Projects
Minty Fresh: Stepping Stone Throw
Dear Ann,
I have an important announcement.
I have finished my Stepping Stone Throw.
This has been the fastest blanket of my lifetime of knitting blankets. I found it hard to stop knitting on it. One more rectangle, one more tier, one more triangle, and poof! It was done.
I toted this project with me everywhere—trains, planes, and automobiles, a college concert hall and a symposium. I’m stubborn, so the project had grown long past any reasonable definition of “portable knitting” by the time I finally stopped port-ing it and stayed home.
To give you a sense of the scale, this is the last picture I took of the Stepping Stone on the needles.
Monday night, I stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing it, having a fabulous time. Finishing the ending row of triangles and weaving in all the ends took me precisely 6 episodes of Annika. (Nicola Walker as a quirky detective with a complicated love life—again!)
The mighty power of a quick steam block took my throw from a Ruffle to a Pringle in no time:
I can’t wait to see it all clean and relaxed after a soak in the Soak—it will be as flat as a sheet of typing paper.
The Knitter’s Stopwatch
For the Timed Knitting crowd (you know who you are), this blanket clocks in at around 72 hours of pure fun knitting time. Want to see my back-of-the blanket math? There are 60 rectangles, clocking in at approximately 1 hour each. There are 24 triangles at approximately 30 minutes each. That adds up to 72, plus an hour or two of weaving in ends. There are not many of them, but they do add up! I’m impressed at myself for getting in 2 full work weeks of knitting time, on top of my actual work weeks!
Instagram followers have remarked on my Stepping Stone Throw’s spring-y, green palette. Kathryn (@Koshababooshka) said “Andes candies,” and that would’ve been the perfect name for this colorway.
It folds nice and square.
Now that it’s finished, I don’t know for what or for whom this blanket is destined. I made it for the sheer joy of knitting it, and despite its generous size, I’m still a long way from getting entrelac out of my system.
Entrelac is such an incredible technique for building a big piece of fabric—a proper Textile—without getting bored. Seamless, modular, memorizable, and endlessly adaptable—it’s My Kind of Knitting.
What’s next? A Scrap Tote, surely—I happen to have some scraps!
Love,
Kay
Eye-poppingly beautiful, Kay! Can’t wait to see it after blocking.
That’s a lovely blanket! I can’t wait to see it after the soak/block. I’m working on the “Safe at Home” blanket. It’s a fascinating knit, but if you mind weaving in ends, it’s not for you! Lots of modular knitting with a smattering of intarsia. Nothing has ever taken me this long, and I consider myself to be an experienced knitter. The better part of a year, with a long break for Christmas gift knitting!
When blocked may we see the other side of this beauty.
Would it be possible to make this with sequence patterns on all the blocks. The designers would be credited as Erilia Camight!
I love this idea!
Wow! Kay you are the blanket-est knitting gal.
Congrats on a possible land speed needles records. Can’t wait to see this fully soaked and blocked.
Andes Candies for sure! It’s beautiful!
ps – I’m thinking the triangles take 30 minutes each, not 30 hours? Sorry, editor’s eyes….
Yes, caught that too. I think you’re right!
It’s just gorgeous! Guessing that the triangles took 30 minutes each rather than hours? I need to put this into my rotation!
Wow! Absolutely stunning! I guess I’d better get a move on…I have a lot of learning ahead of me to accomplish that!
You will be surprised at how straightforward it is. I only had to consult the pattern for the side triangles, just to remind me. Everything else was plain to see from the first rectangle.
Oh gosh oh gosh, love that Andes Candies colorway (which reminds me I still have some Easter Andes lurking in my miscellaneous bin – right under the giant Trader Joe’s chocolate block – we are oh so au courant with our chocolate treats here). Can’t wait to see your Scrap Tote. Will it also be an Andes Candies? Or maybe a Jordan Almond Special. Which would make me even hungrier. (Given my own track record 30 Hours would be closer to accurate.).
Beautiful job, Kay! The colors, the pattern…tres magnifique! And you’re not alone in considering a blanket a portable project (my favorite place is a doctor’s waiting room…oh, the looks! )
Doctor’s office is such a prime knitting location because it often magically makes the doctor see you 30 seconds after you’ve gotten settled in with your knitting —but if not, you’re knitting, so all is well. No-lose situation.
Awesome blanket! Congratulations Kay
Love it!!!
Andes candies. I can’t stand them but the do remind me of some of my relatives who always had a bel of them on hand!
I adore them! That waxy minty melty thing…..
I’ll be glad to share any I find with you!
How did you steam block it? Steamer? Would a steam iron work – just hold it above the blanket and shoot jets of steam out? Then you will use SOAK to clean it afterwards? (Can you put this in the dryer or do you have to lay it out to dry?)
I have a standing steamer because I’m me (lol) but I have often had great success with just holding a steam iron over the work and blasting jets of steam. Atlas is very receptive to steam! You absolutely cannot put it in the dryer, as it is not a superwash yarn. I roll it up in a blanket to squeeze out the most water, then lay it out on my bed to air dry.
I was a little surprised by the colors list – Andes Candies indeed, in the earlier pictures I was reading merlot and whisper as brown and white — and they are not.
I agree wholeheartedly about your description of the project. This is a lot like sock knitting for me. I’m not getting lost in a long, boring slog. One manageable knitting piece, then a change of direction or color or style or all three, and I’m on to the next. This is a great knit.
Exactly how I feel! It’s as easy as plain stockinette but much MUCH less fatiguing.
Impressive! Good for you!
I’m a timer. You deserve a gold medal in speed knitting.
It’s just gorgeous! Guessing that the triangles took 30 minutes each rather than hours? I need to put this into my rotation!
We’ll done Kay! You never fail to inspire. Check out this sweet entrelac bag (not my work): https://ravel.me/entrelac-purse
Show us the back!! Please!!! And after blocking!! Love love love the colors!!!!