Blankie Status: 4

Blanket: Unfinished

Katie: Still Pregnant- but I think we can all agree that’s not going to to on much longer.katieplan 2015-07-03

Number of stitches on the needle: Approximately 280, but that, my friends, is nothing but an educated guess.  I’m not wasting knitting time counting anything.

Number of skeins so far: 8 and 1/3.

Number of skeins remaining: A rather disconcerting 1 and 2/3.

The point at which I snapped and tried to order more online as an insurance measure, only to discover that it’s out of stock: Yesterday morning. It will be enough. There is enough. It’s fine.

Number of repeats of the edging I’ve knit: 43 out of about 60, or as I like to say, who the hell cares, this is never going to end.

Number of readers who have encouraged me to stop where I am because it looks great: Lots. You guys are awesome, and it does look great, but I can’t stop where I am, even though the finished part looks great – the problem is construction.  Look. I drew you a picture.

blankieplan 2015-07-03

The middle part of the blankie was worked back and forth. Then I picked up all the way around it, and knit in circles until I’d completed the border. Then, I cast on a whack of stitches for the edge, and the edging is worked back and forth again.  Every time I get to the blanket edge, one stitch from the edging is worked together with one stitch from the blanket border. That’s sort of like casting off. One stitch goes away for every two rows.

Get it? In this picture, I’ve drawn what’s happening, and where I’m at in the process.

blankieplandet 2015-07-03

 

That means I can’t stop, it’s not like I’m still knitting in the round – if I were, I could choose to make the edging any depth I wanted to. If I stop now I’ll have a big part with no edge at all.

Number of times I’ve thought this was a pretty bad choice on my part: 98736354

Attitude of knitter: Let’s not discuss it. I’m trying to cut back on the swearing.

blankieplanwhole 2015-07-03

(PS. Thanks so very much with the help getting me to my public goal! (And yeah, I have a secret other goal in my heart. It’s a little higher.) Everything now is gravy. Amazing, special, unbelievable gravy. You’re all beyond amazing, and I don’t know how the world would get by without the kindness of knitters. For those of you who wanted to wait to donate so that you could make our phones “ding” while we were riding,  Ken and I will be on our bikes tomorrow from 8am – 3pm for 114kms, and again on Sunday from 10:30- 4. (Another 100kms. This is the weekend we need to complete our back-to-backs, and we’re on it.)

(PPS. Yeah, that riding time is going to effect the knitting time. I’m trying not to think about it.)

91 thoughts on “Blankie Status: 4

  1. Oh, it’ll be fine.
    (Fingers crossed.)
    Really, just knit fast because the suspense is killing us, and indeed, Katie looks like she can’t hold out much longer.

  2. I believe the quote most apropos to your your knitting situation is, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Knit on, and may your ride be marked my many little pings of encouragement.

  3. You are a genius of wool. Which means, like many geniuses, you’re a little crazy. I’m sure it will be fine! It’s gorgeous.

  4. The blanket that you are making is fabulous and I am sure it will be loved and cherished. I know that your riding will cut into your knitting time (if there was a way to do both, I am sure you would have figured it out!), but it dawned on me that the riding for such a cause will certainly make the world a better place for the new little one. In a way, you are still making something. Ride and knit on!!!

  5. The blanket is gorgeous! Sorry to hear that you can’t get any more of the yarn. However, you have a LARGE following, m’dear. Why not tell us the information about the skeins you need? Perhaps someone would be willing to send a skein or two to you as insurance. Lord knows we’ve pulled off stranger and more wonderful things before. Just sayin’…

      • Yes, buuuuut, perhaps if it is really close, it would be worth recieving and tracking a few skeins. Hoping one matches, and sending the rest back?

