Saturday, October 30, 2010

Barn Raising

Whew! This took some knitting. (And some seaming.) But it was well worth the effort. Barn raising is complete!

barn raising

Aside from loving how it turned out, I know I'll always treasure this project because it kept me good company throughout my pregnancy and the first few months of my baby girl's life. And on top of this it also includes squares from some of my knitty friends.

N

Hmm what else to say? It's a really straight forward pattern and the perfect take along project to have stashed in your handbag at all times.

Barn raising

I thoroughly enjoyed laying out the squares - arranging and rearranging until I found a layout that I loved. As you can probably tell I worked diaginally from one corner to the other, moving through the colours of the rainbow.

N&BRQ

My blankie colour wheel

I also spent some time toying with how to seam it up and decided to make the ridges visible on the right side, as the pattern suggests. I love how this looks. Adds to the rustic feel.


N&BRQ

Coincidentally EZ has a very similar blanket in one of her books where she does not cast off each square - choosing to put it on scrap yarn until the end when she kitchener stitches/grafts all the squares together. Can you imagine? I have a hard time kitchenering (!) the toe of a sock... a whole blanket? You'd certainly be an expert by the time you are done!

barnraising is finished

But enough of my waffle! Last note - I added a border (of course I did - I can't seem to help myself when it comes to blankets). It's a simple crochet border. Nothing fancy. But I do think it ties it altogether nicely.

And that my friends is it. Hope you have a happy Halloween tomorrow. I can't wait to dress the little miss up and parade her round a couple of lovely neighbours before cosying up inside with bowls full of candy to see what trick or treaters swing by.

13 comments:

Oiyi said...

It's an amazing blanket! Brava! You did a exceptional job seaming it together. The border was the perfect finishing touch.

Anonymous said...

What a huge accomplishment - you should really pat yourself on the back! And Naomi is already sitting up on her own, wow :)

Lucie said...

You did such a fabulous job and I really like all the rainbow colours. Joining up all the squares must has been a huge task and your border looks so nice.

Bea said...

Love it. I loved watching all the squares as you posted them. The final project is fantastic. I'm thinking I actually like the idea of not casting off and kitchenering all the squares. But I do like kitchener stitch actually more then I like binding off sometimes.

Laura said...

This is so impressive! I love how the colours transition. Congratulations - I can imagine how good it would feel to complete.

Terrie D. (StarSpry) said...

I love how this turned out, Sam!! The crochet border is fabulous and Naomi is adorable as usual:) I hope she had fun dressing up and trick-or-treating!

Betsy said...

Sam, It's Absolutely Gorgeous! I'm inspired to finish my barn raising quilt now! And I'm glad to see you posting!!

Bubblesknits said...

Absolutely beautiful. As is your little model. ; )

Yarny Days said...

Oh my word. This is beautiful! In every possible way.

Andi said...

How incredible it turned out! My jaw just dropped. And don't get me started on baby girl. :)

Anonymous said...

Howdy Sam? Your blanket it's GORGEOUS!!! WOW!!! I follow you from the beginning of this great project: it's wonderful to see it finished!!!
and your little lady it's wonderful too :-)

A big hug

At Home Mommy Knits said...

Beautiful! Love all the colors. My daughter just peeked over my shoulder and now wants her own rainbow blanket!

NextVanGogh said...

Just saw your project on Ravelry it's really lovely! I like the rainbow effect you made.