Whit's Knits: Love Birds Blanket
Almost two years ago my mother asked me to knit a blanket for her living room. I have to say, off the bat, that my mother has a pretty wacky living room. The color "scheme" is yellow, red and blue, with big moments of each: two scarlet leather chairs, a giant upholstered yellow chair, a cornflower blue loveseat, a printed fabric couch, and rich yellow walls. Such an offbeat room would definitely demand a pretty unique blanket.
We looked through some books and debated a few options, but when she happened to flip through Lucinda Guy's designs for baby and kid stuff, she immediately knew she had to have the bird blanket. I made a couple of attempts to steer her to something a little less intense to knit, but no! it had to be the birds. In my mother's defense, she's not much of a knitter and so probably didn't realize that she had picked out a bit of a doozy. Luckily, knitting challenges are my life and, plus, who can refuse her own mother?
It took me a couple of years, but last month I did finally finish it!
Materials
I knit this blanket with Farmhouse Yarns' beautiful, hand dyed and spun Andy's Merino II, 100% merino wool. These colors from the top are Natural, Goldenrod, Balsam Fir, Cornflower and Cranberry. I honestly can't remember how many of each skein I used, but my best guess is 5 (or 6?) of the Natural, 2 (or 3?) of the Goldenrod, 1 (or 2?) of the Balsam Fir, 2 of the Cornflower and 1 of the Cranberry.
I used a US #10 circular needle, 40 inches long to get a gauge of 3 1/2 stitches per inch.
The Pattern
My mother was so smitten by Lucinda Guy's "Roost Blanket". She loved the sweet humor of the snoozing birds and the graphic simplicity of the design. Luckily, I agreed! But we'd have to make some changes...
Lucinda Guy knit her version with Rowan's Cashsoft DK with a finished size of 41 1/2 x 43 1/2 inches. Because I was committed to using Andy's Merino which is quite a bit thicker than the Cashsoft and because I wanted the finished size to be a little bit more rectangular, I made a few adjustments to Lucinda's pattern.
Three birds in a row at 3 1/2 stitches per inch would have meant a pretty big blanket, so, instead, I knit two facing each other. I like this change because the birds seem so happy with each other, like little love birds.
Also, instead of knitting garter stitch stripes between the rows of birds, I knit small checks, one stitch of natural followed by one stitch of yellow, stranding the yarn in the back. I hoped this change would evoke a ground of scattered seeds and corn.
Reworking the charts a little, adding some width to the borders and some length to the whole design, I ended up with a 48 inch by 54 inch blanket.
My mother went totally gaga over the blanket when I gave it to her for Christmas. It was one of those satisfying times when someone really appreciates a handknit gift. In fact, now she's gone and draped the whole loveseat with the blanket and won't let anyone sit on it!
January 18, 2009 | Print | Email | Share | in Blankets, Farmhouse Yarn, Home, Knitting, Whit's Knits | 53 Comments
Reader Comments (53)
Only Lucinda Guy (and now, you) could make me go back to intarsia. (No! No! A thousand times, no! Um, OK.)
Well done, Whit!
I love the colours you selected and the blanket looks so warm and comfortable. And your story is lovely.
And I bet Lucinda Guy would love it too!
oh, thanks for your blog...ive been following it for a few weeks now and i really like it. thankyou
take care
bex
jaw-dropping.
i'm in awe.
yours is just fantastic!