Update: This blanket, along with a note of appreciation, went to a Vietnam Veteran at the VA Hospital in Cleveland. He was facing repeated kidney failure and a second amputation. I happened to receive a couple of updates and learned that:

• This was his first “thank you” and the first tone of appreciation he had ever received
• He shared with his family that he had been cold and felt very comforted, snuggled up in his blanket
• The gesture brought him great comfort

This soldier has now passed away, but his family has expressed appreciation for the role the blanket played in his last days. The blanket now serves as comfort and remembrance for the family and is displayed on the back of their living room sofa.

Have you thanked a Veteran recently? I am always humbled at how meaningful a simple “thank you” is. Young or old, our soldiers paid a dear price for our continued safety. Don’t pass up any opportunity to speak a “thank you” to our active or veteran soldiers, or to send a note.

Thanks again to each of you who made squares for these blankets!
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This is our second Group Hug for a disabled vet. The blanket is lovely - I could not photograph it to capture the true beauty of this project. A HUGE thank you to each of you who knit a square(s)!!!!

The gals from our local Thursday Sit-n-stitch group have made lots of squares so we could share this group hug with another Veteran at our local VA hospital.

These veteran soldiers (men and women) really need to know how much we appreciate them and it is humbling to learn how much these blankets mean to them.

Squares are 12” x 12”. This blanket is 4 squares by squares … nice and long so our soldier will have a nice cocoon.

I used heavy cardboard and cut a one foot square. This has been extremely helpful in sizing the finished squares. Much easier than a ruler.

Squares were to be no more than 12” each. As I measure the squares against my cardboard cut-out, I can add a border if they are too small.

Using black yarn, 48 single crochets were worked on each side of each square with three in each corner.

I arranged the squares on the DR table and Justine and I played with arrangement trying to get all the colors to behave. Put it all in a time-out and went to bed.

Alexis came for a visit and was a great help in re-arranging everything to make the best of each square.

I tried about four different ways of joining and had hubby choose the final join. He liked the simple, flat woven join … so I’ll be sewing the squares together.

Using one of the extra squares, I’ve tried several borders. I did a couple applied cables, but wasn’t happy with the back side. I then tried the tried-and-true Applied I-cord border. Started with US 7 and worked my way up to a US10. The smaller size was pulling the edge. The US10 is nice and stretchy and turned the corner nicely by pausing at the stitch before and the stitch after the corner and not joining those two rows, giving some extra fabric to make the turn.

See this tutorial if you’d like to try the Applied I-cord border. I don’t use the cable needle to pick up stitches, I’ve got a single crochet edge on these squares so they are easy to pick up. Using two dpns allows me to pick up one stitch after each row is knit and then slide the needle instead of moving the stitches to the left needle on every row. Taaa daaa

Feb 28 - done and washed!

22-3/2