Knitting

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Bernat Mill Complex Burns

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Firefighters from 45 communities battled flames. (ALAN J. BRACKETT)Photo supplied by (ALAN J. BRACKETT)

July 21, 2007 the former Bernat Mill in [tag]Uxbridge MA[/tag], which housed 65 local businesses, burned to the ground. This 10-alarm fire shocked the community, and destroyed one of the few remaining Northern Mill facilities still remaining in this country. While many old mills have undergone renovation and falling into disrepair again, the Bernat Mill was a vital part of Uxbridge, MA. The mill had long ago stopped producing yarn from wool, but it was now a mixed use facility.

Quoted from a story By Linda Bock [tag]TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF[/tag] – The Bernat Mill was not only home to more than 60 businesses, some of which were subletting from others, but also several Uxbridge Public School programs, including the Mosaic Mill program for alternative students. This program also served the special education requirements for the high school.

“The Mosaic Mill and Youth Center shared space in the mill, and this disaster will have a major impact on several hundreds of kids in town,” Mr. Stefanilo said. “In the last 48 hours, we’ve reached out for emergency space.”

Students in the Explore & Discover program won a grant several years ago for a testing program for the Mumford and Blackstone Rivers through the use of the River Classroom. The Mumford River, which feeds into the Blackstone River, runs directly under the Bernat Mill. Permanent displays were created to educate students and the community about the health of the rivers.

Parts of the [tag]Bernat Mill[/tag] complex, 19 Depot St., off Route 16, were at one point transformed with interactive exhibits, mosaics, stained-glass windows and murals, and miraculously, some of those survived the fire.

Looking for more Stained glass style knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

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Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.