Introducing... My Leftover Blanket

So for those who have been wondering, and for those who haven’t too, the next big think that I have been speaking of is something that I’ve decided to call “My Leftover Blanket”.

Several years ago I was inspired by a woman named Shelly Kang – also known as the Heathen Housewife. One day Shelly decided to knit a blanket out of sock yarn scraps. She used the internet to solicit yarn (I am not doing that!), she wrote about this project on her blog, she started by knitting a couple of little squares and then things took off. Soon she had more yarn than she could possibly use and after 20 months of knitting little squares she had an amazingly beautiful blanket which was referred to as “The Heathen Housewife’s Blankie”. This blankie really is a gorgeous work of art and something that comes to my mind every time I finish a pair of socks.

I’m not the only one who has been inspired by the blankie. I recently discovered a group on Ravelry that is dedicated to fans of the blankie. The group is called “BlankieMania” and has more than 2.600 members. They are blankie fanatics who spend much time discussing the blankie. They also do some fun yarn swaps to get a greater variety of yarn for their blankies. Blankie knitter or not, those swaps are tempting.

This week as I’ve been contemplating my next project I’ve decided to knit a blankie of my own – but the word “blankie” really bugs me, so I’ll be calling my project “My Leftover Blanket.”

Here are the first few squares. More pictures to come in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Unfortunately the middle square didn’t photograph well, which is a shame since it is a beautiful heathered teal colour. I believe it is Rainforest Heather Palette, so here is a better picture of the yarn so you can imagine how nice it looks in real life.