The blanket in action

The blanket in action, a photo by hannah8ball on Flickr.

This year has been a year of big gift projects. And I've been surprising myself with how quickly I'm burning through these projects.  I decided (rather late) that my gift to brother-in-law and his fiance  for their end-of-May wedding was going to be a blanket.  And no, that is not my (now) sister-in-law trying the blanket out.  She was far too busy to take a breather on the couch.  I hope she is enjoying it now though!

So, I ordered my yarn and got to work on the wonderful Hemlock Ring Blanket.  And even though I'd left myself barely a month to knit a blanket (and a super-duper busy month at that!), I finished this lovely work in 20 days.  And the bind-off took 3 of those days!  But look how gorgeously it turned out!

Worth every moment of it.  My only regret is that I decided for some crazy reason to use size 9 needles, and so the blanket only measured 54" at the end (even with an extra lace repeat in there!).

The pattern was a delightful combination of mindless and pay-attention rounds - perfect for TV and camping knitting.  And I love how the shape of this blanket is so atypical.  I'll be on the lookout for more interesting doily patterns to make large.  Yes, there are definitely blankets in my future.

And doesn't it look just perfect on their couch in their livingroom?

Ravelry deets here.