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THE blanket

 There was this blanket I heard about ages and ages back, near to when I started in 2018. I don't remember exactly when I found it, but it came up repeatedly. As a novice knitter, I was intimidated by a large blanket, so I pushed it out of my mind. By the time I was ready, I had started selling things. I had to get ready for a convention, so no time. On and on the excuses came: art show, Christmas gifts, quarantine. Sure, quarantine in 2020 was probably the best time to make a blanket, but this one was never really high on my list of things to do. I had a list of sweaters I wanted to make, a couple half started projects to finish, and techniques I wanted to learn. Quarantine eased, and I was hired in Guatemala. Cue the list of projects that will use up yarn AND I could bring with me. This project uses up yarn, but I never would have been able to get it here. And since moving here, I fell in love with blankets, even though it never really gets that cold in Guatemala. But hey, it's a pretty mindless pattern and is a great way to keep my hands busy.

I am making the Ron Weasley Blanket. It has 80 squares, some plain, some striped, some diagonal. I started around Halloween. I made maybe 15 squares from October to November, just in my spare time. It's garter stitch, so not too bad. When I finished my Christmas knitting, I picked it up again. That's when I decided I had to finish before going back to work. I did. What I like about it is that the colors are flexible. It's supposed to be a scrap blanket and use up what's on hand. If you can't find an exact match, don't worry! Just use what you have.

I started by choosing colors I had and making squares. Then I bought the rest I needed and made a few more. Then in my final push I went row by row to finish. The pattern is free, and available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z-P2tmU9T9qh2PvS3IFrc0sw-U7cGI6PZIgFRf_RIVpXvKk94Psb5IS-UsiQ/vie

Here are pictures of the process:

Yarn collected in a box so I had it on hand

A few squares with different designs
 
Beginning to sew together a couple rows


 
Squares done, laid out and ready to sew!
  
 
 
All done and on my bed! It's HUGE!
 

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