Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Labour of Love

mblanket5

Yes. That is M's blanket. And yes, it is FINISHED.

I can't even begin to describe how pleased I am to have this done. Two years in the making, many hours of knitting, much procrastination. A gift that was meant for her first Christmas, then postponed for her first birthday - I did in fact finish it off in time for her 2nd birthday earlier this week. A birthday that unfortunately was spent sick with the flu, the blanket came in very handy this week as we've spent many many hours cuddled up on the couch.

mblanket3

I ended up altering my original "plan" to make the blanket a bit bigger and wider. It's pictured on a queen bed so should be a good size for on top of a single bed with a body under it. The squares are 20cm x 20cm but I knit a larger 40cm panel for the middle and used intarsia to make a traditional Maori design bordering her name and DOB (hence the blanking out). It seems almost surreal looking at her date of birth with the 07 on the end. I'm having a hard time believing my baby is TWO!!

mblanket2

I knit the black squares and a couple of the coloured ones. All the rest were donated by a special group of women I feel very privileged to have been a part of. And while I don't 'see' them as much anymore I consider myself very lucky to call each of them my friend. The blanket will comfort and warm, every square reminding me of a time when those friends saved me from the loneliness of adjusting to a new place far away. Without their daily companionship and support my life would have been very sad and empty. I miss you all x

mblanket1

Enough with the mushy and sentimental?

Most of the squares are garter or moss , a few are stocking with a garter border. A lot of the black squares I knit as mitred squares because I liked the motivation of an ever decreasing number of stitches. I also used a couple of dishcloth patterns just to try something a bit different. I have to say that endless 20cm squares are not something I will be knitting again in a hurry. Likewise the "fun" part of picking up stitches for the border (about 8 rows garter with little mitered squares at the corners - thank you RoseRed for your help with that) is something I won't be rushing to do again anytime soon. That being said this was a BIG project with a BIG timeframe and even with all the stalling along the way I am really thrilled with the outcome. It's not perfect but it was knit with lots of love and hopefully M will treasure it as much as I treasure her. I have to admit to secretly hoping she'll be able to wrap up her own babies with it one day.

Oops back to the mushy and sentimental, probably a good place for me to sign off!

17 comments:

Mary said...

Wow, that reallt is a labor of love! A lot of work, but so beautiful, and it will be treasured forever!

Jen said...

That's just gorgeous! And well done for finishing such an enormous project, especially one that you've had in the works for a couple of years.

I'm sure it'll become a treasured heirloom.

J

Jo's Place said...

That is fantastic, what a lovely thing to give to your wee girl, and happy birthday precious for the other day. Mwah xx

Rose Red said...

A big HUZZAH to you for finishing! What a great gift, I am sure she will treasure it forever (and so glad I could be of a little assistance!)

Hoaenz said...

WOW! How cool to see it all done! It looks fabulous!!!!!! And Happy Birthday Miss2!!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Gabes! so neat to see it finished :) Happy Birthday Miss M, I can't believe it has been 2 years!!!
Miss you too!

kv said...

it's lovely!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful :)

At Home Mommy Knits said...

An heirloom for you daughter! Beautiful.

Heart Felt said...

No wonder it took a while - it's huge. Something to treasure forever. x

Bells said...

what a fabulous effort! it's beautiful and deserves all the mush and sentimentality you give it!

Julie said...

Yay it's finished, well done you and it's absolutely gorgeous!!!!! Wish that beautiful 2 year old a very (late) happy birthday from all of us....XX

Miss Smith said...

I LOVE handknitted blankets, I have a very special one that I bought for my babies for $20 from the red cross shop, all mitred squares. I will never ever give it away. I think it's also safe to say I will never ever knit one myself. I am bad enough with small and medium duration projects!

Rima said...

That IS a labour of love! No matter how long it took--it is just gorgeous.

Gigi said...

Oh that's lovely -- good work! I just love a blanket made of squares -- so homey and cosy.
Blessings,
G

amanda said...

Yay!!! You wouldn't believe how many times I've started one of these1 :D

hanna said...

This is beautiful! What a special special blanket.