A Letter...To a Blanket

Dear Moderne Log Cabin Blanket,

It is hard to believe that we started our relationship over two years ago.  There I was, wanting to know everything there was to know about knitting and then knit it all.  Fresh from a dishcloth knitting high, I was ready for something different and there you were in a book.  A full page glossy color photograph.  I loved you instantly.  Your crisp lines and bold blocks of color.  Stunning.  Straight knitting and picking up stitches?  I could do that.  After all, you were just an extremely large dishcloth.

Around the time I first saw you, I had also been thinking about a wedding gift for my youngest sister.  I wanted to give Mandy and Josh an heirloom.  I want to make this heirloom, a knitted heirloom and you were the answer.  

Excited about this endeavor, I went to my Friday Night Knit group and deliberated over colors and yarns.  In the end, choosing the Cascade 220 Superwash in Sapphire Heather (1951), Mystic Purple (1948), Lichen (867), and Cordavan (863).  I then showed my other knitting gal pals your pattern and the yarn.  Mare simply said, "Oh my," and laughed, as only Mare can and  Courtney hoped that, "I wouldn't become discouraged with knitting because of this blanket and never knit again."  I laughed and assured them both that it was going to be alright.  You and I had a plan.  One block a month over the next nine months.

I made a swatch and determined that going up a needle size would be a good idea.  You, after all needed to cover Josh!  All went according to plan, until April.  My intentions and plans with you slowing starting to come undone.  You were gradually abandoned for smaller and more interesting projects.  Anything and everything that wasn't garter ridge after garter ridge.

Then July came around and I thought it would be a good idea to take you on vacation with us.  I envisioned large blocks of time in which you and I would "get back on track".  That did not happen.  It was not your fault, you were there waiting.  It was my fault.  I did not make the time and many of our activities were not conducive to knitting a blanket.  You did have a great time in Oregon and Colorado when you were brought out for a bit of sightseeing.

Remember when you were small and easy to knit in public?  Those days were long behind us.  We were two blocks behind but I was still hopeful.

Before I knew it the wedding was upon us.

We were still at seven blocks.  I wrapped you up so that Mandy and Josh could meet you.  They loved you instantly and looked forward to the day that you would be theirs.  I assured them that within the year you would be done.  Little did I know that moving across the country and winding down my job would consume so much of my time over the following six months.  That and knitting all the smaller more interesting projects.  Anything and everything that wasn't garter ridge after garter ridge.  I am pleased that we did manage to complete one more block together in this time.  I really tried to make an effort.

So, fast forward to May of 2012.  I devised a new plan.  One block and the border were all that remained.  Step one:  pick up the stitches for the final block and knit a couple of rows.  Step two:  knit a couple of ridges every day until the block was complete.  Step three:  complete the border.  Step four:  mail before the 1st of September.  Easy enough.

Step one:   no problem.  Step two:  we started out strong.  Then it all went off the rails.  Again.  And once again it was all my fault.  I just could not bring myself to knit you.  I was bored with you.  Nothing tempting or exciting about your endless garter ridge after garter ridge.  So, I put you away and got a jump start on the holiday knitting instead...after all they were all smaller and more interesting.  No endless garter ridge after garter ridge in those projects.

Then the holiday knitting was done and there you sat at the bottom of basket.  Looking at me longingly.  Pleading with me to just be done with it!  So, I hunkered down and spent the next week and half finishing your last block.  A Harry Potter movie marathon ensued along with countless episodes of The X-Files.

At last, you were off the needles.  Immediately, I knew something was not quite as it should be.  The last block was wider than the rest of the blanket...my gauge over the last two years had changed.  Drastically.  I started to panic.  I wanted to throw up and cry at the same time.  I spread you out on the bed, took a few pictures and emailed Mare and Courtney.  Both suggested that "blocking the shit out of you" was the answer.  I was convinced that ripping the last block out and re-knitting it was the only answer.  They talked me down off the ledge (thanks again my friends).  I then proceeded to "blocked the shit out of you".

As you were drying (and recovering from having the shit blocked out of you), I knit Ms. Fox to restore my faith in knitting and to muster up the strength to finish you.  Once you were dry, I was able to clearly assess the situation.  The stitches still looked slightly larger but I could live with that.  The rest of you was now as wide as the last block.

I wove in your remaining ends and started to work on the border.  In my mind, it was a simple whip stitch border, so that is what I started doing.  It looked weird and sloppy to me.  So, I pulled out the pattern and reread the instructions.  I could not believe what I was reading.  Pick up the stitches along one edge and knit four garter rows.  Repeat on the remaining three edges!  My brain was screaming, "NO.  NO.  NO."  More garter ridges, I had reached the end of my tolerance with garter ridges.  So, once again, you were folded up and placed in time out.  But only for a week while I meditated on what to do for your border.  In the end (and after a consultation with Courtney), I decided on a crocheted edge.  It provided a nice sturdy braided edge to finish you off.

In the end, you are:

9 blocks, 19 balls of yarn (4,180 yards), approximately 330 hours of knitting, and 108,840 stitches.  One hell of a blanket.  An heirloom, if you will.

I can not remember such a feeling of intense liberation as I drove you to the Post Office and sent you on your way.  After some time and distance, I know that I will look back on our time together fondly.  You are with your forever family now and they love you.  I hope that in time you will forgive me for any negative thoughts I had about you or moments of intense swearing at you during our time together.  I am moving on and I hope you can too.

Hugs and Kisses,
Fox