Wednesday 31 January 2018

The Big Blanket project

Mark and I have started on a new project together: the Big Blanket.




Our thicker Ullcentrum 3ply yarn has become something of my favourite yarn this winter: it has the wonderful sheepiness and rustic texture of Ullcentrum's Swedish wool, but in a heavy DK weight that is just perfect for sweaters: warm enough to wear on its own on a sunny autumn day, but not so bulky that it won't fit under a winter coat. And as the Grettir that Mark has been wearing for 3 years now proves, it's fantastically hard wearing too!



Then an opportunity arose that meant that we need to make something big for a special occasion, something that we could work on together, and it struck me that the yarn should make a really wonderful blanket!
I know that traditionally, we see blankets as an opportunity to use up left-overs and scraps, but for this, I wanted something that had less of a scrappy feel. I came across this beautiful (and free!) pattern by Linnea Öhman (of Siri Cardigan fame) and I just love the graphic effect of the radiating garter stripes, and how unified it looks with the restrained colour palette.

Photo by Linnea Öhman

For our project we needed to be a little more colourful, so I have chosen a neutral as the base for each set of squares, and am contrasting it with Ullcentrum's beautiful dyed colours.



Our little pile is growing nicely - it's a very easy and portable pattern to work with, although I am already planning a version all in natural colours like Linnea's original...


2 comments:

  1. How are you coping with the difference in tension between the two of you (or has Mark 'loosened up'?) :p

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    1. Mark is working on wooden needles and I am working on metal which seems to be giving us a similar enough tension, and maybe garter stitch is a little more forgiving, perhaps?

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