        It really is a BEAUTIFUL blankie. Good luck, I’m holding my breath anxiously to see if you have enough 🙂

  6. WOW! I am number 7 in the cue? REALLY!! Boy what a great Friday!
    Steph! Keep going!! Pretend it is the last mile to the finish line of the Bike Rally and your hands will go FASTER…..!!!
    Can’t donate anything to anyone right now. There are candidates for President 2016 I can’t donate to. We are getting all bad credit issues resolved and back bills paid. Lots of KEEP TO THE BUDGET..and NO EXTRAS…yarn included (snif) All I can offer is moral support.
    Thanks for the explanation of how the blankie is built.

    bjr

  7. The blanket is *amazing*!!! Yes, let us know what yarn you need – I’m sure that can be put into motion while you’re on your bike this weekend!!

  8. Every member of Team Knit has met their goal; now let’s help them blow right through it and keep on going!
    If we each think of something we want to honor by donating – or donating again, that should do it. Let’s knock Ken and Steph halfway off their bikes this weekend with all the dings!

  9. OK, I wonder whether my math is correct. When you had done 24.5 repeats, you had 2 2/3 skeins left. Now you’ve done 43 repeats and you have 1 2/3 skeins left. That means you used 1 skein for 18.5 repeats. You have 17 repeats left which should take no more than 1 skein. And there’s 2/3 skein left for any fractions we may have failed to take into account. It SHOULD work, Stephanie. Take a deep breath, and knit on. Weather forecast is good for your two rides this weekend. Hope all this good news helps.

  10. Fingers crossed the baby waits…..when I am freaking out about how much yarn is left, I get out the digital scales and weigh what I used and what I have left and do the math . If you add in the weight of the needle not in the work, the result is quite accurate.

  11. Your blanket is stunning. I just stumbled onto your work from another site and am speechless. I would love to get the pattern when and if it is available. (After you’re done with this one.) I am not sure I would actually ever tackle something that complex but I love the border you are using, love the blanket portion and an in awe. I am going to follow you as an inspiration. I pray that you have enough yarn to finish, life just can’t be that cruel to have you come up short after all that work. Cheers!

    • I am pretty sure Stephanie’s baby blankets are One-of a Kind hand no patterns will be written
      Beautiful heirloom pieces

    • Yes!
      Even though I know it doesn’t (like driving faster if you’re low on fuel) it always feels better to knit faster – although it can mean the loose end of the yarn approaches faster than you might want it to!

  12. It WILL be fine. It is utterly gorgeous. Ride like the wind this weekend. Your efforts, like the knitters’ donations, make us all proud.

  13. Looking great! You know there’s a knitter who follows your blog who probably has a few skeins stashed who’ll have them for you in the correct dye lot if you need them!

  14. Are you in Eastern Daylight Time there in Toronto? I’m trying to time my pings just right. You are an inspiration!

  15. You can totally get this done before homecoming time. It doesn’t matter, really, if it is done before the baby is born, or even in the hospital. At no point in either of those circumstances will the child care. But coming home…that is the sweet time.

  16. I did some math and my numbers show she should be good as well. She had 4.25 skeins to start with and roughly 60 repeats, which is 0.07 skein/repeat. She had been running a consistent 0.06 skein/repeat checking both what she used for 24.5 repeats and 40 repeats. You are good, ma’am!

  17. From the looks of the drawing you are really close! The drama of baby vs blanket, blanket vs YH, YH vs mileage is really exciting. (better than curling or hockey) I think we should also have a way of going ping every time you knit another repeat.

  18. Sadly, it looks a little too complicated to knit while you”re asleep, (something I am pretty sure I have done with stockinette stitch), but once you’re off the bike, may your hands go like the wind!

  19. Blankie looks beautiful, and I agree on the need to hustle. I think if Katie has to wait much longer, she just might bloom like a bursting flower bud rather than going with the more conventional, and likely preferable, route.
    Katie is also beautiful, btw, and looks much cheerier than many women at that stage of pregnancy in the middle of summer.

  20. The blanket is beautifu! You will be fine with the yarn. Remember, the baby will be at the hospital for a few days. You have time! Good liuck with the ride!

