What to Knit Holiday 2013 1 - Blankets

Dishcloths Make Great Blanket Squares

 Up Up and Away cloth as knit/photographed
 by neothecat on Ravelry

If you're afraid you won't finish a blanket in time for the holidays but you really want to try, you're in luck!  Dishcloths make great blanket squares. If you finish enough to sew together for a blanket, huzzah!  If not, wrap those handmade, 100% cotton cloths around some fancy soap and give the cloths themselves as a gift.  Pick one or two cloths with a theme your recipient will love, and make several of them.  Then make some plain squares (much faster to knit!) for the rest of the blanket.  The pattern squares make a fun accent!  Check Ravelry.com (you'll have to join) and Knitting on the Net for hundreds of dishcloths and blanket squares to get you started.

Baby Blanket in a Snap

Bunny Hop Moon and Stars

Crystal Palace Yarns offers the Bunny Hop Moon and Stars blanket.  It's a simple knit, and can be made in any solid color.  Pick a color in coordination with the rest of the baby's bedding, or any color that you love.  This particular pattern doesn't have open work for tiny fingers and toes to get tangled in!  It's a quick knit in knit and purl only.  Most of the major yarn manufacturers offer dozens to hundreds of free patterns featuring their yarns, so if you're in need of ideas, visit the website of your favorite yarn company, and browse through their patterns. 
Afghans and Lap Robes


Lacy Waves Afghan

Most of us saw handmade afghans and lap robes growing up, over the back of the couch, on Grandma's favorite chair, or across the end of the bed in the guest room.  They saw a lot of action, too.  Drafty nights, bouts of the flu, and games of "tent" with the cousins at holidays were just a few of the things making these blankets a family essential.  If you're looking to add one to your family, consider some of the classic designs.  The Lacy Waves Afghan comes from Bernat Yarn Studios.  It's a lovely variation on the classic striped feather and fan lace afghan.  It's a quick and simple knit in big yarn with big needles. 

You don't have to match the yarn type, brand, or fiber in these blankets.  Make what works for you.  If you need it to be washable, try superwash wool or acrylic.  If you want it to be hypo-allergenic, baby alpaca, cotton, and most synthetics will work.  Just match the yarn weight and needle size and you'll be fine.  Slight variations in gauge aren't so important here, as fit isn't a concern.

More of a Challenge


Argyle Cable Knit Afghan

Ready to show off your best needlework?  Then try Spinrite's Argyle Cable Knit Afghan.  Intarsia, cables, duplicate stitch and finishing skills are all on display on this beautiful blanket.  Varying the colors will make it perfect for any man, woman, or children on your list.  Make it as vibrant or subtle as you like. 




The Over the Rainbow Blanket from Drops Design will also present a challenge, and though it looks harder than it is, it will definitely impress.  It's made with color-pooling variegated yarns like Classic Elite's Liberty Wool, Universal Poems, or the various Noro offerings.  Check with the staff at your Local Yarn Shop to confirm if your yarn choice will work for the rainbow effect.

What are you making this year?

Why Another Baby Blanket?

I've agreed to do something I swore I'd never do again: I'm going to make a baby blanket.  Yep, I've made enough of them that I swore I was over it.  And yet, here we go.

Why do we get fed up with knitting some things but not others?  Why can some of us crank out endless hats and scarves, but we can't stand making up one more pair of socks?  Why do some love colorwork and hate cables?  One of my friends from the LYS hates knitting bobbles.  Every time someone says the word "bobbles", she quietly says "suck".  (Making the joint statement "bobbles suck".)  I crack up every time.

I think we all have knitting skills that we enjoy more than others.  For me, there is little I can do to make a baby blanket interesting.  I've done intarsia, cables, stranded colorwork, and applique, but I think all the repetition just overwhelms me.  (It's flat, no shaping, usually symmetrical.)  I've even designed several, and though they're pretty and technically involved, designing the blankets only gets me so far, and then boredom.

Whenever I teach a class, I ask the students what they love to knit, and what they would never want to knit.  Inevitably everything listed as something someone loves to knit is also listed as something someone hates to knit. There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to the combos.  I've had sock knitters say they hate making mittens, shawl and lace makers say they hate ponchos, and blanket lovers say they hate scarves.  The Q&A always elicits laughter as folks realize their common passion for knitting is also grounds for such different tastes in projects.

Who knows?  Maybe this blanket will be the breakthrough blanket that makes me a convert.  I'm doing it on commission, so I didn't get to choose the yarn or the pattern.  Maybe it will be like the dress your girlfriend insists you try on, even though you're completely skeptical.  Then you put it on and it's terrific.  Maybe.

If I were to choose to knit a baby blanket, what patterns would you recommend?  Is there one out there that you love to knit and think is beautiful enough to be worth the effort?  Share a link in your comment.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this.  What's good?  I'll post recommended patterns in the next post.