finally, the FO i've been waiting for

last night, i finished the new zealand blanket.

finished. seams sewn. ends woven. fringe embellishment added. finished.

so, for any reader who's new here, this is the blanket i started last february during our trip to new zealand. instead of buying souvenirs, i bought a skein of yarn in most of the spots we stopped at during the trip. i had managed to purchase all but three skeins by the time my granny died and we had to come back to the states, so i purchased yarn in denver and in oregon (on our last day off before going back to work after a month).

i've been knitting off and on ever since, and it seemed like i would never finish. and once i did finish, i dreaded sewing the thing together.

but all of a sudden, before i realized it, i was finished with all the squares, and the sewing took no more than two rugby matches and an episode of globe trekker (translation: about 3.5 hours, max, with some stopping in between). fringe took another hour. and voila.

it's not perfect. i made mistakes. but i love it still.

gratuitous close up of the first square i started knitting, in the rain, in kaikoura

for all the knitters, here are some details:

pattern: design source collections "four seasons throws" for 12 squares, misc. patterns for 8 squares
yarn (not in any order, including location purchased):

• utiku wools perendale ("iris", utiku; orange "traffic", utiku)
  
• shepherd colour 4 me (light blue, dunedin)
• cleckheaton country (maroon, dunedin; black, whangarei; sage, taupo; olive green, whangarei; heather grey, dunedin; butter yellow, kaikoura)
• cleckheaton country naturals (oatmeal, greymouth; grey tweed, dunedin)
  
• rainbow pure wool (teal, blenheim; red, greymouth; navy, greymouth)
• crucci, clan stewart perendale (cream, blenheim)
• ashford tekapo (rust, whangarei)
• lamb's pride worsted (blue magic, denver; mottled red "prairie fire", hillsboro)
  

needles: my granny's hand-me-down metal needles, u.s. size 10

started: approx. 2/8/06

finished: 9/19/07

modifications: pattern blocks measured approx. 11.5 inches, vs 13 inches, as called for by the pattern. i also increased the blanket size by adding 8 squares, which required the addition of different patterns than what design source called for. i found these online in various sources, plus made up a couple.

*sigh*

overcoming guilt

i have been working on the nz blanket since last february, and i am now only 3.5 squares from being done. if i sat down for one week and knitted every night, i think i could finish it. but, for the life of me, i can't bear the thought of picking up that project. it has nothing to do with the fact that i love the project so much, i don't want it to end. quite the opposite. i don't want to look at it again. it might also have something to do with the fact that once i finish it, i'm going to have to sew it together. bleck.

anyhow, recent distractions have me even further torn away from this project. it has taken all the strength in the world (and a lot of yardwork yesterday) to keep me from going to the yarn store and buying supplies for this. ack! it's so cute and looks like a great first project to try my hand at knitting clothes. i would love to make it in a beautiful soft pink or baby blue, or maybe even a dark orange....ACK.

i've decided just now that the reward for completing the blanket will be yarn for the sweater. off i go...