Short strings blanket

#1

I have decided to knit a blanket. There are several reasons for this. First, I have a lot of acrylic yarn that I have no use for (though I have to save enough to do a hat for my brother). Second, I need a blanket that I won’t cry if it gets dirty - I’m going to Alaska for the summer and things are going to be pretty dirty and primitive. Third - I have an idea for an unusual blanket to do. Anybody interested in joining me? Here’s what I plan to do:

  1. Seperate “good yarn” (natural fibers, things I have a plan for, etc.) from “bad yarn” (can you say Red Heart SuperSaver? but there’s some not as cheap yarn going into this pile, too.), and put away the “bad yarn”.

  2. Cast on between 500 and 600 stitches. Yes, that many.

  3. Write out papers with different lengths on them… One yard, seven feet, twelve feet, one foot, 53 feet, and so on, and drop them in a hat.

  4. Blindly select a yarn.

  5. Blindly select a length.

  6. Cut that length of that yarn, and tie into my cast on yarn. Knit to the end of the yarn.

  7. Repeat steps 4,5, and 6 until either I am out of yarn, or the blanket is as big as I want it.

Now, I’m making this in acrylic and selecting completely at random from my stash, but I would love to see how a similar blanket turns out if it is in natural fiber, selected from a certain range of colors, and so on. Is anyone interested?

#2

I don’t have a very large stash-I am a poor college student. And (don’t laugh) most of that stash is Red Heart Super Saver. However, I plan to use up that stash in the manner that you outlined below in a funky stocking cap. I figure I’ll have enough yarn for one or two of those, as there is enough for only about 1/8 of an afghan!

Rebecca

#3

LOL I’m a poor college student too, so compared to many of the people here, I have a tiny stash. However, since discovering alpaca, I don’t like acrylic much and want to do away with it. When I want to knit something, I go buy some merino wool… one skein at a time, one week at a time. Hence, my merino sweater is taking ages.

#4

We already have several Odds and Ends blanket threads in this Knit-a-long forum. Could you rename your topic so there won’t be confusion? Thanks!

#5

No problem - tho I’m hoping I know how to rename the thread, lol.