Grand Six Round Blanket

In my post for 11/14/20 titled Pink and Lilac Round Knitted Blanket, knitted for my sixth grandchild, Irene, I cited the history of previous round knitted blankets and compared the colors of yarn used:

I have knitted this same garter stitch circular blanket pattern, my own design, for all of my grandchildren, six in total. Two have been for boys and this is the fourth one for a baby girl. I even knitted one slightly larger for myself with a ribbed variation along with the garter stitch. Posts for previous blankets with color callouts, some with back stories and some with poems, are at these links:

Vivian 12/26/13 a-blankie-for-christmas
Lillian 3/21/16 circling-blanket-tradition 
Isaiah 12/17/16 going-in-circles-again 
William 12/20/17 round-blue-blanket-for-baby-boy
Autumn 8/29/18 autumns-pink-blanket.html
Mine 1/9/19 knit-round-adult-snuggle.html

This post deals with what I am doing with the two large plastic bins of the leftover yarn from those grandchildren blankets. I decided to knit it up as much as I could into one large blanket with 12 wedges, two wedges each in the color yarn for each grandchild. I have lots left over of some colors and not so much of other colors.

The blanket size was dictated by the yarn for which I had the least remaining; that was the light and dark pink for Autumn's. I needed 2.5 oz of each color and was a bit shy for those two shades. Rather than make the multi-color blanket smaller, I bought just a bit more of those two pinks. I had a great abundance of some colors such as the turquoise and chartreuse from Isaiah's blanket. I will have to find another project for them. At least they are all in the cool tones and will blend together. I can add in a splash of the dark aqua from William's perhaps. The final column is an estimation of how much yarn I will have left. I will reassess my hopefully dwindling stash once I have knit the blanket.

I was going to do one wedge per grandchild, and then repeat, but I thought it might be too chaotic, so I changed to a double wedge per grandchild. With less color changes I also halved the number of thread changes that need to be woven in at the end. I alternated two-color-tweed wedges (Autumn, William, Isaiah) with variegated yarn wedges (Lillian, Irene, Vivian). I started between two wedges of Lillian's so when the end wedge was seamed to the first wedge I could use the same color yarn and the joining would be less visible.

Here is an in progress photo with nine out of the twelve wedges completed and spread out over my blue ottoman. From six o'clock clockwise are the following: 1 wedge for Lillian, 2 wedges for William, 2 wedges for Irene, 2 wedges for Isaiah, and 2 wedges for Vivian. Not shown, yet to be completed, are the 2 wedges for Autumn and the second wedge for Lillian. The repeat frequency for the colors of the two strands used in Irene's wedges are longer, and so the pink/lilac/white did not stagger as readily as the variegated pattern of Vivian's and Lillian's yarns. Improvisation does lead to surprises.

I started the 10th and 11th wedges with the pale and dark pink yarn combination of Autumn's blanket. This combination was the one that drove the blanket size due to the smallest amount of leftovers -- pale pink 2.2 ounces and dark pink 1.8 ounces. I knitted with bated breath to see if I would have to use the extra yarn I bought or if I had needlessly added to the bin of leftovers I was trying vanquish.

I did need to delve into another 5 oz skein of the dark pink that I had been able to buy from Etsy. It was from the same vintage and even had the same image on the label. For the light pink, just in case, I had bought a backup 5 oz skein of a very close pink of the same Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly™, but I did not need it. I did have a wee bit left over from the original. Yay! One goal of this project was to use up yarn, not to buy more. I dutifully returned the pale pink skein untouched to Michael's.  For once I could locate the receipt. I had wisely tucked it under the yarn label. The small balls of yarn in the later photo are the remains of the other colors. Not too shabby, right?

I still have leftover yarn in my stash. Other nearly full skeins that remain are: on top, the 4 oz variegated purple; in the middle, the 5 oz teal, and the 5 oz dark pink I bought from Etsy; and on the bottom row, those dang huge 15 oz BIG skeins I had to buy when I realized I need 36 oz, just over two skeins worth. I usually try to avoid those elephantine hunks. They never manage to pull out smoothly til the very end and I usual have to eventually wind the tangled mess into balls, anyway. I could not pass on those turquoise and chartreuse colors though and that was the only size they came in. Perhaps I could knit a long, l-o-n-g, L-O-N-G striped scarf?

I sewed the initial cast-on row to the ending bind-off row in Lillian's multi-pastel color. Then I dutifully sewed in all the loose ends at the outer perimeter from whenever I changed colors. The finished blanket measures slightly over a 4 ft diameter. The plan, for now, is for me to keep this knitted creation. The color scheme does not match the decor of any of my rooms, but so what? I will think of each grandkid when I snuggle or nap under it. When they visit, it will be fun for them to find the sample of their own blanket in Grandma's blanket.

Alligator Burp Cloths

My grandson's teacher is looking forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time. My eight-year-old grandson asked if I would make some burp cloths for her and her new grandson. (I have a reputation for producing copious quantities of burp cloths.) He picked out this alligator print himself and my daughter said he was very, very excited about his choice. After googling the pattern, I learned it is Oasis Collection, Alligators Navy Flannel 446311. The alligators are about 5" wide. I paired it with a green stripe flannel from my stash

One yard of each flannel was enough to make up into four burp cloths in two complementary configurations.

Isaiah will enjoy giving them to his teacher. I hope she likes them. My tutorial for these burp cloths can be found in my post for 6/18/2014. Yes, I have been churning these out for over a decade. I have six grandchildren of my own!