A+ Wedding Blanket

Time for another freebie!  One of my favorite people is getting married this weekend.  She has done so much for me and is so generous with her time and talents, so I wanted to make her something special as a wedding gift...here's what I came up with:

Materials:

• 6 balls Patons Classic Wool in Leaf Green
• 6 balls Patons Classic Wool in Deep Olive
• 2 balls Patons Classic Wool in Plum Heather
• 2 balls Patons Classic Wool in Royal Purple
• size 7 knitting needles
• tapestry needle

One extra ball in your choice of the above colors for sewing squares together and doing the blanket stitch border.

Gauge:  4.5 sts per inch

Blanket square:
CO 60 stitches
Work in stocking stitch until 14" for CO edge

24 squares total in the following colors:
9 squares Leaf Green
9 squares Deep Olive
3 squares Plum Heather
3 squares Royal Purple

Here's the layout:

DO	RP	DO	LG
LG	DO	LG	PH
PH	LG	DO	LG
LG	DO	RP	DO
DO	PH	DO	LG
LG	DO	LG	RP

LG = Leaf Green

DO = Deep Olive

PH = Plum Heather 

RP = Royal Purple

When your blanket is finished, stitch all the squares together using a weaving method to hide the yarn well and make it all even.  Here's a great tutorial for weaving (first joining method she teaches in the video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3rvJx3-9Xs

Next, bottle up all your courage, and get ready to felt all that hard work!  Don't worry, it's fun...and if you're really attached, it is a gorgeous blanket un-felted also, and much larger.  Un-felted, this blanket will fit a single size mattress!

Felting is a combination of heat, agitation and a small amount of soap.  To achieve this, fill a top loading washing machine at the lowest water level, highest heat setting, and highest agitation setting, with a small amount of laundry detergent.  Keep the lid of the machine open if possible, so that you don’t accidentally have it go through any cycle other than agitation.  Once you have all your settings perfect, throw your blanket in and let the machine do the work.  There's no exact length of time for how long the felting process will take.  It will depend how hot your water is and so on.  My blanket took around 20-25 minutes, but make sure you're checking it at 5 minute intervals to insure it doesn't over-shrink.  

Once you've felted it to your liking, be very careful not to ring and twist the blanket out as you remove it, as the blanket will form and stretch as you do.  Try to remove the water as gently as possible, by compressing and squeezing softly in small areas.  Be patient and don't rush this step.

Next you're ready to block.  Lay and square your blanket out on a flat surface, pinning it down as your achieve the shape you like (I layed mine on the spare bedroom carpet) where it can dry undisturbed.

Once your blanket is completely dry, use your leftover yarn in the color of your choice and do a blanket stitch around the outside edges of the blanket.  It just gives it that perfect finish.

And voila!  The perfect gift...or maybe you want to keep it for yourself ;)

Here's a little poem I wrote to go along with the gift.  Feel free to use it along with your own wedding blanket:

The Wedding Blanket

Just as the two of you started as separate individuals, coming into this world raw and without experience, this blanket started out as simple strands of yarn, rolled up neatly and ready to be worked.

As each of you has gone through life, you’ve grown and learned in many ways, knitting squares of experience as individuals.

When you met each other, these squares of experience were fastened together to form a more beautiful whole, to complement and contribute to each other, and learn from one another as you continued your journey.

As you take this step of marriage and total commitment to each other, you will undergo a felting process, where you will become one in purpose and intent, just as the stitches in this blanket disappear and become one when they are submersed in hot water.

As you compromise and apply yourselves in selfless service to each other throughout your marriage, your love will grow and develop more than you can imagine, adding a beautiful accent to your relationship, just like the subtle border on this blanket.

My hope is that every time you look at this blanket, you’ll remember the promises and commitments you’ve made to each other today, and that it can keep you cozy and warm, just as your constant love for each other will continue to strengthen your marriage.

Congratulations!

~By Lise-Anne Michel~