap himself in it while sitting at his computer. However, The Most Adorable Granddaughter#2 insisted on having it on her bed when she came to stay recently and didn't complain about it being 'heavy'.)
Instead, I have decided to play around with a few other patterns and see if there is a good use for the few scraps that I do have left (before The Most Adorable Granddaughters decide to use them to fuel their growing addiction).
I tried mitred squares ...
but decided against them even though they were lots of fun to knit. I just didn't fall in love with how they looked. (Actually they look better in these rather poor photos than they did in real life. Maybe I should have knitted a few more before undoing them - too late now.)
I then tried a pinwheel pattern using short rows which I'm liking, despite having to undo several triangles to get the pattern to work. I suspect that when I'm knitting the wrap together with the stitch that I'm doing it back to front to most people and so my 'right' side is other people's wrong side. That may not make sense - or appear to make a lot of difference - but when you join the yarn in and it shows on the 'right' side you have a problem. So I fiddled around and appear to have the pattern working for me.
Each block is made of eight triangles so I will keep working this one as I've already begun. On the next block I will try knitting the wrap and stitch together through the front leg of the wrap and see if that makes my 'right' side come out on the supposed right side. If not ... I know it's just me as another similar pattern had the exact same instructions as the linked pattern.
Despite the unravelling and the trial and error, I have found this pattern to be most addictive! It just seems that I can't help myself.
I had put it off and put it off until last week I went out and bought five pairs of needles and several balls of yarn. I figured that The Most Adorable Granddaughters#6 and #7 wouldn't want to learn - yet - hence only five pairs. And I knew better than to buy only five balls of yarn as there would be at least one colour that several little people would want - so I tried to cover all bases by providing a good selection. (Strangely enough, the colour I thought would be least popular got snapped up immediately.)
The plan was to teach all five at once (I know - absolutely insane!) but as it turned out, only The Most Adorable Granddaughers#1, #2 and #3 were able to be present. I have an inkling this was probably a good thing.
Fortunately (for my emotional and mental state) The Most Adorable Granddaughters#1 and #2 already knew how to knit and just needed some assistance with casting on. Once they got started, there was no stopping them - and both began to show some alarming tendencies towards knitting addiction.
The Most Adorable Granddaughter#3, however, showed no such tendencies. Well, not at first. She declared, after knitting one stitch, that it was too hard. I was happy for her to give up at that stage (anyone who has taught a child to knit can imagine that my nerves were terribly frayed by this point) however her sister, The Most Adorable Granddaughter in the World#1, who also happens to be the only one blessed with left-handedness in her generation so far, decided to persist with her and by the end of the weekend, The Most Adorable Granddaughter#3 could claim to have knitted five rows by herself!
(I have a sneaking suspicion that the four of us sitting with our needles and yarn must have been a sight to behold to anyone not inducted into the knitting circle.)
All this knitting gave me the opportunity to work on my blanket and I am now pleased to announce that it's finished. And in time for the cold weather. I sewed most of it together before finishing the last square and used it in that state to keep me warm while knitting that aforementioned square. Based on the amount of use it has had already in its short life, I suspect all that effort was worth it! Not that it feels like any effort whatsoever to a knitting addict.
I was very, very tempted to cast on for another blanket but decided to refrain. Actually, in the interest of truth, I did start another and then thought better of it. Firstly, I do not have enough scraps to knit another blanket (these blankets take a lot of yarn) and secondly, I really don't think I need three bulky blankets on my couches, despite how warm and snuggly they are and how much fun I have knitting them. After a few uses they tend to stretch a little (since they are knitted on the bias) and one blanket can easily accommodate two people.
So ... do I really need another? And would anyone else want one since Son#5 returned the one I gave him when he was a poor student and couldn't afford heating, claiming it was 'too heavy'? Perhaps others are less bothered by weight. (In all fairness, he did put it on his bed when my intention was for him to wrap himself in it while sitting at his computer. However, The Most Adorable Granddaughter#2 insisted on having it on her bed when she came to stay recently and didn't complain about it being 'heavy'.)
Instead, I have decided to play around with a few other patterns and see if there is a good use for the few scraps that I do have left (before The Most Adorable Granddaughters decide to use them to fuel their growing addiction).
I tried mitred squares ...
but decided against them even though they were lots of fun to knit. I just didn't fall in love with how they looked. (Actually they look better in these rather poor photos than they did in real life. Maybe I should have knitted a few more before undoing them - too late now.)
I then tried a pinwheel pattern using short rows which I'm liking, despite having to undo several triangles to get the pattern to work. I suspect that when I'm knitting the wrap together with the stitch that I'm doing it back to front to most people and so my 'right' side is other people's wrong side. That may not make sense - or appear to make a lot of difference - but when you join the yarn in and it shows on the 'right' side you have a problem. So I fiddled around and appear to have the pattern working for me.
Each block is made of eight triangles so I will keep working this one as I've already begun. On the next block I will try knitting the wrap and stitch together through the front leg of the wrap and see if that makes my 'right' side come out on the supposed right side. If not ... I know it's just me as another similar pattern had the exact same instructions as the linked pattern.
Despite the unravelling and the trial and error, I have found this pattern to be most addictive! It just seems that I can't help myself.
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