Finished at last

Blanket C3

Yarn: Hayfield Raw Cotton, Patons Paton, both 100% cotton, DK weight, various pastel colours
600 gr
Needles: 3.75 mm
Tension: 24 st per 10 cm
Size: 84 by 96 cm
Pattern: knitted diagonal squares, crochetted together
Knitted 010908 - 060311

I started knitting this blanket (C3) - as a bus knitting - nearly three years ago.  The squares were finished a long time ago.  The first time I got them out to sew them together one square was missing, either by miscounting or because it was mislaid.  It hasn't come to light, so perhaps I miscounted.  I didn't have any more of the cotton, so I waited until I could find more in  a charity shop.

The blanket was knitted from oddments of pastel coloured cottons, all from charity shops.  A lot of it were Hayfield Raw Cotton, a very pleasant yarn.  There were also some lavender coloured Patons Perle, a favourite from the 1980s, a mercerized cotton, which did not feel so nice here.  At the time I knitted a sweater from it, and that was nice.  So the yarn I found for the remaining square was also Patons Perle, this time in a pale turquoise.

I knitted the remaining square.  This time when I laid out the pieces I decided that the blanket could do with being wider, so I put the finished square aside and knitted some more.  Now at least there are enough, and I think it is a nice size, approx 84 by 96 cm.

This time I decided to crochet the squares together using slip stitch, and it worked fine.  The yarn is cream, unlabelled from a charity shop.  I think it is probably acrylic or an acrylic blend.  It is thicker than 4 ply, but thinner than the DK cotton yarns in the blanket, so it makes a nicer seam.  I also used it to crochet an edging, one row double crochet finished with one row crab stitch.

This was nice work.  I think the colours look good together.  It is slightly too thick for my liking, double knitting weight cotton in garter stitch.  At least there is some yarn gone from my yarn store.

When I knit the squares I slip the first stitch, and it makes a nice edge.  Unfortunately the edge stops the squares from lying flat when you sew them together.  For my next blanket I knit the first stitch - I will see if that works better.