I just finished blocking my first-ever, Hemlock Ring Blanket. I have to tell you, once I started knitting it, I couldn't put it down. Really, it was much, much easier than anything I ever imagined! Nothing more complicated than yarnovers, SSKs, K2togs and PSSOs.
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| Fan and Leaf Pattern Detail |
I used about 1 1/2 skeins of Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool in Antique. This yarn comes in big, generous 478 yard skeins and is reasonably priced at about $20 skein. I should have bought 3 skeins so I could make two! I used size 10 needles because that is all I had (size 10 1/2 is recommended). As you all know by now, I knit loosely and, even with the smaller needles, my finished blanket blocked to about 60 inches through Row 55 of the chart.
The pattern is great and easy to follow. I'd recommend stitch markers to keep track of the repeats. (There are only eight). I can't wait to start another. And another!
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| Crochet Bind-off |
I was so excited to finish the Hemlock Ring Blanket that I chose to do the crochet bind-off instead of the knited one. It's much easier, I think, once you get the hang of it and, I think, a lot of the completed projects that I have seen on
Ravelry used the crochet bind-off. I had never used this technique before and, while I was able to find knitting videos online for a plain crochet bind-off, I couldn't find a video showing how to crochet through 3 stitches, then chain 7. I fiddled with it a bit and this is what I came up with:
- Chain 7 out of the last stitch ( I knitted through Row 55 and had 472 stitches, starting here leaves 471 stitches which is divisible by 3 and prevents any leftover stitches at the end).
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| Chain 7 stitches |
- Slip 3 stitches off of the knitting needle onto to the crochet hook. (At this point, there will be 4 stitches total on crochet hook)
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| Slip 3 stitches to crochet hook |
- Pull yarn though the 3 stitches (2 stitches left on crochet hook)
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| Pull Yarn through 3 stitches |
- Pull yarn through remaining 2 stitches
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| Pull yarn through 2 stitches |
- Repeat starting from Chain 7.
As far as blocking goes, you need a
LOT of pins. I pinned each loop from the bind-off. If you did the math above, that's 157 loops! Plus the points of the flowers and the inner loops and, and, and! I used my bathroom floor and my
Alphabet Blocks when my husband was on away on a business trip. And, I kept the door shut to keep the cats and dog out. Too many pins to worry about!
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| Hemlock Ring Blanket - Blocking- That's a lotta pins! |
I'm going to give this to my mother-in-law for Christmas. I think I will knit at least one more as a Christmas gift and then, hopefully, one for me as well!
