I slowed down a little yesterday. I don’t have a finished miter to show you – I think I took a bit of a break because I knew that I had something a little bit better to show. You’ll have to wait a few minutes though. I’m now more than halfway through the KNITTING portion of this project (not counting the border – which is already giving me fits.) Whether I make 25 or 30 squares – I’ve got 66 miters completed. One on the needles. 16.5 squares.
Things are changing for me in this project. First of all – I’m retiring colors.
I have knit five miters out of each of these individual skeins – four main color miters (so they start the miter and therefore use the most yarn) and one background miter. There’s about 8g or less left over and I can’t get a really accurate read as to whether or not I’ll be able to make another miter – I think I use about 8g but I’m not positive – so I’m letting these colors go. Which is kind of sad because I really love these colors. Why don’t I buy more? A couple of reasons. 1) I currently have 56 untapped colors. 56. And I’ve only exhauted 9 colors. That’s a lot of unused color and I’m actually feeling a bit gluttonous so I’m not buying any more yarn. If I can’t get 8 or 13 squares out of what I have, then I should just give up this project. 2) I have no idea what the colors are. I may be all OCD about some things, but I’m clearly lacking in many other OCD departments. (I like to think that if there was an OCD club, I’d be kicked out on my ass – just for the sheer number of germs taking up residence in my home.) I have kept a running list of all the colors I have in my “collection” but I haven’t recorded which colors I’ve used for which squares AT ALL. I have no freaking clue. (So please don’t ask which colors I used for square # this or square # that. I already feel bad about it.) I think those are two excellent reasons NOT to duplicate yarn colors. Don’t you?
Another interesting fact is that I’ve now knit an entire square (or two) using yarn already used before. I don’t know why this is important to me, but it is – am I copying myself? I don’t think any of the squares are so similar. But still, it’s in my mind crowding around with all the other thoughts about this project.
One of the reasons I knit like a maniac this weekend was because I wanted to get to the magic number 16 so I could lay out what I have and see it taking shape. 8 was too few, if you remember, and this time I did it right. (Forgive the really crappy photograph!)
Laying out all the squares, I was VERY pleasantly suprised! I LOVE IT! (And I’ve still got 8 or 13 more to add to the mix! I can’t wait to see how it changes.) In real life, I’m happy with every square. Fortunately or unfortunately, picture-wise, there’s really only one square giving me fits.
One of the things I LOVE about the red square is that the orange and red values are very similar – especially give the contrast of the blue and green. BUT, red is awful to photograph (contrast and saturation are a BITCH to control) and as I was taking the picture I could see through the camera that the red and orange were blending together. There is much more of a difference to the naked eye – but this square worries me – and it’s one of my favorites. Here’s where I was killing myself about not recording the colors – because if I could I would re-do this square with a more contrasty orange. Of course – the red, blue, AND green have all been exhausted and I know I will have a terrible time trying to figure out exactly which red and which blue and which green they are. I’m not going to worry about it until the end. I can always try to back track my way out and re-do the square if need be.
Needless to say, this layout is not the end result. I love the squares where the values are similar and blend a bit in contrast to the color combinations where the values are in stark contrast and when I do lay out the final blanket I will have to pay particular attention to those “lighter” miters. But the blanket is pleasing to me nonetheless and I have added encouragement to continue. Rest assured, there will be a new square to show you tomorrow. For now, here are 80 million pictures of what I’ve accomplished so far. Enjoy!
That is just amazing. As for the one “bad” square, it’s comforting in a way to know that even you have trouble photographing red. I have no doubt it will find its place. I can’t wait to see how the design develops as you make more squares.
I have to say that I would lay out the colors differently… but you’re making me imagine how I would do it. Note to self: be afraid.
Cara, I am completely blown away. I could not see the beauty of the individual miters, nor the squares (unimaginative and color-fearful person that I am), but I love how they all look laid out together! Absolutely beautiful! Stunning! I am sooo inspired!
