Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Big Blue Blanket - Log Cabin - Mason Dixon Knitting


Big Blue Blanket - Log Cabin - Mason Dixon Knitting
Originally uploaded by solslett.

I love Mason Dixon Knitting. I have made many projects from this, and have been inspired to create other things. This would be an example of that. Based on the Log Cabin Afghan, I made this Queen sized afghan. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. It's huge. It's heavy. It's very warm.

It all started back in January with 8 skeins of T&Q that I got on sale for $2.98 each at a Michael's that was going out of business. We had just returned from our yearly Christmas visit with my Mom, and when I saw these I thought "I can make a nice, warm blanket for us to use at Mom's". My mother believes in hypoallergenic everything, so we get to use this fiberfill duvet that retains no heat. And we sleep on an air mattress because the sleeper sofa is almost 20 years old and will render you unable to walk if slept on. I have offered to buy her a new couch, but after looking for almost 2 years, she doesn't like anything. So, in a nutshell, we freeze our what-its off sleeping on the floor. Did I mention she won't run the heat at night or use electric blankets? There could be a fire or we could be electrocuted. Can you tell this is an old gripe?

Where was I? January. 8 skeins......

I figured I would see how far I could get with a Log Cabin Afghan with these 8 skeins of Sky Blue T&Q. I got bored. I found some skeins of Wheat and thought a splash of cream would make it more interesting. Husband liked the way it was going and started putting his feet under it while I was knitting. I ran out of blue. I bought some more. I ran out again, the weather became too warm, so it was relegated to the corner and stared at me.

This past week, I was determined to get it done. I made a goal in April to finish a number of UFO's, and this was one of them. I finished it on 6/15/07. It ended up being 18 skeins of T&Q, and with the leftovers I made three hats for the Dulaan Project. Just turning it towards the end was an icky undertaking, and the weather had warmed up to nearly 100F. I picked a great time to finish this up.

Here are the stats:

Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn Thick and Quick
Color: Sky Blue and Wheat
Pattern: Mason Dixon Log Cabin Afghan
Yardage: 108 yds per skein - 4 wheat, 14 Sky Blue = 1,944 yds
Needle: 13US
Stitches per inch: 2.5

I am so glad to be done!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love it, especially the asymmetrical blocks of cream! I know exactly what you mean about turning it getting icky toward the end. Even my cotton blankets are hard to manage in the heat. xox Kay

Anonymous said...

Fantastic, just fantastic. I am looking around for ideas for my own log cabin and your's just has a great modernist twist (can you tell I was a fine arts major?) to what would otherwise be a rustic, rough-n-tumble pattern. Just great.