This was a special project a long time in the making. I actually finished it in the earlier part of last year, but am just now sharing about it (which is what often happens when I share about knitting projects.) My Grandma Zoe (who my son called Great Grandma Zoe) used to crochet a lot, and each person in our family has a beautiful blanket made by her, including me. She had yarn to make a blanket for my nephew, but her dementia made it so that she wasn’t able to crochet anymore and the blanket was never made. Being the knitter in the family, my stepmom passed the yarn along to me. As soon as I saw the speckled blue and green skeins, there seemed no decision needed to be made as to what to make with the yarn, I felt so surely that the purpose of the yarn was exactly what it had first been intended for- a blanket for my nephew. Both of my stepsisters always seemed to have a close relationship with their grandma, and it made my heart happy to be able to use my hands to make the project Zoe would have liked to make.

I had seen a blanket I really liked when I was at Cozy yarn shop one day. It was a simple seed stitch and I made a mental note that if I ever knit a blanket I would like to make one similar. That’s what I decided to do, since I knew I wanted something simple that I could work on all the time (rather than something complicated that would take my full concentration.) There were six skeins of Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton (it’s discontinued now), and to make the blanket I cast on 143 stitches (you can cast on any amount, but the odd number is needed for the seed stitch), and then K1, P1 every row. I used size 9 knitting needles (recommended size for that yarn), and kept knitting and knitting until I ran out of yarn. (I thought I’d share those details for any of you knitters who were curious about what I did.)

The blanket came along with me on our road trip to Wyoming the summer before last, and I got a lot of progress made on it during the drive. My stepmom wound the skeins of yarn into balls of yarn to get it ready for me, so I could keep knitting away, and that was awesome. I had never knit a blanket before and was a bit concerned that it would take me far too long to finish it. I worked on it when we had our weekly movie night, brought it along with me places if I thought I’d have a few minutes to knit, and bit by bit the blanket grew. I think it took me a little over a year, and then suddenly I was almost out of yarn and I could hardly believe it- is the blanket really almost finished? When I cast off the last stitches and had a look at the blanket, my first thought was that it looked more like a shawl than a blanket. But you know what? It was so soft… and so cozy… and I decided it was perfect just the way it was.

My stepsister has had three boys now. I think Zoe was going to make the blanket for her firstborn. I sent it to her youngest, though really felt it was a gift for all of the boys. B took a picture of me holding the blanket out in the garden before I sent it. As I wrapped it up to mail to them, I thought of Zoe and felt that she would be happy knowing the blanket was made. I know it sure made my heart happy to do it.

P.S. My nephew also got a pair of slippers. I knit this pattern, with this yarn. Also cotton yarn, like the blanket. I usually knit with wool, not cotton, so it felt different to knit with, but so soft and made for a great knit. The pattern is for baby booties, but these knit up larger- perfect for slippers, which I love. I decided to knit each one in a different color, which I also love! I thought it was really fun.