FO: Someone Else's Blanket

Years ago, I had a big shopping problem. I would spend money on stupid things that I didn't need just for the sake of "the deal." Target clearance sections were my downfall. Then one day I found myself in a very bad financial situation - not due to my shopping habits, just for the record - and I had no choice but to majorly cut back on shopping. This turned out to be a great thing overall, but that doesn't mean I quit my shopping fix cold turkey because I was lucky enough to find the Thrift Store. I always had shopped a bit here and there at thrift shops, mostly for vintage items to sell on Etsy or eBay, but after this fiasco it became my place to get anything (mainly clothing) that I didn't make myself. This lead to countless hours in the craft section, because let's be real - I love craft supplies, anyway, but particularly since I couldn't afford to buy them new, I was extremely interested in scouring what was available second hand. Occasionally, I would come across half finished projects and lament for the person who started them and was unable to finished for whatever reason. A few of them I decided to buy and try to finish myself just to do the previous maker's work justice. Fast forward to now, years later when I've already re-donated a bunch of these projects I just had to have at the time, but there are still a few projects I just couldn't bear to part with. This post is about the first one I have actually finished.

Look how snuggly! lol

This blanket came to me in a very large shopping bag - it was clearly intended to be at least queen sized when it was finished, and it was still on the horrible plastic cable needle to make it with. The bag had the blanket on the needles as well as about 4 Caron One Pound skeins of navy yarn to make the whole project (they made it with 2 skeins held double), and it only cost me $2. At the time, I figured even if I didn't do anything with the blanket, I at least got all that yarn for a great price, but I just could never bring myself to unravel the completed section. The big problem in this purchase = NO PATTERN. I was so bummed when I got the bag home and saw that the pattern was nowhere to be found. What would the odds be of finding the one random blanket pattern that some previous person used to knit this up? Very slim, I can tell you. In one of my moves/stuff purges, I made the decision that I would just finish the blanket the size that it was by adding a seed stitch border to match the already completed edge. That was a few years ago now, lol. So earlier this month when I finished my Dahlia cardigan, I saw this large bag just sitting in my sewing room adding to the clutter, and I decided to FINALLY buckle down and finish it even if it was just so it wouldn't be sitting in a ripped up bag anymore.

After all the years of carting this around and putting off working on it, I had the entire thing off the needles in about 2 hours. Isn't that ridiculous? Most of that time was spent untangling the two skeins of yarn barf that was going on. But it's like anything else - you just have to be in the mood to make something, and with all the stress I've been going through these past several months, I just didn't want to start anything new - I am on finish it up mode. I actually only had to knit the seed stitch area near my face in the photo above.

The pattern is really lovely, and it's a shame it wasn't included, though who knows how much longer I would've put off finishing this had I actually HAD a pattern and intended to knit a queen size blanket, lol. So it's probably better this way. At least now I have a lovely blanket that no one else will even know isn't the way it was initially intended to be, but that is pretty and useful nonetheless. I don't buy unfinished projects anymore, but that's not to say I don't recommend it for others. It's an interesting challenge figuring out what to do with something already partially made. I'm thrilled to finally have this done. Yay for finishing old projects!

Let's have a close up look at that lovely stitch pattern :)

So now I have a slightly odd shaped blanket that is long enough to cover my body on the couch and just a little bit narrow but enough to stay warm. Thank you, lovely knitter who made the rest of this blanket! I will put it to good use for us both :)