More about the blanket

​It's really snowy here so knitting a blanket is just the job for the cold weather.  I've just finished the fifth design of the blanket and Ruth is busy re-knitting them to check my pattern-writing skills.

Things I have learned:
My tension changes a lot when I knit garter stitch.  I'm pretty good with stocking stitch and patterns but garter stitch is another matter!
Corner to corner squares transform into corner to corner parallelograms.
It's harder to design mosaic stitch than It looks.
WYS Wensleydale Gems is gorgeous.
The cat enjoys lying on the squares just after I have washed and blocked them.
The cat may not live to see the end of the project!

​​I was quite bamboozled by my corner to corner parallelogram but had a eureka moment and worked it out.  A corner to corner square in knitting is quite simple to create and there are a few ways to do it.   Cast on one stitch and then increase into it on the next row.  Knit a row plain then increase at each end of the next row.  Continue doing this until you have a triangle half the planned finished size and then start decreasing on alternate rows until back down to one stitch.  Alternatively, slip the first stitch on every row and increase (or decrease) on the last stitch of each row.  I mixed the two formulas which was my mistake.  I did the shaping at the beginning and end of alternate rows and slipped the first stitch on the plain row. This shortened the slipped edge and hence gave me a parallelogram.  Shan't make that mistake again!

The blanket has some simple squares and some which are a little more difficult.  We will provide a schematic to show where each square goes but it is up to individual knitters to decide whether they want to follow our layout or make up their own.  I really enjoy making blankets this way as the project doesn't become unwieldy and I can practise different techniques or try some that I've never done before.  As soon as exact yarn quantities are sorted and the pattern checked I'll put a link for pre-orders before we launch at Wonderwool -- can't wait!

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