I was thinking the same thing!
I saw this KAL today and it really grabbed my attention. Will Have to join, just cant resist.
I found some sock yarn in purple and off white and made a swatch. this is what I have so far. I cast on 35 stitches using both colours. knit 5 rows then continued to knit 3 stitches on each side of the pattern. the pattern itself is 29 stitches by 29 rows.
I used 3mm/which is between a 2 and 3 us needle. the swatch measures 4 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches. I used 6g of each colour. which is about 26.4 yards.
The sock yarn is Elle Sock Wool 4ply, it comes in 50g balls and has 200m/220yds.
The sample feels lovely, If I were to make a baby blanket this is the weight of yarn I would use.
Here is a couple of photo’s. I am not sure if this info will be of use to anybody but here it is. now off to find some worsted weight wool and do the same swatch to see the difference.
Brecka - thank you for the link you provided on Ravelry for the patterns. that book is amazing.
dustinac, will you post pics of your aran afghan, or have you?
I cast on a sample square with Caron Simply Soft and size 8 needles. I’m only 8 rows in, but so far I’m really not happy with how it’s turning out. It just really isn’t looking good. I’m also having a pretty bad time with it being splitty, which hasn’t really been a problem in the past. This is just left over yarn I had.
I’m going to go for a few more rows and see if it straightens out. If not then I’ll def. be trying a different yarn for this.
Then again, maybe it’s my knitting that’s the problem!:teehee: The stitches look kinda sloppy. I may not be keeping good tension between the 2 colors.
I hope I can make it look good because I’d really like to knit this, but that is just too much of a project to just end up looking OK or in my case blah.
I haven’t yet except on my raverly page…I only have 2 blocks finished, working on the 3rd but I will post them here when I get more finished :teehee:
Karina~That is so pretty! Great idea for the fingering weight :yay:
Lieuvena~I’m sorry it’s not working out with the yarn a lot of times color work can look blah till you get some rows worked…you can do it :happydance:
I haven’t even had a chance to think about casting on today…prolly won’t till after company leaves on Sunday but you guys are making the itch to start worse :teehee:
Gina, I went to my LYS tonite and the color IS Encore worsted #999. It’s darker than what my hat picture looks like, too. IMO it’s a really pretty dark burgundy color. Why don’t you PM me your address and I’ll send you the little scrap I have so you can see it first hand. I don’t need it anymore. This is a big project and you want to buy the right yarn. It’s only going to be the cost of a stamp so don’t worry about it either. 
Lieuvena - Carry on for a bit longer. I found mine looked awful and them once a few rows past the area that looked rubbish it started to look better. When I started mine I did not think it would work, but now I am really happy with how it turned out. Also as I worked I would every few stitches give the yarn a little tug just to tighten up the tension.
ooh i just found this browsing about ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Pinneguri/thistle
if you scroll down under the 26 nov entry is a link to a pdf file of the graph of the beautiful graphic.
Thanks a lot for being on the watch for us!
That THISTLE pattern could definitely be isolated as one Thistle for another type of block in the ULTIMATE BLANKET!
:happydance:Thank you for the link!
I had family up for Easter and then yesterday was crazy was errands…I’m hoping things calm down by the end of this week to make a swatch
KP Cotlin (a DK weight) in Sprout and Swan respectively
its the color combo im playing around with, and considering to do with the thistle isolate swapped in instead of the snowflake…
i would have to do a whole new swatch process for this yarn to determine my guestimation on yardage requirements (for the 1st blanket I had to go back and order just 1 last ball of each of the colors…)
or to stay with the same yarn to take that part of the new project drama out of the process
KP Shine Worsted in Robot Laurel and Cream (unsure of cream v robot [but leaning towards robot])
ok so my heart is leaning towards the cotlin colors, and my head is leaning to the shine colors
what do you think?
brecka 
I like the green in the shine, but I think the contrast is better with the cotlin colours. that could be down to how the colours come up on my monitor. If I was you I would do a swatch in each colour combo and see how it looks and feel.
I really love the swatch that I did with the 4ply sock yarn but to get the size of blanket I want I need to cast on 800 stitches (60 inch wide blanket) and get at the very least 25 skeins of each colour. So that will be for a time when I have more money than sense.
I have made another swatch using the tulip design again. this time I used worsted weight yarn 80% acrylic 20% wool. cheap stuff that comes in a 400g ball and contains 900 yards per ball.
cast on the same 35 stitches used a 5mm/8us needle and the size turned out to be 10 inches by 7inches. it is incredible thick but very nice. Still prefer the 4ply but since I am poor right now this will do nicely.
here is a couple of photo’s one with the two samples next to each other so you can see the difference in size.
You can see that the cast on edge is a bit tighter knit than the top cast off edge. when using the two colours together to cast on I found that the corners puckered in so I made a big effort to knit loosely on the side and the top and it did make a big difference in the look and feel. Prefer it. so if that is the way to cast on and knit the beginning I will start with a size 6mm needle and change down to a 5 when the double knitting starts.
is there another way to to start off the blanket using just one colour, but then I guess that the thickness is different. or would you be better off casting on and go straight into a double knit border. I think I might have to try it out, but would really like to know what the more experienced double knitters have done in the past.
breckalew~I like the cotlin colors but like Karina mentioned that could be just how they are on my screen could you do a swatch in both? :yay:
Karina~Is that yarn available in the US? Nice yardage it gives you…do you think the worsted would be to thick? I agree I would love to do one in fingering weight but that won’t happen right now :teehee:
I haven’t been able to swatch I’m under a tight deadline with some knitting I’m doing right now and hoping to finish that up soon
Brecka, for all the work you’re going to put into this blanket, I’d go with your heart!
Karina, wow, the size really is different! Thanks so much for sharing your swatches with us- they’re beautiful!
Dustina - I don’t think the yarn is available in the US, I think I mentioned it before on the Sock kal. maybe when i made the Alita blanket and I think you checked it out then. the yarn is made by Sirdar. The blanket will be very thick but warm and snugly. I think it would be unsuitable for babies. In this country they recommend lots of thin layers and not thick layers for babies so it is easier to control how hot they get. You just add or take away a layer as needed. But for older children and adult that live in cold climate I think it will be a lovely TV blanket. If you live somewhere warm I would go for something thinner.
thats what i did, when i cast on i did the top and bottom border, and cast off using a size larger needle (size determined by swatching) and a smaller one for the double knitting portion of the blanket it all but solved those issues of drawing in and whatnot, i’ll be honest. i have yet to knit a perfectly squared blanket… i believe its just the drape of fabric and the weight of all that love you put in there 
Hi breckalew!
My input about the two different color combos that you posted: the first two colors (the cotlin colors) will [U]define the motifs much more[/U] than the more muted SHINE colors.
As for the SHINE colors, the 3 are LAUREL (the green?), ROBOT (the grey?) and CREAM (the cream). IMHO, the green and the grey are the same color intensity.
That is to say, although the green is green…it is the same level as the grey on the intensity dial.
I think the cream ‘define’ the motifs much better.
Just my opinion.
Unless you are going for an overall monochromatic look, which is a totally valid color theory! Then the green and grey work perfectly.
Well since this KAL isn’t until June…I’m gonna throw my hand in. I should be done with my current projects by then. I just hope that I will be able to finish for Christmas…I’m not exactly the quickest knitter…or the best when it comes to color patterns…but I’d love to finish one of those blankets they are all so beautiful!
“…they are all so beautiful!”
You can say that again!!! 