Well my Wrap with Love blanket is done! I sewed up the last of it two weeks ago and mailed it off. That's it being held up and also draped on my couch to illustrate how nicely it would have blended in to the decor. But it was immensely satisfying to send it off, more so because I think it looked great and I would have been very happy to keep it! Big thanks to Miss Hazel, her neighbours, my Mum, and EcoChic who all knitted / chrocheted squares for the project, and Miss SnapDragon who came over one night and kept me company during the 'stitching up' process*. One of the nice things about Wrap with Love is that they hook in with a really wide range of charities to get them out into the world, and so it could end up anywhere that people need comfort and warmth.
Once it was done I was ever so in love with it, and with the idea of making blankets. I pulled out an old project I'd started when I was 19 or so (eeek, that was a while ago now!), my very first ever knitting project, which was to make a bed-sized blanket out of squares.
A few years back (4!) I pinned them all to a double bed sheet with the help of my mum, and started sewing them into strands. But now I feel inspired to make a few more 'throw rug' size blankets out of them, and maybe even fish through the existing squares to make a few in different colour themes. I was going for jewel tones at the time - purple, dark teal blue, dusky pink; and it's also ended up with dark blue, brown, bright pink, other blues in the mix (other people have pitched in and made squares out of whatever they had). After the WWL blanket I feel more relaxed about colour themes and know that contrast and a bit of joyful mismatch can still look great.
I'm also thinking of how a bit of purposeful contrast dotted through might lift it - the colours seem dark to me these days (living now in the tropical edges of the country here in Sydney rather than my home town of Adelaide where I began this project; which has gloomy bitter winters). So I'm wondering if for example, I might make a purple/ pink one and lift it with some brighter pinks, or arrange a dark blue and brown one but add some turquoise for brightness.
The throw rug appeals because I'll get to slit the colours and play on a few different combinations, but also because it seems less extreme to have a blanket that can be a throw across a bed/ lap rug/ couch rug rather than a whole bed's worth. I was thinking I might keep one and give one to my mum.
Here are pictures of my blanket in progress for me. Note Michael is very excitedly holding the square he knitted over dinner to contribute. He hadn't knitted since he was about 8 but it came back pretty easily.
* As an aside: I notice more and more that I'm not a great 'finisher' - I love starting and dreaming up projects, and getting inputs from a team, but once it comes to the 'stitch it up and send it up' part it can linger for a very long time (especially if that bit is for me to do alone)! Trying to figure out what I can do to help myself get through these bits of projects so that things actually get finished as I know it's a good skill to learn, and satisfying when projects finish and get out of the craft box! Having supportive people joining in seems to help immensely.
