The Heathen Housewife

So some of you had some very valid questions and requests on the Blankie Friday post. I meant to answer them last night, but I was busy dyeing yarn. So here we go.

Non-gratuitous kid pic on the couch with the blankie:

Blankie all by herself on the couch – well, with the blankie my grandmother crocheted for me when I was a kid. Grandma’s blankie is a bit longer, and I have to admit there have been times when I wished *that* blanket to be longer than it is. hm.

About the border in question – all along the plan has been to add a very small, subtle I-cord border all along the edges. This is non-negotiable, and it is in fact already implemented along the bottom and most of the right edge. It made me laugh hilariously that y’all got all hot and bothered (kinda) about what kind of border I was talking about when it’s all right there in the tutorial! heh.

Additional thoughts and comments on whether to stop or keep going are welcome and encouraged!

Also, this week in the blog – a new project on the needles, and some crazy new hand dye to show off. My house smells like vinegar and wet sheep. I can’t believe my family isn’t complaining!

Oh! and Really, my husband loves me. This morning, I was headed upstairs to take a shower, a luxurious weekend shower in which I take my time and he watches the kids so that I can shave my legs in relative peace and have a tiny little break. I saw a look in Joe’s eyes that was a bit – resigned. It said to me that he was putting up with my silly ritual of time to myself, but he wasn’t enjoying it. So while I was showering, I was feeling kind of guilty (moms out there all know that we feel guilty at the drop of a hat, so it was nothing new).

Then, I stepped out of the shower and as I was drying off, I heard Joe talking to Julie. Julie wanted to come upstairs and see what I was doing. Joe was explaining to her that “Mommy works hard all week. She gives us almost all of her time. She needs a few minutes to herself once in a while, so let’s stay down here.” Ahh. So sweet, so unprompted, so perfectly what I needed to hear. Reason 5,971 why I love my husband.

I think I’m coming in just over the wire on Blankie Friday, but at least I’m here. First, let’s have a gratuitous kid pic. Yesterday we were at Target, and Julie wanted a new big ball. I agreed because they were only $2.50, and because it brought us up to one ball per child. Of course, they were still fighting over the new one, but it’ll all be good once the new wears off.

Now it’s down to business. As we all know, I didn’t make much progress on the blankie this week because I was busy working on that hat. I did spend the last couple of evenings weaving in ends, and I thought I’d share with you the results of one session of end-weaving.

Someone asked a while back why I don’t just weave in ends as I go. One of the many reasons is the tiny sense of satisfaction I get out of looking at the pretty pile of ends that develops as I trim them off.

I think I did get a couple squares knit up this week, but I’m too tired to count at the moment.

I did take a bit of time to rework the remaining-squares math once more. Remember, my original plan was to make the thing 1.5 times as long as it is wide. That’s a freakin’ big couch throw. I’ve been rethinking it a bit as it gets bigger and bigger. At its current size, it seems fairly cozy. Still, I was holding on to my original plan out of fear that I was just getting lazy and wanting to finish.

Then, I did a little counting and math again tonight. Do you realize that I’ve now knit 527 squares? Holy freaking miters! Uh, and do you realize that if I stick to my original plan, I still have something like 240 squares left to knit? That’s a lot more than I thought. I’m not sure where I made my mistake the last time I did the math, but that’d be 80 more nights at three squares a night.

Well, that’s not going to happen if I want to make it to the State Fair. This recalculation has changed my feelings on the end game plan a bit. I’m not sure exactly how far I want to go, but I’m open to your thoughts. Should I wrap it up now with an almost perfectly square blanket? Should I keep going and just see how far I get with enough time remaining to do the border, but end up with a less proportionally-appealing end product? Ack! I can’t think any more. I’m going to bed.