Knitting: Blankets for Kiddlings

My mother bought a magazine in early 2009 I think it was that had a pattern for a throw blanket in it. Fairly simple pattern and she decided that she wanted one - but this is the woman who started knitting herself a jumper when I was pregnant... My son is 13 years old now and her jumper was only finished last year. So if Mum was to get her blanket it meant that someone else was going to need to knit it for her.

So I did. And she loves it. It's big enough that it covers her up completely when she lies down on the couch, it matches most of her decor and for all that it was knitted out of *gasp* acrylic - it's warm enough that she doesn't need to have the fire burning 24/7 so she doesn't freeze when watching TV in winter.

Of course there was a drawback. I finished hers in time for her birthday which is in September and that Christmas I had "orders" put in - for each of the kids. That's my Smurfling, my cousin who is 2 weeks older than Smurf, my brother's daughter and FIVE of my sister's kids. They wanted them for Christmas. That year.

Now Mum's throw took me 4 months to knit and fringe. I admit I knitted one for myself out of scrap wool while I was knitting Mum's one, but they're not a fast knit - because of the sheer size. It's just garter stitch so it's not terribly complex.

But really.

So I told them they were getting them for Christmas. In 2013. In order to give me time to spread them out a little bit since there was 8 of them to do. Smurf got his early - and a car sized one as well from different scraps. And I also did a full sized one in purple and black for myself that is a tad larger.

I was down to 2 months per blanket before my back deteriorated, it's gone back up again because I can't lie down and knit these, they're too big. And the kids didn't get them for Christmas that year. Maybe next year.

2 months for a blanket you say?

Here's the pattern.

On 9mm size needles (Straight or circular depending on your preference, it's knitted back and forth) cast on 154 stiches.

Knit until length is 160cm (5' roughly)

Cast off.

Make tassle fringes.

See, it's not complicated. Knitting 5 feet however gets rather heavy. And I injured my back and shoulder in July 2010 so can't sit up for huge stretches of knitting time anymore. I did get two more finished since the promised date, but that was all. I need to double check that the rest of the kids still want them and haven't changed their minds about the colours that they want.