WIP Wednesday! The Weasley Blanket Part 1
It’s Wednesday! Which means W.I.P Wednesday Check In!
I’ve been working my tail off on knitting The Ron Weasley Blanket (pattern by Jackie Wierzbicki free on Ravelry.)
This pattern is quite unique, and I’m going to walk you through everything I have done up to this point.
Firstly, the pattern itself, in PDF format, is over 80 pages. It’s extremely in depth and made to be idiot proof. Except for me. And you’ll see why soon. So I printed off 83 pages of pattern, hole punched them all, and threw them in a binder. Then I spent a good solid few hours going through and figuring out which square needs which yarns in their respective brands and colors (all according to her pattern.) From there, I “organized” the yarns and marked how many times they showed up throughout the blanket. This gave me an easy guide to take with me to Michael’s or JoAnn’s, and I wouldn’t have to worry too much about drawing any blanks.
Now that everything seemed organized, I had to figure out how I wanted to do this. See, I wanted to make three of these things. Because why not?? I have a couple of Potterhead friends who would love to have one along with me! I figured if I could make three of each square, I would be set. Except it takes me all dang day to make a square. There was no way I was going to be able to make all of them in a feasible about of time, so I’m sticking with just one blanket at a time, for now. The problem is that I didn’t figure that out until I had made three of about 9 or 10 of the squares (to date, I have made 36 squares.) But at least I have more if I need them, for whatever reason.
Okay, so for the idiot me part, as if my unobtainable goals weren’t enough. I am one of those crafters that has no sense of direction on my own. So if the pattern doesn’t tell me exactly how many stitches I need, then I’m basically a lost mess. In this pattern, the squares should be 7”x7”. After who knows how long, I eventually settled on 7 ¼”. And I’ve just been casting on 34 stitches, and working 32 ridges (with the tail on the left). Everything seemed to be going great. Until I realized that some of my Red Heart Worsted Weight yarn was thicker than some of my other Red Heart Worsted Weight yarns. Uggghhhhhhhh. I had been using a 5.0mm set of needles, so I just jumped down to 4.5mm needles and that seemed to be good enough. I’ve also noticed that, also within the same brand (get it together Red Heart ahaha), that the textures vary in a way that slows me down while knitting. I knit on bamboo needles that are pretty dang smooth, most yarns slide across without a problem, allowing me to speed knit my way through. It’s just the one stitch afterall. But there are just some sticky yarns that don’t want to do what they’re told, ultimately slowing down my knitting time and delaying the completion of this project.
Now, I’m not made of money, I plan to do AS MUCH of this blanket in the Red Heart as possible. I’ve been substituting where I can, changing colorways where I have to. I have a couple of squares so far that aren’t anywhere on Ron Weasley’s blanket. But that’s okay. It’s a Weasley Blanket. It’s meant to be unique. The less it matches, the better it can be. I am trying to keep some of the squares as close as I possibly can, to keep in the essence of it all, but I feel like I can be my own Molly Weasley and everything will be okay.
At the rate I’m going, if I can complete 1-2 squares a day, I will still have enough time to block any squares that need it (silly yarn guage), assemble the squares, then add a border. And still have enough time for a couple of Christmas gifts! As of right now, column “A” is complete, and column “B” is 3 squares from being done. That just leaves C-J. I’m definitely going to hustle as much as I can. If you have any tips or tricks, let me know! I’m always looking for ways to make things go a little quicker and easier!!
See you next Wednesday for another update!
