By the time you read this, I will have seamed 15 of the 30 squares and the rest of the miters will be blocking. Yes, my friends, the miter madness continues! I have had complete project monogamy with this – the miters have taken hold all over again. Even though I have a million projects on the needles and I’d like to be knitting all of them all the time, the squares are what pull me in. I feel like I’m cheating if I even look at the knitting. Honestly, my time for any of it is so limited and the squares are easy and give me such satisfaction and I can taste the finish, even though it’s a LONG way off.
It took me more than ten hours over three days to seam the first square. I must have ripped and restarted like 25 times. The second square took half that time and now, if I had an uninterrupted hour, I bet I could do all four seams without any issues. I finally figured out the formula, so to speak, in lining up the stripes.
I’m constantly surprised at how satisfying this phase of the project has been. If I had known how much I’d enjoy weaving in ends and seaming I wouldn’t have waited three years to get started. It’s been the perfect project. Firstly, I took all the thinking out of it. I’m seaming the squares in the order I knit them and I’m seaming them exactly the way they look in this picture. No thinking allowed. It’s like I’m one of those color people – you know – when the cartoonist does the outline and someone else just colors in by the numbers? What’s so great about it is that my mind is freed up to think about other projects and daydream. And, when I’m too tired to even do that, I just know my job and I do it.
Undoubtedly, the absolute best part of the project – always the best part of the project – is all the color. Especially given that there is still about 36″ of snow in my front yard. This winter has been dreary and gray and we’re constantly being forced to stay home because of the weather, but every day I get a little pop of fun color to keep me company. And it’s always changing. The pile of seamed squares keeps growing and I’m consistently pleased by the choices I made so long ago. So far there’s only been one square that I’m sort of eh about, but I’m not changing anything. It was a completely different person that started this project and she made choices that were inspired at the time. The me I am now refuses to get in the way of that vision.
Tomorrow I will pick up all the blocking squares and dive into the remainder pile to match up the yarns with the squares for seaming. I’ve got my 60″ circular needle winging it way through the mail to me as we speak and I’m ready to order the dozen or so skeins of black Takhi Cotton Classic I’ll be using for the border and the general seaming. I’m so happy with this project and I can’t wait to get back to work on it. I want it to be finished so badly because I’m so excited to have it finished and I keep imagining how wonderful it will be to see my girls all wrapped up in its explosion of color. And at the same time I will be so sad to have it end. Fortunately, I guess, that end is still a long ways off.
Thanks for reading!
Gorgeous!There’s something about the mitered stripey squares and those colors are killer.Go Cara!
Damn, this project is so compelling. It has been years and I still cannot stop thinking about it.
Somewhere, and from about the same time as yours, I have a bunch of miters. I moved them here, I know, so I guess they’re in a bag in a corner of my stash room. Maybe I need to go find them — yours are just beautiful!
Bravo! I’ve been loving your unfinished blanket for a long time. Can’t wait to see it done. I am a fan of finishing — it’s very satisfying.
Yay! My mitered square blanket was much, much smaller than yours, and but I remember how daunting … and ultimately satisfying … the sewing up was. I even ended up loving the process of cranking out the border. It’s an addictive project.
Hooray for the miters! And hooray for you, finding time (as hard as it is somedays) to see this project through. I actually had a knitting FO last week – just a cowl so not too much but it was so good to be knitting again!
Lovely! I’m so glad to see the miters again, glad you’ve found some time to reignite your passion and get some ‘me time’. 🙂
It’s the return of one of my favorite Cara projects! I remember back to how the madness had you in it’s grip and, what fun it was to read about, or hear about when you’d. The blanket will be a family treasure when it’s finished and so much of you will be interwoven in the stitches.
Love! And maybe some inspiration to do some seaming of my own.
Absolutely! That’s exactly how I felt with Parcheesi. Once the plan was formulated, I could just do my job — drift and daydream, if energy allowed, or just take simple pleasure in the doing. I loved that it was pieces and parts for so long, and worked from a photo for the final sew-up, too!
Have fun with it, my friend, and I look forward to seeing your darlings all wrapped up in cozy stripes!!
Woohoo! Your seams are gorgeous.
I’ve always liked your pictures of this, so I know it will be wonderful when done.
IM-PRESS-IVE! I am dizzy imagining all the seaming you’re doing to piece this together, but can tell, with out a doubt, it will be totatlly worth it! It’s gorgeous!
Wow! Great to see you back. I often think of you when I wear my Jaywalkers from 2006??? You were so supportive to a new knitter. That blanket is going to be so special. Those girls are beautiful!
I love them! It was the miters that got me reading here to begin with and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product. I felt exactly the same way when I sewed up my Lizard Ridge – so satisfying to put all those squares together and hide all the ends.
Oooooo, all of the color is so wonderful!
That blanket is looking amazing! Love all the color combinations.
I’m actually about to start this project! YAY! Just last night I got 1 (20 skein) grab bag from WEBS. Do you think 20 different colors (hopefully they’ll be all different) is enough to get started or should I wait until I have more colors?
This project is still amazing, (after all these years.) You will be thrilled with this for years to come, and it will probably be a favorite of your babies, even when they are no longer babies. Maybe you will want to take an annual picture of the girls with the blanket to celebrate the date of finishing.
A-MAZ-ING! Those squares are just beautiful!
This looks so fabulous. The individual squares didn’t do much for me, but once they are joined into their square — WOW.
I crocheted a cotton afghan many years ago because I lived in a place that was too warm for wool. It is a fabulous color sampler, but alas, the afghan weighs enough to smother anyone who sits under it. I was so disappointed that I have never woven in all the ends. I am now re-inspired. I will finish this even if I never use it.
Sounds like this is absolutely the perfect project for you in the here and now. I am glad you got your mojo back, and it seems like you got it back in full force. I am a little worried about your whole love of seaming thing, but hey…it scares the crapola out of me, I’m glad it doesn’t intimidate you like it does me! lol
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