The Finished Ron Weasley Blanket + Story
As some of you might remember, last year I posted around 5 work in progress blog posts about a blanket I was knitting. The Ron Weasley Blanket to be exact! Today, it was brought to my attention that I never actually wrote a post about the finished product! So for this post, I'm going to take you through the final leg of the blanket, after I had completed all 80 squares, and then tell you a little story behind it.
So last I left off, I had just finished the 80 squares. 10 squares per 8 columns. I made sure that I kept them organized in bundles that I had labeled, and the squares in each bundle were also in order from the top of the blanket to the bottom. Obviously the next step was to sew all the bundles into columns, then sew the columns together. This literally took me two months to do. Sure, life did get in the way. But that doesn't really matter. I got it done. While I was knitting the squares up, I left the tails at the beginnings and ends, which was extremely helpful. I didn't do anything special as far as the stitch I used. I just grabbed a yarn needle and got it all put together.
Once the columns were together, it looked like a blanket. And it was an incredible feeling. I mean, I had been working so hard and so much, it was becoming my baby. Then, I flipped it over. So. Many. Ends. Two ends per square. 80 squares. 160 ends to weave in. Had I planned this a little better, I would have bought some fabric to put on the back and be done with it. But no. I didn't plan. Because I'm not that great of a planner apparently. I spent a good couple of weeks weaving in all of those ends. But, I got it done.
Before I put on the edging, I decided that it might be a good idea to wash it first. I knew the blanket was going to stretch some after washing, so I didn't want the edging to look weird or bunched up. Let me tell you, that was the most terrifying thing I have ever washed in my entire life. I was incredibly worried that I was going to have a dropped stitch somewhere that I didn't notice. Or that my seam sewing was just going to be terrible and fall apart. I have high anxiety, and I was panicking the entire washing cycle. It came out beautifully, I can definitely say that. I dried it on the low setting, and it came out of the dryer really nice as well. The blanket, itself is knitted, but I wasn't ready to really knit a border, nor did I have the means to.
So the obvious option here was to give it a nice single crochet border. Using black, I made my way around the blanket, fastened it off, and weaved in the last two ends.
Holy crap, was that a moment. I actually cried a little bit. It was such an amazing feeling!
Now for a little story behind the blanket. I have this friend who is always there, always helping, and always giving. I met her through a friend at work, they got married, and later on moved states away. Not even a year later, my husband, daughter, and I followed them. They were there for us when we needed it the most. Everything we have right now, we wouldn't have if it weren't for their kindness. They are our family.
Of course, how do you show appreciation for something so big? It's pretty much impossible. But it's what I had on my mind when I started the blanket journey in January of 2016. I had just quit my job to be a stay at home mom, I knew I would be able to get it done and I couldn't pass up on the project. I started the blanket under the premise that it was for myself. It was really all for her! Since the day I started making it, she was incredibly supportive and would constantly ask me about my progress. As it got closer to being done, she would stop in on her way home from work to see how it was coming together. The minute that I told her it was done, she was ecstatic and came over as soon as she could to see all of my hard work put together. I had mentioned to her a couple of times that I might not end up keeping it for myself, that I would give it to a charity auction to help raise money for those who need it most. She threatened me with bodily harm and buying it, just to make sure that I kept it. Whenever she would come over, I would have to put it out and make it look as though it was being used all the time. Out of everyone in our combined family, she was literally the only one who didn't know who it was really for.
I completed the blanket on November 15, 2016. She received it as a Christmas present December 25th. I found a nice sized box, wrapped it with care, and put it under her tree. She had no idea what she was getting from us that would be that size. She got the wrapping paper off, opened one flap of the plain brown box, and couldn't quite make it any further. Immediately she started crying, saying it was too much, and there was no way it was for her.
The big secret came out then. I told her, through tears, that I had started the blanket with the intention of gifting it to her, and that everyone knew about it. She was so incredibly overwhelmed, but she loved it and was more grateful than she could truly express.
It was the end result that I had been hoping for. Nothing made me happier than making her something that she really did deserve. And her reaction was everything that I had been expecting, and it was still magical!
