Thinking About Blankets for Fall?

It happens that, while I’m busy with all my book knitting, I’m also working on cleaning out my office. We moved into this house about a year and a half ago, and when we did, my daughter was still home with me full time, and she was an into-everything toddler, so the unpacking happened quickly and rather haphazardly (horrible confession: some of my yarn and fabric isstill packed!).

When you’re really, really busy is kind of a bad time to decide you want to organize, but my brain literally was not working when my office was full of all that stuff. So now I’m systematically going through all my books, yarn and other crafty stuff, deciding what I absolutely need and what I can part with (which will be very good news for you in the coming months).

The trouble with this, though, is that I’m looking at all my yarn. That perfect-for-fall colorway of that awesome Knit Picks sock yarn. That gorgeous bamboo/silk blend I’ve been wanting to make a fancy top out of for years. The Malabrigo I’m dreaming of making into a cowl (that one is actually on my list for next month, deadlines be forgotten for a few days). That basket full of Lion Wool I’ve always wanted to make into an afghan.

Speaking of Lion Brand and blankets, I spied a really cute, super simple”car blanket” pattern on their website that is easy enough for new knitters (it’s just stockinette with a garter stitch border) and would be a great way to use up stash. Rather than using just the two colors called for, change colors at random when you run out of yarn. You could, of course, also make this project bigger, just figure out your gauge in one of the yarns you’re using (yarns of the same weight should be close enough to the same gauge for this purpose) and cast on however many stitches you need for the size blanket you’d like.

For even more stashy fun, work a bunch of different stitch patterns in a bunch of different yarns, aiming to make your blocks the same size. Sew them together and you’ve got a great blanket that used up some leftovers and was great travel knitting, too! See my Sampler Baby Blanket at About for more ideas on how to do this.

Planning any afghan or blanket knitting this fall? Spill it!

[Photo by Lion Brand.]

Looking for Fall patterns to Knit? Check out these Fall knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

If you want to feel personally attacked by a collection of knitting and crochet patterns as I was, check out the “90s Mod Inspired” pattern lookbook from Yarnspirations.

It’s actually a great collection of patterns for folks who want to stitch up that Y2K look again (or for the first time). There’s an oversized, striped grandpa cardigan! A (crocheted) plaid messenger bag! A boxy argyle vest, and a rolled hem sweater the likes of which I bought in a store in the ’90s and knit a replica of later.

There’s also a section of “Prep School” patterns (think “Clueless,” they’re even called things like “As if” and “Betty”) including a granny square tie and crocheted wrap skirt, and a knit cabled pullover, beret and cardigan with blocky stripes. Other sections include casual collegiate, punk and mod, and academia.

Some of the patterns repeat among the sections but there’s a nice selection for people who want a little throwback for their back to school and fall wardrobes.

Since I had this sweater, we’ll take a closer look at the Caron Cropped Stripy Sweater. The one I knit from a pattern of my own devising in the mid ’00s was tonal blues, but this one calls for two colorways of Colorama Haze, a fuzzy self-striping worsted weight yarn.

The pattern comes in six sizes, with chest measurements ranging from 39 to 60 inches (that’s 99 to 152.5 cm). Clearly that’s a lot of ease at the lower sizes, since the smallest size is meant to fit an actual chest measurement from 28-34 inches, or 71-86.5 cm.

The sweater is a modified drop shoulder worked flat in pieces and seamed. That means the stripes probably won’t match around the body but it’s still a classic look. This one does have ribbing at the neckline, where the original sweater I owned and my re-creation had rolled hems throughout, but you can do it either way depending on your preference.

Do any of these projects remind you of clothes you might have worn or knit in the past? I’d love to hear about it!

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