Cara, it looks terrific! So inspiring! I’m slogging through completing a log cabin baby blanket right now, so I appreciate your enthusiasm and perseverance!
cara that looks fuckin’ fantastic!! keep going!! ahh i cannot wait to see it done. it’s GORGEOUS!
I love looking at your miters (that sorta sounds dirty)…I am living vacariously through you as I don’t think I have the patience to knit a mitered blanket myself. And the fact that you have 56 untapped colors is incredible.
A feast for the eyes! I’ve been trying to put the squares together in my mind for awhile now, and it’s great to see what they look like. I think my problem with a project like this would be that I would just throw colors together in squares and not be able to arrange a pleasing blanket out of them. I have no doubt that your finished blanket will be stunning!
It’s like making a patchwork quilt. Oh the final arrangement of squares… it’s AGONY trying to decide which ones to put in what space! People who haven’t done it think it just all goes together and looks great with no effort at all. HARdeeHAR HAR! As if. It’s awesome to read all your thoughts and ponderings and craziness about figuring out the color complexities of your miter blanket.
It. Looks. AWESOME!
I’d be curious to see where people’s eyes went first – my eyes first fell on the second square from the left in the second row down. I wonder if that says anything about me…?
It’s going to be so stunning when it’s finished – hell, it’s stunning now!
Simply stunning!
truly beautiful. i love the brown/pink & the greens..and the oranges, well, it’s really to hard to pick a favorite. just lovely.
There was a little hitch in my breathing when I saw the first photo of it laid out. It’s GORGEOUS.
Oh, amazing! So beautiful, and the colors, although so different, work together really well. Every time I look at your squares, I start rethinking the project. Your advice was perfect: I need to stop overthinking this This definitely brings out the OCD tendencies. . .
It looks awesome!
You continue to amaze…I’m swamped here at work and seeing those squares is just such an amazing thing. Can you make those on your fabulous notecards…I really don’t mind hearing about squares or anything else you care to share. I’m sorry I don’t comment consistently, but I do read consistently. I adore your blog. Back to my numbers and hope you have a fabulous day.
Beautiful blanket! I have loved this series on your miter squares, it’s interesting to me to get down to the basics and see how far you can go experimenting with different color combos. Great job!
Fantastic! If I wasn’t so lazy and color-challenged, I’d consider doing one myself!
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say if you think the contrast of the red one isn’t on par with the rest, perhaps it would make a great accent pillow to go with the blanket? Related, but different and you would still have your favorite square get used!
it looks f’in’ awesome!
I am amazed. That is stunning.
Are you blocking these as you go? Might make seaming easier when you’re finished (like, next week at this rate?). Just sayin’! :o) It looks great – I especially love the close-ups!
Too. Much. Fun. To. Look. At! YEAH!
Air, air,,,, you took my breath away!
Maybe you will make a calendar or something from those photos ? or posters? soooooooo beautiful, amazing.
I’m in love with the pink square. All those colours just so amazingly beautiful
The colors are so pretty.
I SIMPLY LOVE THIS BLANKET WITH ALL ITS COLOURS !!! PERIOD.
I read your blog faithfully, but rarely comment. I guess I don’t feel I have much else to contribute and even though I’m going to say what 20 people before me did, I just HAD to leave a comment. Cara…you have created a beautiful work of ART! That picture is just stunning. Watch out for the MoMA people! You may just lose that blanket. Thanks for the inspiration!
God, thanks SO MUCH for giving us a preview! I’m so excited for you!!!!
Congrats on the progress!!! It looks BEAUTIFUL!!!! I can’t wait to see it done 🙂
I had a hard time at first imagining all the squares together. But now that you’ve laid them all out, it’s so easy to see! The squares look beautiful together. So many colors, so gorgeous.
I’m scared.
I don’t like mitered squares much, as I’ve mentioned. But it’s GORGEOUS!
