Watching a blanket grow

I was rifling through some photos on the laptop, distracted from picking out the best of the bobbly edging ones when I came across these...

 

...taken in May last year. It's the beginning of Martha's blanket. Some hurried photos of the first stripes bundled together with the yarn.

  I dug around and found some more, snippets of a blanket being made, the gradual progress through the year, the gentle process of adding a few more rows of stitches here and there.

 

It was always meant to be slowly made, admittedly I sped it up at the end to finish for Martha’s birthday and I’m pleased I did, but the blanket being slowly made became a part of the year. I would do a little more, or I would not, and Martha would ask if it was finished yet. I enjoyed the fact that she was taking an interest and I could show her how I was getting on, I loved the fact that she was looking forward to it being finished.

 

 

The best bit? It’s all still here. Right here, in pictures and words on my blog. I know for certain I would not have recorded it in the same way were I not doing it here. Were there not the potential for an audience, the possibility of sharing our progress and eventually the pattern – yes it still has life!

 

I have split the tutorial into two parts: Part one of the tutorial, the ripple stitch, is done, it’s here! (and it's quite long - I'd recommend a cup of tea!). Part two, the lovely bobbly edging will follow soon.

 

Martha's Ripple Blanket Tutorial: Part One

 

 

 

I’m so pleased, I loved doing it, reminding myself of the process. But it did take a while, quite a few hours… my appreciation of those who have written many free patterns and tutorials and posted on them blogs has grown, a lot.

 

Martha’s blanket is firmly on her bed now (sometimes on the floor) and it most definitely belongs to her. I borrowed it for a while to check the spacing of the bobbles and she came rushing through asking for it, needing it for the hospital that had popped up upstairs – I must admit that it is with no small amount of pride that I watched her gleefully carry it draped over her head, slightly dragging on the floor, back upstairs to it’s rightful place.

 

xx