  21. I consider myself a good, solid, experienced knitter, but what you create or dream up is SO far beyond my current level that I just can’t imagine ever joining you up there in the Echelons of the Yarn Gods! The blanket is a work of art and I have complete faith that you will pull it off! But… going by that pic? I’d hurry! 😀

    • I agree Christine…after knitting for 50 some odd years, I still will never come close to this kind of genius. I’m in awe…that blankie is amazing. Knit on YH ….you can do it!

  22. Leslie,
    Evidently you are unaware of Harlot lore: the babies are never born until the blanket is finished. This is the power of our Harlot!

  23. First…best thoughts to Katie…please have that baby already before you burst…and to you…

    For all that you do…for all those for whom you do it (whatever it is)…including all of your readers and supporters…beautiful baby blankie…humorous, touching, thought-provoking blogposts…exhausting ride… for all the right reasons…well done and thanks. You done good. Over and over and over again.

  24. Hi, Steph,
    Beautiful blankie and beautiful new mom.
    How did you end up doing the corners? I have done them with short rows (very elegant, makes a pointed corner) and just by stopping one direction, casting on again the edging stitches and working across the edging and then along the new edge( not so elegant but easy). It is also possible to work the same edging stitch twice, and if you do this 9 times on one side of the corner and nine times on the other side, the edging swings around like it should. (traditional Estonian solution, rounded corner). Maybe if you wrote this pattern up after the race, the sales could go toward next years ride, an early start on the fund raising. Just a thought.
    Julie in San Diego

  25. Oh my Katie looks bigger, that baby is closer to coming! Your drawing of how far you have to go is stressing me out! Amazing blankie, amazing Katie, and amazing knitters! All of it, especially your ding story made me tear up (probably partly a menopause moment, see all my exclamation marks).

  26. It will be fine. What’s the worst that can happen? The baby gets here ahead of the blanket. How bad is that?
    OK, it spoils your perfect record, but the baby won’t mind, won’t even be cold. And Katie is going to be glad no matter what. Good luck on your ride!
    -Susan

  27. Thanks for the drawing! I’ve never seen a blanket done this way. It must help break the monotony of going around and around and around and — sorry, latent blanket trauma showing.

  28. The blanket looks gorgeous, and the corner (a previous post, I looked back) is simply perfect. How did you manage it?

    My daughter is now three, almost four. I just came across the baby blanket that I designed for her and started knitting today when I was clearing out some bedroom stuff for a visit from my parents. Now I need to decide whether to finish, or rip out… oh really, I am awful at finishing things. The baby quilt that I made for my son (now 6) in a hormone-induced sewing fit (it was the first and last thing I’ve ever quilted!) still needs a binding, otherwise it is complete.

    You, however, have stamina enough to finish!

  29. Oh cool, thanks for drawing out the blanket construction, that’s really cool to see! I can see why you’re stressing considering the construction, but trust your math! It’ll work out, I just know it.

    *crosses fingers*

    Your lovely lacy fluffy looking blanket in such a pretty creamy white is making my fingers itch to sew something similar. Which is ridiculous because I have 14 projects on needles and a blanket is the last thing I need to make! lol

  30. Worse case scenario, cream goes with anything so you can always add in a contrast… Or appeal to the knitting universe for a stashed skein…

  31. You are going to be fine with the blanket. It is so pretty! And it must be very big, which means that this baby is going to enjoy it for so much longer.
    So – positive knitting-vibes from Denmark. I’m sure you will make it.

  32. As usual, I am sure you will finish in time, and with just enough yarn to spare. (Though to make your life easier, have you ever considered requesting friends and family time their pregnancies so that you don’t run into this problem during training? )

  33. I’m starting to need some sort of “yarn chicken stress ball” when I read the knitting by amorphous deadline posts.

  34. Pingback: So, so close, yarn chicken! | PDXKnitterati

  35. The Baby Blanket it Stunning!!!!! You will make it with the amount of yarn you ….have faith!! Just Beautiful…btw…Happy Canada Day!!!!!! Your blog is awesome!! Hope someday to get a chance to meet you!!!!

