My idea for blanket #156 was that it should be red and brown. Most of the red yarns in the store turned out to be thin ones, and there weren't that many darkish brown ones either, so the blanket is not very close to my idea. I like the way that it has turned out anyway, and I notice now that it is very similar to one of my previous ones - blanket #144 but that one included yellow. The colours blend quite well. Some 1960s Warriner teal DK begged to be included and it does not jar at all. The yarns that stand out are the apricot ones. I managed to exclude the more yellowish yarns - they will go into another blanket. I notice now that this blanket is very similar to one of my previous ones - blanket #144 but that one included yellow.
I meant to knit this in aran weight on 4.5 mm needles, but I had so few thicker yarns that it was not a good idea. Instead I knit on 4 mm needles, but combine DK yarns with a thin 4 ply. This works well, and I will probably continue doing it. In a way it frees me from deciding whether a yarn is 4 ply or DK - I can combine any yarns so that the end result is a suitable thickness.
I used to buy a lot of manufactured picture sweaters, and this is one of the last ones to be unravelled. It is a Planet woman's sweater with aran stitched diamonds. I bought it because I thought the pattern would provide suitable lengths of yarn. Not so, there are an awful lot of knots, so the lengths are unpredictably short. I like the yarn, a thick DK wool, several strands unplied. I am using two shades in this blanket, and both disappear.
The second to be unravelled was a hand knitted cardigan with a ruffle edge. It has been competently knitted, down to the ruffle being stitched along the button band. It looked like a Debbie Bliss pattern - she does tend to recycle her patterns in slightly different versions - and I found it in a Jaeger booklet in a charity shop. I didn't buy the booklet. I didn't associate DB with Jaeger. The yarn is lovely, a wool thin yarn. In the end I decided that the pink colour was wrong for this blanket, so I did not use it.
I used up several of my red yarns that I have saved as being too good for blankets. The Peter Gregory is a bright pure wool 4 ply in a one ounce ball; I have about six of these. The Edina Ronay is a Rowan silk wool blend, the cashmere is Jaeger. The Polworth wool is a New Zealand shetland type wool. The colour blends very well and it is nice. I have about six of these too, so it will last for many blankets. The rust yarn at the front is unlabelled, but it feels like silk. At the back is a cone of thin mohair yarn. According to the hand ticked Uppingham label inside the cone it is a mohair and acrylic/polyester blend. It is the same thickness as Rowan Kidsilk Haze, and it feels nearly as nice. It adds softness and a lovely halo to the blanket. I would be very pleased to come across more of this.
I used up several of my red yarns that I have saved as being too good for blankets. The Peter Gregory is a bright pure wool 4 ply in a one ounce ball; I have about six of these. The Edina Ronay is a Rowan silk wool blend, the cashmere is Jaeger. The Polworth wool is a New Zealand shetland type wool. The colour blends very well and it is nice. I have about six of these too, so it will last for many blankets. The rust yarn at the front is unlabelled, but it feels like silk. At the back is a cone of thin mohair yarn. According to the hand ticked Uppingham label inside the cone it is a mohair and acrylic/polyester blend. It is the same thickness as Rowan Kidsilk Haze, and it feels nearly as nice. It adds softness and a lovely halo to the blanket. I would be very pleased to come across more of this. 