I have decided to knit two of these for two very special babies (long awaited, fertility problems, etc). Thank goodness I still have plenty of time for both, so I want to do something really nice. I found a blog about this blanket that someone did a few years ago. They changed the border and it is more to my taste, but I am not sure how she did it. The blogger said that she knitted the border in rounds with 5 circulars instead of 4 separate borders with corner seams. I’ve been knitting less than six months and am not sure what this means. Can anyone help? Thanks so much!
Krista
http://joyblogging.typepad.com/photos/album_2005/db_wool_cotton_alphabet_blanket.html
I think she means that she used multiple circular needles to accommodate all the stitches around the outside of the blanket. If you have used double pointed needles, like to do the top of a hat or a sock, it would be the same idea. With double points you have 3 or 4 holding the stitches and use an empty needle to knit onto. I have never done this with something big like a blanket. Usually with a circular needle you don’t really empty the needle ever, you just keep going around and around, but maybe when you use them this way you would empty a circular needle just like you do with the double points. It sounds like she had one circular holding the stitches of each of the four sides and knitted with a fifth circular.
I’m not sure how she did the corners though. I don’t have access to the pattern, but if you didn’t do something to allow the corners to increase they wouldn’t lie flat when you finished. It sounds like the pattern called for doing the sides each separately, as directed and then sew the corners together. I’m not sure how the lady who changed the pattern handled that aspect of it. Maybe it is possible to do the shaping given in the pattern, but just carry it on around and avoid the seam.
Maybe if you contacted the blogger she would we willing to help you figure it out. Good luck.
If you ever find out, I’d love to know. Someday I’m going to get that pattern and knit it myself because I love it so much. Good luck figuring it out!