I can’t imagine knitting it… I don’t have your … er… focus. But I now imagine wanting one. I never thought I’d want one. But yours is… marvelous! shit.
you’re going to corrupt me again, aren’t you?
WOW, C. A true feast for the eyes. I can’t choose a favorite 🙂 Now I want to do one… if you get a heads up on more grab bags…
Absolutely gorgeous!!! A mitre just might be my next blanket project (if I ever get the log cabin done!)
Cara, you are blowing my mind! Seriously. I am totally on board. Also–I agree with Michele: what about notecards? These colors are really hitting the spot for me.
Oh… and I love Kristi’s idea.
Take that favorite square and make it a pillow! It will continue to stand out, (and can continue to be a photographer’s nightmare I suppose, but will likely behave better when it’s away from it’s high-contrast friends), but will do so in a way that’s clear that was INTENDED…
Wee thing’s not fitting in b/c s/he’s meant to sit on top!
dood–
your miters are looking mighty fine there! :o)
i’m very very inspired to start my own now…
must resist…i’m still working on my moderne log cabin blanket.
I soooo want to do miters now. But I fear I do not have your eye for colors. I love this project!!!!!!
Eye Candy! Do you need my address for where to send the finished blanket?
Truly, to each their own. I’m glad you’re happy, but I think I’ll keep my opinion to myself.
Just to say though, I’m still reading, because I find the process extremely interesting.
Any interest in selling your leftovers?
Amazing! What a great blanket-half-full!
Wow, watching this blanket evolve has just been amazing. I love all the colors, and the combinations you’ve done. Bravo 🙂
OOoooo! Pretty!
Long live the mitered square!
Cara, I love these–you can take pictures of your miters any day. I am such a sucker for all the color!
Oooo, a rainbow! What a perfect blanket it to snuggle in on gray days. There is no way anyone could be wrapped up in that and not smile!
Looking forward to seeing the rest. 🙂
::walks away to go check stash for cotton yarn and muttering to self about colors::
Just checking in after an absence, and catching up on the last few posts.
Dude. Knit what you knit and blog about it. Don’t worry about it! Those squares are beautiful and even if they weren’t, it’s worth blogging about.
As a newbie knitter, this fabulousness is really inspiring – “Just think, one day I might be able to do something half as nice!”
Cara, they are beautiful! I just started my own, much more boring and simplistic, miter blanket project a few days ago. I have a couple of bags of wool waiting to be a blanket.
Thanks for showing that constant determination and patience results in a desired knit! Fabulous!
Wow!
Can you just imagine looking at that on LSD? Heh.
It’s lovely and will be such a work of art when finished. Hell, it is now!
I can see part of the offending miter in the pic miters12 and I think it’s beautiful. So what if the orange and red are a little blend-y on film, are you about to bring it on Big Brother? No, of course not; you’ll be looking at it in person and your eyes are way more discerning than any lens.
It first I thought you were crazy with all these squares, now I know you are a genius. That is one of the most inspiring knit projects I have seen in a long time. Not in the knitting aspect, but in the color process. That takes a lot of thought and skill. I’m very impressed.
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT……
The photo does something to your eyes!What a beauty.
STUNNING!
It’s WONDERFUL! How great it looks all put together like that. It can only get better with more squares.
it is as stunning as i thought it would be! if you really cant stand the red square consider pulling it and making it into an accent pillow..
Gorgeous! Must…resist…urge to…knit miters…
Absolutely Magnificent!
Gorgeous!
i don’t think you can really complain about what people are saying about you when you broadcast to the world that you sit home and knit all day, no shower, no food, no nothing. it sounds insane, and i think it kind of is. not to mention the money going into a throw when there are so many more meaningful and substantial things to do with the time and money.
Just beautiful. 😀 That’s the cheeriest blanket I’ve ever seen.
