FO: Valley Log Cabin Blanket

I finally finished the Valley Log Cabin Blanket. It's a gift for a friend's new grandbaby. I used an I-cord bindoff to give the edges a nice finish. It took me two weeks to make, but during that two weeks I travelled for 4 days, and spent my 4th of July holiday showing houses to an out-of-town buyer. Uninterrupted, this blanket could probably be finished in just over a week.

Now on to more fun things! But I really should destash some more...

Log Cabin blanket dragging on...

I have finished the fun part of the Valley Log Cabin Blanket, knitting all the different rectangles going in different directions. Now I'm adding the border, which I swear is taking forever, probably because I have another summer tank that I want to start on and this blanket just won't go away! Here's a pic of it with 3 of the blue borders finished:

And here's a pic of the I-cord bindoff border. Since you add on the borders one side at a time, you have to leave the last 3 sts of the I-cord bindoff on hold until you've added the next side. When you're ready to bindoff the next side, then you pick up stitches along the right edge of the new side as you bring the I-cord up around the corner to bindoff the new side.

Log Cabin Blanket almost done

Here's the Log Cabin Blanket with the 4 'granny squares' sewn together. The pattern suggested using a slip-stitch crochet seam to join the squares, but I'm not very proficient at crochet and wasn't happy with the results, so I just used good ol' mattress stitch. Now I just need to knit on the borders on all the sides and I'm done. Woo hoo!

A Study of I-Cord Bindoff

Been nosin' around the internet for techniques for an I-cord bindoff for my Log Cabin Blanket. There are various ways to do it. They all agree that after you are through knitting, you cast on 3 sts (or however many you want, depending on the thickness of the cord that you desire) at the beginning of the row using backward loop e, chain or knitted cast on. You knit 2 stitches (or all of the new stitches except for the last one), then perform a decrease with the last new stitch and the first stitch of the main piece. How you perform the decrease dramatically affects the look of the cord:

This one from Knitty.com uses K2TBL. I like the look of it, but the thought of doing K2TBL for the 12-foot circumference of a blanket makes me want to run screaming into the street naked. Okay, not naked.

This one from wikiknitting.com uses K2tog. I don't like the zigzag ridge at the bottom of it.

This one from Knitpick's website uses SKP, I like this one the best and plan to use it.

So here are the directions that I plan to use. At the beginning of the bindoff row, cast on 3 stitches using cable cast on. Knit 2 stitches. SKP (Slip one, Knit one, pass slipped stitch over). Slip the last 3 worked stitches back to the left hand needle and repeat. I haven't worked out yet how to end the cord. Each side of the blanket is knitted separately. I think I'll have to leave the last 3 stitches live, add on the next side, pick up stitches along the edge of the new side, and possibly continue on around the corner. We'll see when we get there.

Oh, and here's a picture of the first square of the blanket. Went really fast.

Prairie is still languishing on top of the dryer, I may not have time to finish it before we leave for Lake Tahoe, I have appointments all day today and we leave tomorrow.

Log Cabin Baby Blanket

My husband's best friend in high school just became a grandfather. That rates a baby blanket, not just some quickie cap and sweater. I found several with techniques that interested me, but finally settled on the Valley Log Cabin Blanket in the interest of finishing the thing sometime before the little nipper graduates preschool. And of course, it was going to be a throw-in-the-washer and generally mistreat it sort of yarn. Vanna's Choice didn't have enough bright colors, so I settled on Caron's Simply Soft Brites in 7 colors bright enough to interest any baby that's been plopped down on it so that mother can go pee and get a cup of coffee. It's constructed of four panels with 14 strips in each panel. Here's 7 strips done in about 2 hours:

Should be good airplane knitting next Wednesday.

Have also made great progress on the Master HandKnitting Level I, finished up through swatch 15 and wrote up the pattern for it. All that's left now knitting-wise is to knit swatch 16, which is color work and not my strong suit, and the project hat. Then it's answering questions and writing a little report.

What has happened to Prairie, you may ask? She's languishing in unfinished sweater land. Front and Back are knit, blocked and dried, just need some kid-free time to figure out the crochet trim around the neck and armholes.