Following a mitred square pattern courtesy Margaret Dimelow from Box Hill Hand Spinners and Weavers, the same pattern used in Alice's birthday blanket.

Made for our work colleague, who is moving on after 15 years. What do you buy someone after 15 years? We preferred to make something involving most of us. There are currently four of us knitting (one being oneandonlyailie), and three people have expressed interest in learning enough knitting to produce one square - we’ll see! We’ve taken advantage of our colleague’s month long absence overseas to do the planning and discussing and knit over morning tea, but it will soon have to go underground when she’s back!

Important! We all knitted a tension square using the Cleckheaton yarn, using 4.00mm needles. What a difference in size that produced, varying from 13.5cm to 17cm square! Too much variation, so I am using 3.75mm needles, one of us is using 4.50mm and two of us are using 5.00mm to produce a square around 16cm (and there is still variation, try as we will). I was hoping to avoid blocking, but I think the blanket will benefit from it. (Yep, I’m having to do some heavy duty blocking, as there is still up to 2cm variation.)

As at 18 July, I have exhausted my share of the yarn, with a portion of graphite left for the border, producing 17 squares - so on to blocking while the others catch up. That was the right amount for my creativity too - don’t think I had many more ideas in me.

As at 3 August, the other participants have finished 16, 10 and 5 squares respectively, and one non-knitter has begun a square. I should be blocking continuously, but I keep forgetting.

As at 27 August all squares have been completed and I have four to block (I did not end up blocking all squares).

At at 5 October the squares are joined, the edging is knit, and chronic shoulder pain is hampering the final run home of sewing the edging to the blanket. The edging is the same as done for the Needed something to knit blanket, in Graphite, only this time wrapping the stitches at the mitred corners - better. Hmmm, maybe Graphite wasn’t the right colour. Too late now. All finished.

Weight: 1.450kg

We have all found that we absolutely love at least one of each others’ squares. I’m glad this is a group effort.