Ooooooooh, you evil woman. I do NOT have time to knit another blanket right now……. but now I really want to!!!! I’m just going to have to sulk and gratuitously enjoy yours. Not fair. (NB. Please forgive PMT-induced childish nature of comment – I really do loooove the blanket.)
I love all the squares… love them love them love them.
It’s a fascinating look at color…the way color works together or reacts, changes and compliments. Laying them out for the finished product might be just as exciting as the knitting. Imagine….
It is looking fantastic! You are an inspiration.
How did you pick the 60 some odd yarns you picked? It’s gorgeous. I’d be afraid I’d grab 60 and about 5 of the shades would clash with things.
I’m messing with your stats. The miters are so stunning, I keep coming back to see them again. They are gorgeous. I am in awe of 56 unused colors. Maybe I do have “color issues”. hmmmm
Gorgeous – when I want a color fix, I know where to come. You never disappoint.
WOW! Apparently I’ve missed a couple of days and what a lot of wonderfulness I found on my return. The colors are wonderful. I love seeing them all together. I knew immediately that it was going to be the red square you were having trouble with but I think it’s just fine as it is. They are all gorgeous. I so want to make one but don’t trust my own stick-to-it-iveness. Fuck housework. It will always be there. But when the creative urge strikes you MUST follow it. You just must. I’m so glad you are because you are creating a work of stunning beauty. Thank you for the pictures. I just love looking at them. The more the better.
That is totally freaking awesome. I admire your dedication to the project…and it’s so colorful and fun.
I guess what I’m trying to say without sounding as corny as this about to come out is, “YOU GO GIRL!”
–Erin
you have tartar build up.
and I ain’t talking about your mouth.
Oooooohhhhh
Yeeeeeaaaaaaah
That’s some seriously awesome miter mojo. Yer killin’ me.
Absolutely Gorgeous. I love the way it’s all coming together.
Wow, Cara, that is some serious eye candy. Thanks for sharing your obsessio… err, work. 🙂
Beautiful. I hope it takes you weeks (or even months) to complete so I can see daily miters and squares in gorgeous colors. I not only love the knitting, I love your photos. Thanks for sharing!
Everytime I see your miters I cannot help but smile. When I feel glum I just pop on over and instantly feel better. I know it’s been said before, but these miters are AMAZING.
I love the photographs just for the colours. They make me feel happy!
I learn something new about color every time you post the pictures, please keep doing so.
Wow! The miters are just amazing especially when seen altogether! Very cool project.
I never knew what a mitre was until I found your blog. Yours is simply stunning!
I like the problem square, when beside the square with turquoise and blue it stands out nicely, maybe the green on the bottom half (or top half, depending on which way you look at it) is making it shy away?
Anyway, your obsession is my eye candy!
It’s an homage to OpArt..it’s fucking fabulous!
That is so sick. Would make cool pillows too.
Seriously…you’re killing me here…IT’S SO WONDERFUL….aghh….
oh my god – I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!
I want to make one!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😀
The others can say what they like. I, for one, am absolutely loving the mitered blanket WIP and all the photos that accompany it, as well as all the discussion about color mixing. It’s like Eye Candy Friday every freakin’ day of the week! It’s mesmerizing, awe-inspiring, motivating awesomeness. Truly.
One of your lurkers delurking here… 🙂 One of the first things in my head this morning when waking up was “I wonder if she’s posted more pictures of her miters”… I loooove your posts about your blanket. I smile when I see all the colours, I get goose bumps when seeing squares put together, and I feel your pain when you’re frustrated with your work.
What’s scary here is that I found myself holding cotton yarn in my hands yesterday combining colours…
Sweet Mary and Joseph, that looks SO GOOD! SO GOOD!
OMG, you are killing me. I already have a bajillion projects (not that you’d know it from my blog) and now I must … knit … miters …
All these mitered squares just blow me away, really they do. I just want to touch them and the colors are so gorgeous. I was one of those who asked if you had kept track of all the color combinations, but that was just my lazy mind hoping you had done the work for me. Everytime I look at these, I want to knit them. Then, I remind myself that if I did, I might never knit another thing. It looks overwhelming, and that’s part of what makes it so fascinating.
