I realized I’m not going to be posting on the last Thursday of this month due to a planned vacation so I’m here to do my monthly Off Topic Thursday a bit early. I want to talk about one of my favorite non-reading pastimes: knitting!
These three are a fair representation of the knitting I do. The first one, and a project many of you may know about from my monthly updates, is my obsessive baby blanket knitting! I have trouble sitting still and watching TV. If my hands aren’t busy, I’ll get fidgety which usually results in me eating something. So, to stop eating so much, I do crafts. While I latchhook and cross stitch, knitting is my biggest guilty pleasure. I decided to take those long hours spent watching Game of Thrones (the first and second times through) and put them to good use! I knit a baby blanket for every couple that invites me to their wedding for each child. I keep a stock pile of two ‘girl’ colors, two ‘boy’ colors, and two neutral colors. I send them off as soon as the couple announces the gender or I find out they’re not going to find out. My friends have given me really positive feedback and I have pictures of these babies coming home from the hospital in the blankets or wrapped in them at very young ages. It’s been really rewarding and I love doing it.
The second picture is a project I started last year and fell in love with. It’s called a weather blanket. Ideally, (unless you skip a row like me) the blanket has 365 or 366 rows, one representing each day of the year. The color of each row corresponds to the high temperatures of the day. In the one pictured, purple is cold and red is hot. I’m doing one for 2018 as well. The whole thing is shades of purple from dark to light. I don’t have any pictures of it yet (I’m a few weeks behind!) but I’m sure I’ll post to Instagram through the year so keep an eye peeled there.
The last one is my ugly project. It’s a remnant blanket, using remnants from yarn not completely used in other projects. I get remnants from friends so not all of the yarn is even mine. It’s taken on a life of its own and the blanket is no longer square and has inconsistent textures and weighted yarn. I love it. It’s been so fun to work on and I smile every time I see it. I think it’s one of those ‘only a mother could love’ situations.
I’ve knitted other things, too, but I stick mostly to blankets. I had too many scarves so I had to branch out. I’ve done winter headbands and mug coozies and I’d love to try socks or a sweater some day. I try to push myself to try a new stitch or technique each time I pick a blanket pattern so I’m always learning.
Are any of you knitters? What kind of things are you knitting? Until next time, write on.
You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!
Taking On a World of Words 
Love your weather blanket! What a clever idea!
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A friend of mine alerted me to it and I fell in love with the concept. Weather here in Michigan takes a wide swing during the year so I got to use a lot of different colors.
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This is awesome!! I used to french knit while I watched tv for the same reason, to keep myself and my hands occupied. I find it’s a great way to relax while watching tv. I really, really want to learn to knit, knit though because I don’t actually know how. My brother started to learn a few summers ago but gave up because he chose the wrong type of needles, apparently a beginner should start with wooden ones instead of plastic as there is more grip, who knew!
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I didn’t know that was a beginner thing but I started with wooden needles. Avoid the metal ones! I’ve never heard of French knitting. Is it like finger knitting?
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Yeah we were told after the fact, ooo metal ones don’t sound very pleasant!
Yes sort of! It’s also referred to as ‘corking’. (which is what I grew up calling it but it seems no one knows what I’m talking about when I say corking haha) So you have this corker that braids the yarn into a cord basically. Does that make any sense?
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Yes! I know what you’re talking about. I had one of those as a kid that my mom made from a toilet paper roll, popsicle sticks, and duct tape. I saw a plastic one years later that also had the tool to help you pull the lower loop over. I was insanely jealous, lol.
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Ahaha that’s awesome! The one I learned on was made from a wooden spool with nails nailed into it, a few years later I got my mom to buy me the plastic one… although the plastic ones always break on me 😛
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Nice job, i knitt as well but i am not that great at it yet, i need to do more and find easy patterns.
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Raveley is the best for free patterns! I save them to Pinterest and pick a new one each time.
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Okay thanks.
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I, too, need to have something to do with my hands when I watch T.V.; however, my craft of choice is crocheting. Great post! Happy writing and knitting!
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I tried crocheting once and was afraid to only have the one hook! Haha. Happy crafting.
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Knitting is really hard! I’ve tried for a whole day of no eating or sleeping and then gave it up completely… Lol. The weather blanket is such a fun and unique idea!
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Once you figure it out, it becomes a mussle memory. I hope you have something else you can enjoy creatively. I have a friend who started a 2017 weather blanket but her crochet pattern was big and the blanket ended up so big she stopped in the summer, haha.
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I used to knit when I was a lot younger with my Gran, who is sadly no longer with us. I could never start it off so she always used to do this for me. I have fond memories of spending a Summer with her and making knitted cakes!! I’d love to find the time to pick it up again 🙂
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There are some easy cast-on methods if you ever want to look on YouTube. I use the simplest one and I think it works great, haha. What are knitted cakes? I don’t think I’ve ever knitted a cake, only eaten one, haha.
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Knitted cakes are a thing! Check these out >>
http://preview.www.allaboutyou.com/knitting-patterns/knits-for-the-home/have-your-cake-eat-it-knitting-patterns-recipes-50217
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This is so cute! Thanks for sharing and sorry for the delayed response. Happy cake knitting!
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Your post has inspired me to start knitting again x
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Ahhh! So awesome! Are you making cakes or something else? Happy knitting!
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