I’m totally loving this blanket.  I’m blowing through a ton of miscellaneous skeins of yarn like nobody’s business.  (I’ve probably said this before; it’s just that I’m so amazed by it still.)  But, I’ve been learning a few things along the way.

Firstly, it’s bigger than I thought it was.  I spread it out on my 3′x3′ coffee table to take a photo and realized it’s at least 75% done.  Whoa!

This first section, was “nice” but boring.  (You can say it too; my feelings won’t be hurt.)  I was also realizing at this point that if I didn’t include other yarns I would have an awfully skinny blanket.  I knew that I didn’t have more of the browns/grays/cream in abundance so I only worked up half the neutrals with the idea I could put the other half on the other side of the blanket, framing some colored yarns in between.  (If you can make it look like it belonged there in the first place, it doesn’t really look like an accident anymore.)

I went in search of other alpaca skeins and found some sparklies along the way.  I figured, why not?  They weren’t planned for anything else.  Wasn’t this a stash busting exercise?!  Here’s a close up since the previous blog post photos didn’t show them quite so well.  Yum!

As I started adding different yarns I realized that I felt better about using every single yard of a skein and not worrying about starting on one end or another and having waste yarn.  I figure it just adds character.  It’s also not that noticeable when using so many yarns, some of them variegated and changing colors anyway.  As one yarn ran out I just started adding another to the mix.

What has been fun is playing with different color combinations.  In the picture above, there is one variegated yarn that runs through the entire section, but it looks very different depending on what it pairs up with.  I think my favorite parings tend to be the variegated along with a neutral (black, gray, white).  Even with the different neutrals they appear different.  What a feast for the eyes!

Here I’ve started adding some ribbon yarn.  It’s possible this is pushing the envelope too far, or I need to pair it with more of a mohair to add some fuzzy bulk.  I’ll know more as I work with it.

With all of the different yarns I’m throwing into this blanket, it’s entirely possible the end result will be homely or have that “oh yeah, that is soooo homemade it’s borderline ugly” look.  But, the process along the way is so fun I seriously doubt it will matter.  Besides, functionally it IS warm.

And, blanket number 2 is percolating in my brain as I play with blanket number 1.  There is a TON of ribbon yarn that needs to shine in someplace other that my bedroom drawer…