At the beginning of my summer break I hinted at a project I'm working on outside of card making. It is, as the title describes, a BIG project. I'm making it as a gift for my beloved grandson who loves Sonic (among other games). But you guessed what it is already didn't you, from the title and the picture at the top of this post? I am knitting blanket squares. I say squares but what I'm attempting to knit are actually pixels. The pixellated picture of Sonic the hedgehog was kindly given to me by my brother when I told him about an idea I wanted to start working on... that was last year.
Sorry to say we're dealing with some daunting family issues which means I am further away from completing this project than I would like but this summer my enthusiasm is reignited and work is continuing whenever I get the chance.
The great thing about knitting is you can do it anywhere... in the garden, at the bus stop, on the bus, in hospital waiting rooms and of course in front of the TV. I've been visiting hospitals regularly (a bit too regularly for my liking) this past year as I am living with a condition that the doctors have decided requires surgery. They said it would be done this summer but NHS waiting lists are living up to their name. But I'm not tapping my feet impatiently. I'm working on my cards and I'm planning to occupy myself with working on this project as often as I can before, during and after my recovery. Yes I am bringing it to the hospital. As soon as the haze of anaesthetics drifts away and I can sit up, I'm getting the knitting out.
Looking through my posts tagged 'knitting blanket squares' or 'knitting project' you can find reference to this current project and the inspiration for it in a post called 'Knitting Blanket and More Craftivity'. There you will see when I started planning and working out what I would need to get started.
The hardest thing about this project aside from the amount of time it will take to complete, was working out a guide to work from. It was not easy to match the colours in the spreadsheet program I used to create my pattern from the original pixel pic. On screen the colours look one way, the hard copy looks another. Printers eh! Therefore I am not even certain I've done this as well as I'd like.
Then trying to match the colours to available yarn in my nearest arts and craft store is another challenge. One rule I have is to buy all the balls of yarn I need for one colour at a time. This is one reason why I used a spreadsheet program to create the pattern. It was easy to work out how many squares for each colour, totals for the whole blanket and will help when I come to the sewing bit. One ball of yarn can make almost 80 'pixels'. The various shades of blue is the biggest colour challenge and I've yet to find the pale, pale grey/blue that fits. Still let's hope I manage to make it at least look like Sonic when I am done.
Each square is ten stitches wide so in a good hour I can make about five or six. Last week I had a long wait in the local hospital outpatients and made about seven during the time I sat waiting for my name to be called.
Well I've just worked out I've completed 290 squares out of a total of 1345. Doubt I'll finish it by Christmas as I'd like and I'm not even sure if I can complete it by my grandson's eighth birthday in February. So now I've got another challenge. Do you think he'll still like Sonic by the time I'm finished? At this rate he'll be about ten!
Gosh this is a task indeed, its also a great idea your putting together and I am sure he will still like it.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you have a satisfiying outcome at the hospital, I know only to well about the waiting game for treatment and my knitting or sewing always goes with me.
Take care. best wishes Julie.C
Thanks Julie for your encouragement. I am quite excited about it being completed even though I can't say when that will be.
ReplyDeleteSpeak again soon Px