16-12-2020

I learned to knit as a child, but never finished more than a scarf and some scraps. I picked up the needles again the summer I turned 50, and a few weeks later found the double-sided d20 pattern from the GAL geek blanket. I knew I had to try it, so first I taught myself to DK and then reverse DK, and have been slowly making blanket squares in between other projects. Some of these squares are official Lattes and Llamas patterns, and others are of my own design. I’m super grateful to the amazing women behind Lattes and Llamas for inspiring this project, and really worried about how much work it will be to finally join up all these squares!! One year in, 12 squares done…

26-12-2020

Grafting two squares together: https://www.mrsmoon.co.uk/how-to/how-sew-or-graft-two-cas...

Also https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ObuZwHlmDCI

02-01-2025

In August of 2019, I cast on the first square for this blanket. I had only barely taken up knitting again since learning as a child, and I didn’t know anything about double knitting or colour work. Turns out I learned a lot over 12 (plus one that I unravelled) squares, and there are a LOT of mistakes baked into these squares. The first 6 squares were Lattes and Llamas Geek-a-long squares, and the next 6 I designed myself.

I decided in the summer of 2024 that I would never make it to the planned 24 squares, so I crocheted 12 giant granny square blocks using the same yarns I’d used in the DK squares.

Joining has been on my mind quite a bit. I played with the squares laid out on my bed and ordered them in a way that no colour was too dominant in any area and ensured the better side was face up (if applicable.) Then came the question of which colour yarn to use to make the seams - all one colour for the bindings? If so, which colour? In the end, I went for a different colour for each seam, because that’s the only thing that made sense to me. Also, all the colours all the time.

Which stitch to use to join was another problem. I knew many of the squares were, to be charitable, a bit wonky. My cast offs were memorably and nearly impossibly tight in some of the early squares, and the edges are raggedy. The clean edges of the granny squares gave me something to bind with, at least. I tried a whip stitch, but it looked awful. I tried a single crochet through both loops of the granny squared edge and it was too bulky. I finally settled on a single crochet join through one loop on the granny square side and honestly whatever I could force my hook through on the knit square side. The edge seams are pretty easy, but the cast on and cast off edges are mortared in there pretty securely in some instances. At this point, I’m just looking to get it done. Inelegant and full of mistakes and band aid patches, held together by love and stubbornness, this will be a blanket and not a pile of squares in a bag in my closet for all time.

I made much quicker progress than anticipated once I started joining and got two horizontal strips of 4 pulled together in one sitting. My attention must have waivered at that point, because I then proceeded to join row 2 above row 1 instead of underneath it, throwing my layout completely under the bus.

Love and stubbornness, and a willful eye to overlook the most obvious of the mistakes, I guess.

05-01-2025

Finished the seams on this one relatively quicky, and it’s done. It’s the wonkiest blanket ever - so many mistakes, many of them not fixed. One of the squares was notably smaller than the rest. Some of the edges were so tight I had to switch to a smaller hook to work my way into the stitches. But I finished it, and now I have a blanket. There were many days in the making of these squares that I wasn’t sure how that would come about, but I did it!