Blankets are unreasonable projects

Blanket knitting is a unique matter. They are the biggest knitted particular I make. They take forever. They take lots of yarn. They can be a pain to manus wash due to their size. But in spite of all of that, I love them. I especially love to knit them for babies. There's something about a handmade blanket for a piddling 1 that'south so very special. This is the story of one such projection:  Bodhi'south infant coating.

A blanket made of lace squares in a rainbow of colours is laying over a grey couch.
Bodhi'due south original baby blanket.

Something all her own

Bodhi is (and volition always be) the baby, so she was destined to have an enviable wardrobe of mitt-me-down sweaters from Hunter and Jones. Just before I knew who she would become, I wanted to brand something for her that would be all her own.

I quickly decided on a Vivid coating – it'south been one of my favourites ever since Emily designed information technology. I went to my collection of Tanis Fiber Arts DK and pulled out a fantastic rainbow of yarns. I adore vivid, cheery colours for babies! Stitch past sew, square by square, I fabricated Bodhi her wee blanket, knitting a footling bit of honey into every inch.

When the large mean solar day came, I wrapped my new, little bundle in her brilliant blanket, and she has used it always since. It has served as a play mat, a bedspread, a dolly swaddle, a fort…you proper noun it! That blanket has received a lot of love and apply over the years.

A little baby Bodhi dressed in a navy and turquoise sweat suit that is a little too big. Laying on her back on her hand knit blanket in a rainbow of squares.
This is Bodhi, just a few hours on the exterior.

Disaster

Last yr, to my dismay, I constitute the much loved blanket under Bodhi's bed with some mothy lilliputian holes in it. Nooooooooooooo! I wasn't set to let this piece of her babyhood go quite still. I bagged and froze it to get rid of the pesky beasts, and so it was time to ponder the set. Some of the squares had small-scale holes in the edging; others had large holes in the lace.

I am holding a lavender lace balnket square with a big hole in it.
This little lavander foursquare got the worst of it.

In lodge to fix the coating, I needed to take it autonomously. I advisedly took out all the whip stitches that held the squares together and assessed each one for damage. I had to re-knit the garter edge on a few squares, and I ended upwards having to re-knit ii squares entirely.

That's when I decided Bodhi's baby blanket needed an upgrade. Since I had taken the whole thing apart anyway, it seemed similar a adept time to go far bigger and more suitable to the needs of a six-year-onetime.

A rainbow stack of lace blanket squares.
I've been 'collecting' Tanis Cobweb Arts yarn for about eight years now, and it shows!

When I decided I would brand Bodhi's baby coating bigger, I assumed it would simply have a few more than squares. (I swear I'grand not usually that bad at math.) When I did the actual calculations, I realized I had a much bigger project on my hands. The original blanket was  iv′ x 4′ with a full of sixteen squares. Expanding information technology to 5′ x 6′ would crave 30 squares. That's an additional 14 squares – basically just like knitting a whole new coating! Simply since I didn't do the math before I started, I was totally committed. An additional 14 squares were whipped up.

6-year-old Bodhi is standing with her blanket of rainbow squares wrapped around her. She is looking down at the ground.

Note: I recently noticed that I use the phrase 'whipped up' when referring to a piece of knitting. I think this is a personal delusion. Knitting is super slow. Nothing is really ever 'whipped up.' Lols.

Bodhi is standing with her arms stretched out, showing off her full blanket of rainbow lace squares.
Bodhi showing off her new and improved large-daughter blanket.

Satisfaction

I'k and so pleased to take given this blanket a little extra life. It's now a permanent characteristic on Bodhi'southward bed (and notwithstanding a popular addition to any blanket fort). Information technology was such a joy to add those extra squares and play with the new colours I had caused over the last v years.

It was a decidedly different feeling knitting upwards squares for a human that was already in the world – a child with her ain personality and quirks – someone I've had the pleasure of getting to know as she becomes herself. As it turns out, my original option of a bright, cheery spectrum of colours was absolutely perfect for my rainbow-loving Bodhi, who is both bright and cheery herself. This labour of love was well worth the effort, and it brings me bang-up joy to run into these two piddling things I made grow together.

~ Alexa

Bodhi is smiling at the camera wrapped in her colourful vivid square blanket.