Mitred Blanket Update

Despite the Woolfest Stash, the list of projects as long as my arm that I'd like to cast on and a general lift in the sock-knitting mojo again, I've been knitting monogamously on the mitred blanket for my sister.

Following a minor set-back, then a desperate search for the 'right' yarn, progress has been good.

As I'm knitting four blocks in one piece, picking up stitches from one block for the next, I had to plan out the colour pattern in advance. This sketch shows what I'm aiming for. The heavy dark lines show which blocks can been knitted into one piece, and the lighter lines show the individual blocks.


I've currently finished three of the big centre pieces and have started the first block for the fourth piece. After these big pieces are done, I'll start on the smaller pieces for round the edges.


My minor set-back was that I started this project without one of the colours. Cucumberpatch, where I'd bought all the rest of the yarn (Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK which is now discontinued and was on sale) were clean out of the rose-petal shade. I wasn't too worried about this as I thought that I could find a DK yarn from another range in the right shade to use. I tried this with the Jaeger Baby Merino DK in shade 'rose'. It was a disaster. The colour screamed out as being different and even the gauge and texture of the yarn was wrong - where the EFM is very smooth and cylindrical, the Baby Merino is much more obviously 'plied' and felt pretty scratchy.

I went back to my original plan and tried to source some EFM in rose petal elsewhere. I bought two balls from Angel Yarns and ordered five from English Yarns, but when they checked their stock, they only had one! This left me four balls short and running out of options. Step forward Pat and Chris and the amazing kindness of these fellow knitters. Pat sent me two balls she had from the Rowan Mill and Chris swapped two balls she had for some of another colour, changing the colour scheme for a project she had planned in the process! Incredibly, five of these balls are from the same dye lot and the other two can't be told apart, so good is the match.

This means that now I have enough yarn for the project and I won't have to compromise the look or feel of the blanket with a substitute pink...

I am a little sad that the Jaeger Extra Fine Merino has been discontinued and that I came accross it so late in the day. It's absolutely beautiful to work with and lovely and soft. My recommendation would be to stash some while you can!