Fantastic!!
I’ve saved the picture of the 16 squares into my photo gallery, and will enjoy looking at it. Over and over. Is that the start of the madness?!!!!
Keep those pictures coming. We LOVE them.
Oh. wow. Must… knit… mitres. mussst….knit…..mm…
Damn. Must finish accounts.
I think a few repeated colours work to make it feel more random: never a repeat is an artificial situation. And yet I absolutely love the way your basic rules have unified what might otherwise be too random. This is what makes it art rather than, well, chaos. Please, please, please: tell us something about how you decide the final placement of colours/mitres/squares. (I’ll send chocolate!) If it were me I’d probably ruin it by being too controlling; you’ve already used colour combinations I hate and yet they’re utterly wonderful when seen with all the rest.
You have such an eye for colour. Anyone complaining about this madness must be suffering from jealousy — I’m grateful you’ve shared it!
The blanket looks gorgeous! I’ve been intermittantly mitering over the last few months with all my Takhi leftovers, but you’ve totally inspired me. I’m going to the LYS to pick out new colors!
Really, cool. You may have inspired me!
Fantastic!
Cara,
It’s nice to see someone get so into something like this…all the colours are so inspiring…It’s great I always love to see the next one …or any project…your pictures are beautiful.
Dara
I love the whole thing!
Good God. It’s freakin’ GORGEOUS.
LOVE. IT. You’re awesome Cara!
OMG, I’m swooning! Never have I felt any urge to knit a miter square blanket…until today. You’re killing me, Cara!
I just have to tell you – I absolutely love your miters! The blanket is so full of life! I can’t wait to see it sewn up.
I agree with you on the red square . . it’s bothering me also. It keeps pulling my eye to that spot and I don’t believe that’s a good thing. Whether or not you decide to fix it or how is completely up to you. I have no clue what to suggest other than what you’ve said — try for more contrast.
Square #16 is my absolute all-time favorite square you’ve done to date.
I’ve been meaning to write but keep getting side tracked with tons of other things. I’ve purposely logged in this evening only to comment to you. Why? Because I have to thank you. I don’t care how many people bitch or whine or complain that you’re OCD . . who gives a shit . . this is YOUR blog . . YOU write what YOU want. End of story. But the thank you part comes from all of this documentation you’ve been so detailed in doing for your mitered squares. Because of you — I will do this project. Because of you — I will have a definitive resource to come to in order to see color combinations. Because of you — I can troubleshoot more effectively.
So, thank you. Forget what gripes you may hear. What you’ve documented here is invaluable. I’m going to print out your pages just in case the internet decides to break tomorrow. Hey, Al Gore may just decide to pull the plug. ;P
I love the miters. I’ve been following your progress anticipating each new square, living vicariously through your hard work! They look fabulous all laid out, I hope once you have the rest of the squares finished that red problem square will find its place.
Wow, that’s really beautiful – well done!
I get so finicky about colour combinations that I can’t even begin to imagine undertaking such a complex project. (I used to crave symmetry and matchy-matchy-ness, but I’m slowly moving towards asymmetry and violent contrast – it’s an interesting time.) Hats off to you for being so brave.
I just found you, through your next post actually, and scrolled around and found this blanket with which I am absolutely and completely in love! I’ve played with the idea of knitting it, too. And yours is completely and totally inspiring. I know that it’s the colors and the way that they play with each other that makes my eyes go all funny and great, but part of me thinks its also the “bad miters” that makes me feel this love. Thanks for making this blanket!
I just love the last several pictures of your mitered squares. It’s like they go one forever, an endless sea of mitered squares. I imagine that is what it feels like sometimes too. Can’t wait to see how the finished project turns out.
WOW! beautiful.