The Blanket Without Frontiers

The Ferry Blankie began in March, 2010. I had amassed a small cache of sock yarn scraps previously to that, with the idea that a blanket might emerge from the heap one day.

It is just a small cache and I am actively seeking donations of sock yarns on Ravelry and in other places. I’m committed to making p/hop donations for yarns received – so if you can send me some scraps, MSF will benefit and the blanket will be more colourful too.

UPDATE April 2010: As I receive more and more donations for the blanket, the idea grows upon me that there is a great sense of community about the project. I briefly considered calling this the Community Blankie, but have now settled upon its name as The Blanket Without Frontiers as p-hop donations got to Médecins Sans Frontières)

If you do send me yarns, please send me any stories attached to them – was this your very first pair of socks? Did you make them for somebody special or for a special occasions? Was there a horror story attached to the knitting of them? Anything at all. I want to make a story quilt as a side project – you can read my stories in the yarn key below, as I post them.

Donations of yarn can be sent to:

woolgatherer
Little Isegarth
Sanday
Orkney KW17 2BL
UK

Ask me for postage money if you need it. Any sock yarn that I do not use up in my blanket will be forwarded to other sock blanket makers. I may ask them to contribute to p/hop in their turn.

Acknowledgements will be posted in the blog as I write my updates about the blanket-making. Here I shall catalogue the squares and summarise the details of the making.

When my blanket is finished I am going to hang it on an exposed stone wall to brighten up my days and to add a little warmth and comfort to my cottage, up here in Orkney.

The process

I am following the basic recipe suggested by the Heathen Housewife, Shelly Kang – you can find details in her blog and on Ravelry. There’s a Blankiemania group on Ravelry too.

The blanket is being made on 2.5mm DPNs, from lighter-weight sock yarns such as Opal and Regia – anything roughly  in the range of 380 – 430 metres per 100g. I plan to document the squares as I go, as each will have its own little history attached to it.

The First Few Squares