Imagine this ...

snuggling in, soft and warm, on a cold winter's evening, wrapped in a Shaker-style blanket made by my own hands. I am trying to stay focused on that wonderful thought but now, so early in the project, when I have only seven squares completed, it seems a far off dream. Starting something new, even though you want it very much, seems like too much sometimes.

But I press on.

I am enjoying the knitting, it's just I don't have a lot of time for it at the moment. I love that it's small and movable, I love that I can finished a square in a fairly short amount of time, and I love starting and finishing each square. Seeing each square completed and selecting the yarn for the next square gives me the motivation to keep knitting. How is everyone else going on this blanket?

Click on photo to enlarge. The pattern featured is a reverse stocking stitch and star square.

The square I like the most so far is the mustard one with blue crosses. It is just alternating blocks of plain and purl - I think I did four rows of plain, then four rows of purl. It gives a nice textured look without having to remember what stitch I'm up to. I also like the stripe, so I'll do another of those. But the squares that are the easiest are those in plain stocking stitch. I also like them because I can embroider whatever I like onto them to add interest and I can do them without looking while I talk to someone. I'm guessing there will be quite a few of those.

If you're knitting along, here are some patterns you might like to try:

BASKET WEAVE
Rows 1 - 4: four plain followed by four purl, repeat to end.
Rows 5 - 8: four purl followed by four plain, repeat to end.
Repeat these two instructions until you reach the right length.

And Rose sent an email with more patterns. You might like to try some of these:

CROSSED KNITTING STITCH
Row 1: Knit into the back of the stitches.
Row 2: Purl into the back of the stitches.

BROKEN DOUBLE RIB
Row 1: K2 P2
Row 2: Purl

DOUBLE MOSS STITCH
Row 1: K1 P1
Row 2: K1 P1
Row 3: P1 K1
Row 4: P1 K1

MOSS STITCH LADDER
Find the 5 stitches in the centre of your square. Work a normal stocking stitch square but, in the middle:
Right side: P1, K1, P1, K1, P1
Wrong side: Purl
Continue throughout square.

FRAMED SQUARE
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: K2, purl to the last 2 stitches, K2
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until the last 2 rows.
Knit 2 rows.

REVERSE FRAMED SQUARE
Row 1: Purl
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: P2, knit to last 2 stitches, P2
Row 4: Purl
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until the last 2 rows.
Purl 2 rows.

Many thanks for those Rose. It's a big help.

I would like to have a photo sharing site where we could all load our photos to show our progress. I know this would be a big motivation for me and I think it would help many of our other knitters too. However, I have no clue about where or how. How does Flickr work or is there another site, can anyone help me? It needs to be something I can have a link to on my blog but where everyone who is knitting along can freely load their own photos.

And finally, the photo above is of Koda, watching the chooks. Koda is my step son's dog and we're looking after her while he and Cathy are away for the week. So with Koda and Alice, Princess - Shane and Sarndra's cat and Hettie, our cat, with all the chooks, including Shane and Sarndra's chooks, the old homestead is turning into quite the animal refuge. It's nice having them here though, although Hanno reckons we should put up a sign now saying: FULL HOUSE.