Big Wool Intarsia blanket

 

Rowan Big Wool is one of the yarn I have collected over the years. It is one of more popular yarns in charity shops, so I have acquired quite a few balls. Mostly you find odd balls but sometimes there are three or four, or more.

 

 

 
I was looking for a multi coloured patterns with as few breaks in the yarn as possible, and intarsia was one possibility. I had enjoyed the pattern I devised for my Summer Tweed cardigan, so I chose it. The way it works means that you can use a whole ball without cutting. Since most of my yarn came in full balls I made the columns different widths, to avoid starting a new shade in all columns in the same row. The Ravelry entry had complaints about numerous knots – this would have aided me – but I didn't find more than usual.

 
I started with six rows garter stitch and did a garter stitch edging on both sides. These plus the six columns meant that I had six yarns to manage. I put them all in a basket on the floor, and by careful arrangement they did not become tangled. Occasionally I had to do some disentanglement.

 

I chose size 10 mm needles because they were to hand. I will say this again – I really don't like knitting with large needles. Knit rows worked fine, but I had problems getting my fingers to find a rhythm for the purl rows. The knitting is therefore more uneven than usual for me. Otherwise I quite enjoyed it, and I appreciated how fast it was. Having finished the blanket I don't enjoy the result very much. The shades were combined at random and could have been done more effectively. I didn't appreciate how many pale shades there were.

 I was disappointed in the yarn. It is difficult to say why. It just didn't appeal to me. I had thought about knitting a jumper with the remainder, but it will go into the next blanket.

Big Wool Intarsia blanket

Pattern: own

Yarn: Rowan Big Wool 100% wool
Needles: 10 mm circular
Tension: 9 sts
Size: 125 cm by 165 cm
Weight: 1380 gr

20 October to 10 November 2017