  36. I have great confidence that you will not run out of yarn.
    Not so sure that you will be the first to the ‘baby finish line’.
    Knit like lightening!!

  37. To misquote Toy Story ” Knit like the wind Stephanie!” I don’t think that baby is going to hang on much longer……unless it does what my DS1 did. I swear that kid hung on by his toenails.
    Good luck with the blanket and the ride x

  38. Press on Regardless! Biking and knitting are two activities that can not be done concurrently and yet you manage to succeed. Have fun biking. The blanket will get done in time because it always does. And if the blanket does get done a few days later I think the baby will not ever know the difference. Love and hugs to you as you continue.

  39. I would say that the BABY won’t give a hang if that border only goes halfway around……you know he/she’s liable to just pee on this thing so…I’m just saying…..

  40. The blanket is gorgeous, and many thanks to the math whizzes for calculating out yarn used. Now Katie just has to stand on her head with her legs crossed until the Harlot finishes knitting…which probably won’t be until Monday?

  41. Beautiful Katie. Beautiful blanket. I am in awe, hope can be half as good someday. You will finish this stunning work and you will stay the course for the ride. Keep the faith.

  42. if worse comes to worst, what about those skeins of white wool you started out with? many posts ago.

    IIRC you ordered some new skeins but as soon as they arrived you noticed that New White was not quite the exact same shade as Old White? but you liked New White better, so you decided to knit the entire blanket in New White? you ordered enough New White to complete a huge blanket, you thought? something like 9 skeins?

    logically speaking, you must still have the 7 original skeins of Old White, no? so if worse comes to worst, you could finish the blanket with a tiny part of the edging in Old White. No one would ever notice. If anyone did ever notice, it would just be another story about Abundance.

  43. your blanket knitting is inspiring!!! I am also knitting a white baby blanket for my sister’s 1st kiddie. Your progress makes me laugh and smile. I have the same emotions and thoughts going though my head too.

    keep up the great work!!!!

  44. The blanket is stunningly beautiful! I love that your construction method is the Shetland shawl tradition and will be such a wonderful heirloom. I can’t wait to see it finished!

  45. I suggest a ‘beer’ or other libation after the ride for mental attitude knitting adjustment and ‘seat/butt’ pain killer? Takes care of physical and mental need. Don’t know what it would do for the actual knitting…

  46. If you do happen to run out of yarn, do the balance in something of the same weight but an obviously different colour. Then let the story of this baby blanket become part of the family lore just as the one with the last minute cross the border for more yarn one has.

  47. Your blanket is so amazingly gorgeous that it makes me want to knit a blanket…despite all the exceedingly pungent and firm remarks I made knitting my last (much smaller) one. (The gist was ‘never again’.) Clearly you are a dangerous influence! Wishing you cool sunny weather for your rides and speedy knitting afterward.

  48. Just a thought; your drawing reminds me of quilting days way back when when the top end of the quilt would be left sans border – just binding – to reflect the end tucked under pillows/shams. Potential design feature? It’ll be close, but not needed if my rough math skills are correct…
    Sending best wishes to Katie and the new one patiently waiting.. much health and happiness. Congratulations

  49. I feel your pain re the blanket (thankfully not the cycling!) but just wanted to say, that is so, so beautiful.

  50. Steph,
    Glad to see all 4 of you have exceeded your goal for the race. You introduced a new rider in a blog and I can’t seem to find her name in a quick look back. Could you repost her link?
    Thank you

  51. You may have thought this but some bedspreads have one end without a boarder. Maybe the flat end could go near her face l?

  52. I am so impressed by the amount of math that you would have to do to make that border work out. It is a beautiful and heirloom gift, blessed baby

  53. I am curious about determining the size of blankets. I am a weaver, and we use the”Golden Mean” of 1 x 1.61 to create a proportionally attractive oblong object – like a dishtowel, blanket, or “most” tablecloths. Do you use the same method of determination with your blankets, or work more of the “whatever looks right” choice?

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