A long-term project

Here is a project that I finally got around to photographing. I started it this winter, and work at it in bits and pieces, because I find it a bit hard on my hands to work heavy-weight garter stitch for too long at a time.

It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's Garter Stitch Blanket, and the pattern is in her book, The Opinionated Knitter. Brooklyn Tweed made an absolutely stunning one a few years ago, which you can see here, and his is the reason I wanted to make one.

The wool I am working with has a good story. My friend Astrid has a colleague whose uncle used to raise sheep organically, and then spin their wool. When the uncle died he left behind multiple garbage bags full of this lovely undyed handspun wool, which his niece is now trying to get into the hands of knitters. She is selling it at a very reasonable price, and the proceeds will go to her aunt, who is elderly and in care. The wool is quite soft, spun rather firmly, and has bits of straw in it periodically, which I find charming given its story. There are two different weights of it, and I am using the heavier one, which is knitting up well on 8 mm needles in garter stitch.

I'm working the blanket on 36 rather than 24 stitches in each section because I want a substantial finished item. I am just about finished the first of the two smaller sections. It's already big enough to be a lap-warmer while I'm working on it!