The next yarn in line was from my large supply of Rowan Summer Tweed. It is one of my favourite yarns, and there was a lot of it. I wanted to knit intarsia because my previous effort had worked out so well, and I had in mind one of the simple Kaffe Fassett patterns, eg Tumbling Blocks. I found several versions, and they were not so simple to knit with the various shades that I had. It would take a lot of planning to get an attractive result.
Then I came across a new Kaffe Fassett pattern in The Knitter, issue 118. This pattern, Shadow Blocks, was for one of the currently popular narrow throws for looking nice at the end of the bed. It is wide and narrow. I turned it round 90 degrees, recognizing that it would alter the proportions but I didn't think it would matter.
I worked out the number of stitches needed for full repeats and did a crochet temporary cast on. I was so intent on getting the right number by repeat that I didn't realise that I had done one repeat too few. I realised when I had knitted some 15 cm when I investigated why it didn't take long to knit one row. Following my principle of not unravelling mistakes in blankets I continued thinking I would have to do a wide border.
The intarsia took some 12 - 13 yarns per row in my blanket. The pattern itself, being wider, took over 20, without suggestion for managing that many. You could use bobbins, but it would be awkward even so, and involve fastening numerous end which seemed a shame when a yarn would be used in one continuous sequence from top to bottom.
I devised a method that worked fine for me. I put the balls of yarn in a shallow box, close together so they wouldn't have room to move, in the order used. At the end of the row I turned the knitting carefully to avoid displacing the yarns in the box. At the end of the next row I turned the knitting carefully in the opposite direction. This way I had to disentangle yarns only every twelfth row when some yarns changed place.
I enjoyed the knitting very much. The symmetrical pattern was a pleasure as you could always see what came next. The yarn was a pleasure to work with. I had worried about the colours but I'm happy with the result. It would have been nicer larger.
I did the border in moss stitch in the three colours I had enough left. I would have preferred a plain border but it was difficult to calculate how much yarn would be needed.
Shadow Blocks
Pattern: Kaffe Fassett, The Knitter 118
Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed silk 75% cotton 25
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: 155 cm by 120 cm
Weight: 940 gr
There is little to say about the next blanket, #198. It is another in red blue brown grey colours.
One of the yarns is a Pingouin angora blend in a nice blue shade.
Unexpectedly 2018 became the year when I stopped buying yarn. More or less. The decision was made, without prompting, on 1 May when I sorted the yarn store and the amount of yarn there became overwhelming.
I allowed myself a small allowance, of 100 gr per week, and I even managed to keep within it having 750 gr left at the end of the year. Not buying became quite effortless in the end. Looking at yarn I would think about what I would do with it; in most cases I already owned similar yarn, and, if I bought it, it would end up in the yarn store for years to come. Instead of finding nice yarn cheaply my objective has become to knit the yarn I have.
I continued to knit at a similar rate to previous years. I used 22.4 kg. For the first time, since I started keeping records, I knitted more than I bought, in fact twice as much. (I bought a lot before 1 May.) It feels good.
I hope I can continue not buying. The 100 gr weekly allowance adds up to more than three blankets per year, so I have reduced it to 75 gr.
Two pictures of nice yarn that I did buy, both American.
