It's a Wrap

Okay, technically this isn't done done, as I still have about a bajillion ends to weave it, but I'm calling it close enough! (And weaving in the rest of the ends is on the agenda for tonight anyway.)

Pattern: Sweet Gemma by Triona Murphy
Yarn: Yarn Hollow Tor DK (100% superwash merino) in Chili Red, approximately 3.5 skeins
Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Started/Completed: January 4/February 14
Mods: none

This blanket took a bit longer to knit than I expected, but I fully blame that on my short attention span and ability to get distracted by other things. It generally took me about three evenings to knit a square, and I definitely got faster as I got used to the pattern and could anticipate what came next in the stitch pattern.

The pattern itself is excellent and really well written. I used the chart exclusively and only had one or two minor problems that were entirely due to user error. The squares are made from the center out and then connected with slip-stitch crochet -- and on that note my one tip for knitting this pattern is that you really want to make sure that you do your bind off loosely so that you don't have to struggle to get your crochet hook into the stitches when you're seaming. Because of the way this is constructed, it'd be really easy to work the squares in any thickness of yarn and to make the blanket any size by adjusting the total number of squares used. It would make a great afghan, and because you're making it one square at a time, it would be really easy to make it over a long period of time and end up with a really large blanket.

While the slip-stitch crochet method is fast and works well to join the squares, I will say that it's not as stretchy as the knit fabric (though I will admit that there's also a possibility I did it too tightly, novice crocheter that I am). If I knit this again, I might experiment with leaving the stitches live after a square is complete and using a three-needle bind off to join them. Actually, I should probably say when I knit this again, because I so enjoyed knitting it this time and it really does make a spectacular FO. And Rainbow was admiring it quite a lot, so I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before she asks me to make her one!