400 Stitches in 60 Days (Take Two)

Okay, let me try this again.

I recently got the book 400 Knitting Stitches as a resource for my knitting. As I started looking through all the different stitch patterns, I saw many cool patterns I wanted to try. With way too many random piles of leftover acrylic yarns I don’t want to use for any other projects, I decided to turn this book into a project.

I’m casting on somewhere around 21 stitches for each (depending on the number of stitches needed for the pattern), including 4 edge stitches (2 on each side). Obviously there is going to be some variation in the sizes. Once I’m done I’ll stitch them together into blankets for Project Linus.

As the title implies, I’m going to attempt to do this in just 2 months. I started on March 29, so I hope to be done making the squares by May 28. Then I will start the blanket-making process, hopefully getting done within a week or so. Because I don’t want to be making blankets in the middle of summer, even kid-sized blankets.

When I first came up with the idea for this, I thought I’d post the pictures of the ones I’d done every day. Not going to happen. But the photos of all the squares can be found in this album, updated frequently.

My First Quilt: Project Linus Blanket 1

I worked at a quilt shop for a few months this spring, and one of the first things my boss had me do was take a simple Friday night class. Using Eleanor Burns’ “Whirligig” pattern from her Quilt-in-a-Day series, the three-hour class gave each participant the pieces to make the large quilt and the smallest quilt in the pattern. I chose to make the smaller blanket for my first quilt because it would give me some practice.

I hand-dyed the fabric for the background, binding, and backing and assembled the blanket top using my Kenmore sewing machine. I quilted all three layers in a simple checkerboard pattern, keeping it simple for my first project.

This blanket will go to Project Linus, a non-profit organization that gives blankets to children in crisis. Recipients range in age from newborn to 17-years-old. They are delivered locally to ill or traumatized children.

To find out more about Project Linus or find your local chapter, visit their website at projectlinus.org.