EZ Garter Stitch Blanket - Day #25? 30?

This is definitely an addictive knit, although I'll admit that the endless neutral landscape is starting to get to me. (I found myself reaching for some shocking pink yarn today and casting on just so I could drink up some color.)

The blanket as designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann consists of two A pieces and two B pieces. It's also designed to be knit with bulky wool double-stranded. I chose to use bulky wool (Cascade Ecological) single-stranded because my hands weren't up for the challenge of honkin' big needles. So far I've knitted up 4 A pieces in 2 different shades of Cascade Eco and 1.75 B pieces. If I sew up the blanket the way the design stipulates, I'll have a small stroller throw for a baby. Which isn't bad but isn't what I'm looking for.

So now I've decided that this will be an ongoing knit, using many of the natural Cascade Eco shades available and I'll just play with them like a squishy fibery jigsaw puzzle and see what I end up with.

The plan is to make four complete mini-blankets and then sew them up into one giant blanket.

Like I said, that's the plan today June 22, 2008. I'm not sure how I'll feel about that after a few more miles of garter stitch in neutral colors . . .

The Joy of a Very Large Ball of Yarn

That's the back of my mother-in-law's sweater: 26 inches wide and 22 inches long so far and it's almost all stockinette stitch. Is it a little monotonous? Well, yes. However, it has one huge advantage: it's all been knitted with one single ball of yarn and, as you can see, I have more left to use.

This makes me happy because I won't have the tedious task of weaving in a whole lot of loose ends, a job I detest because it comes when I want to bask in the glow of finishing the project. Only it's STILL not finished. All those pesky ends are dangling and I have to dig a needle out of the bottom of my knitting bag which takes forever and then try to neatly conceal the extra yarn. Ugh!




So for large projects, I'm singing the praises of this giant ball of Cascade Eco+ which weighs in at a hefty 250grams/8.75 ounces and unwinds for an impressive 437 meters/478 yards. It's very reasonably priced too. That's a normal ball of wool on the left and my new best friend Cascade Eco+ on the right. Nice and muscular, right?

What's your favorite yarn for a big project? Does anyone have a secret for overcoming the tedium of weaving in the ends?