Projects
Logalong: Properly into It
I’m feeling a little enthusiastic today—that feeling when you’re on to something so utterly fantastic that you want to draft anybody within ten feet of you to do it, too.
You know: the diet, the podcast, that time when you got all wound up about composting.
Well.
You have got to make a Donegal Tweed blanket using a log cabin blanket pattern and sequence knitting.
During the holidays, I had one of the most delightful knitting experiences of my checkered career as a knitter.
My basic dream for this blanket appears over at Fringe Association, “Log Cabin Make-along: Meet the Panel!”
Today I’ll share some of the nuts and bolts of blanketry that have been so much fun these (incredibly cold Nashville) days. This is all news you can use when scheming up your own log cabin blanket.
Draw a Sketch.
Maybe you’ve got your blanket idea all set in your brilliant, vast mind. I mean, I thought I did. It was only when I made my schematic that I realized I had a significant problem.
See where it says 105″? That’s 8.75 feet. That’s more blanket that most people need.
Sketch Number 1: The top squares are GINORMOUS.
Sketch Number 2: The top squares are NOW 15″ x 15″, not 20″ x 20″.
The proportions have changed, but so has the likelihood that I will ever finish this thing.
Estimate yarn.
This is frankly optional. Some of the greatest log cabin blankets are completely improvised—you keep knitting until you have a blanket. The yarn appears when necessary (often after a refueling trip to the yarn store).
But I was curious to know how much yarn I’d need for this blanket.
Basic exercise: knit a square, weigh it, and multiply that weight by the approximate number of squares you’re making. Divide that total by the weight of one skein of yarn. The result is the number of skeins you’ll need.
After knitting a strip and weighing it, I concluded that a skein of Tahki Donegal Tweed yields about 10 5″ squares. Because the entire blanket is based on increments of 5″ squares, I can get at least a ballpark idea of how much yarn I’ll need.
For an 18-strip blanket, I’ll need 22+ 100g, 185-yard skeins. Probably more, given the way the colors break. Will I end up making the biggest squares? Do I have the stamina?
Wet splice your ends.
Game changer. Blanketophobes whinge on about all the ends that a log cabin blanket generates.
I say phooey.
When you change colors, just wet splice the yarns. If you’re working with non-superwash pure wool (like this Donegal Tweed I’m using), or alpaca, you can eliminate virtually all ends by wet splicing (or spit splicing, which just sounds gross but there it is).
In this blanket, I stop seven stitches from the end of a square and break my yarn, leaving a tail about five inches long. Then I splice the new color to this tail and knit to the end of the row. Voila: the new color emerges at just about the right moment. With no ends to fool with later.
Can you tell where the wet splices are? No? It’s a dream come true.
Block your strips.
Sequences create all sorts of fabrics—flat, pleated, accordion, bumply, zigzaggy, ribbed.
You will notice that some squares do not knit up to be square. Not even remotely square. It’s the ribbed and accordion sequences that pull in the most.
Before blocking. YIKES!
After blocking. AHHHH.
I knitted these wonky strips with great confidence, because we had learned during the process of making Field Guide No. 5 that the mighty redemptive power of blocking transforms these crumpled squares into flat squares. When we sent Cecelia Campochiaro photos of our Corrugated Wrap sample, concerned about the pulled-in sections, she replied that it looked fantastic.
Trust Cecelia!
Here’s what I’ve got:
These strips aren’t in the right order, but at least you can see the colors. The top strip is unblocked. (I guess that’s obvious.)
Not sure what I can do to convey the limitless joy of thinking up sequences except to say: there is limitless joy to be had here. MDK Field Guide No. 5: Sequences explains exactly how Cecelia Campochiaro figured out cool ways to get get all these textures without really trying.
The width of the square affects what the sequence does. Knit 5, purl 4 looks different when made at 20 stitches wide, or 40, or 60. It is the coolest thing.
So great to see all the projects showing up on Instragram #fringeandfriendslogalong.
WOWZA! Love what you’re doing! Stay warm (it’s even cold in New Orleans!).
It IS cold in New Orleans!
Absolutely love it!! I don’t know that a blanket would hold my attention long enough to finish but yours makes me reconsider. Perfect colors!!
The sequences make it endlessly new to knit, kind of mesmerizing.
Ann …it is so neat! I have a MUST FINISH project, but I am doing this… especially if I can get my good friend ELAINE to do one as well. I had some sort of an epiphany after Christmas and am just knitting like a crazy woman and happy about it! I, of course, put the credit on your shoulders !!
Thanks, love MDK and you ladies and everyone reading this!
Smooches
Kate
I LOVE it!!! Can’t wait to see the finished blanket!
Please tell us you cast on before Monday . . .
Absolutely! It was supposed to be a little swatch, but I just kept going . . .
Lovely! Now I just need to learn how to wet slice!
Have a peek at this how-to (scroll to the bottom for wet splice): https://yarnsub.com/articles/techniques/joining-yarn/
Amazing how many ways there are to join yarns. Someday I’ll try a Russian splice . . .
Vary Nice Cute
Oy. Oy. Oy. I want to be doing this too!!!
Come on, Liz–crochet up a log cabin. It will be amazing!
Fascinating! Thanks for the demo. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
I just got my Field Guide and am know at at chicken-and-egg moment – do I figure out what yarns I want to use from my stash first and then match them to a project or do I pick a project (and how?!), hoping the stash approves of my choice. A blanket is appealing…
I find that it’s really noble to start out using stash, because: frugal, wise, whatever. But then, there’s this great moment when you just . . . need . . . another color . . . and it’s off to the yarn shop. Keep us posted . . .
Love what you’re doing here–this blanket will be gorgeous. And thanks for the pro tips on wet splicing for color changes and yarn estimation.
Absolutely love the sequence idea and mixing it with log cabin. As an advanced knitter there are so many doors opening with these techniques! Thank you for sharing! BTW, absolutely loved your interview on the Marly Bird YouTube channel. I was thoroughly entertained, intrigued, and learned a great deal!
I meant advanced Beginner!
Thank you for the kind words! I’m so happy to hear that you’re seeing the possibilities of these techniques. It really is a wide-open horizon!
And thanks for watching Marly Bird! She’s a hoot.
So beautiful! I wish I started a couple months ago – up here in New Hampshire, the temps have been absolutely frigid for about 2 weeks, and we’re getting a ‘bomb cyclone’ tomorrow….wha…t?? If my blanket was done, I’d pull a Lenny Kravitz!
I thought a log cabin would be a series of increasingly large rectangles built around a square. Is this a different version?
Ah! Wet splicing! Such a good idea. I’m working on a courthouse step blanket, similar to what’s in your book. Do you suggest doing squares to join later or to just keep adding strips from the center? I’m wondering how unruly that will get towards the end with a blanket.
I have The Sequence book and took a class from Cecilia at Vogue Knitting Live Seattle but have yet to try one. Any chance you will publish the sequence of your Sequence blocks? I am thinking ar ahead but want to make blankets for all my grandsons when they leave for college and this looks so cool.
I have your Modern Daily knitting book. Just love it. I have made several blankets from it.It is one of my favorite instruction books. Thank you