The 'Civil War' Blanket

Last evening, my yarn order arrived from Red Bird Knits. Sigh, sigh and sigh again. The Jagger Heathers are lovely. Volunteers are falling all over themselves with ideas of how I can use it to make them things. The Collinette Jitterbug in Damson, is breathtakingly blue. The real fight is going to be over the Schaeffer Anne yarn. I want it. The Girl with the Morphing Foot wants it. If I let anyone else see it, they would covet it too. I was so entranced I did up a swatch of the Jagger yarn, to see how that would be washed and swatched. A thousand ways to use it, and a very good buy. Note to self: Need more.

When that was done, I picked up mom's sock. I knit my heart out. I was about 2 rows from casting off, when I noticed something very very wrong. I'm about 6 rows short on the lacy part before the ribbing starts. Sigh. I ripped and then I went to bed in sheer disgust. .

Because I am still disgusted with my not measuring behaviour, I will show you something lovely, done long ago. Its looking a little worn now, but it is one of my all time favourite projects.

One great big granny square, named the 'Civil War' blanket, because it was begun and completed one sitting, while the History Channel was playing Ken Burns 'The Civil War' in its entirety. The first stitch was cast about 5:30 a.m. - or was it 6:30? - and the last stitch about 10 hours and a few minutes later. It is made out of aran coloured acrylic yarns left over from a couple of previous things, and some blue heathered yarn left over from a sweater project. There are no technical details. It is just a regular granny square as the middle picture shows, until the blanket is the size you want or you have run out of yarn. On this blanket, I had hoped to add a blue row round the outer edge, but I did not have enough yarn. Instead, I added a blue double crochet line from the centre of the blanket to the outer corner, over the corner chain 3 loops.

This project displays all the really good things about acrylic yarn. Its tough. It has been washed and dried in a machine many, many times. It lived for a time in the back of one of my sons cars (they stole it, but it was recovered in a sting operation where they begged for help with their laundry pile). It lived at the bachelor pad.

Its old age, I drape it over my chair in my study, and use it as a shawl in the chill of the very early morning hours before the furnace cuts in. Its soft and warm, a cuddly snuggle of comfort.

Its a personal favourite in every way.