If you Give a Mouse a Cookie (TM) or How I Find Myself Down Another Knitting Track

When the kids were small, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was one of the favorite books in the house.  If you don't remember or know the story, it shows how doing the next logical, make-everything-a-bit-more-perfect step can quickly get you to some sort of unexpected extreme.

This happens not infrequently with my knitting, which may partially explain why so many of my knitting projects have stalled out.

This past week, I was working away on my first project for Use It or Lose It challenge period #2, a Boneyard Shawl from some Brooks Farm merino/silk blend that had been in my stash for over 3 years. I have 810 yards of this, not quite enough for a long sleeved sweater unless I add in another yarn, and since I already have vests in similar colors (blues and black), I decided a shawl was in order.  This is what it looked like about 40 yards in:

Boneyard Shawl in BF Four Play

I was in my living room knitting away when I glanced at the stacks of knitted squares I store on the lower shelf of a coffee table.  They are all knitted from leftover fingering weight yarn (socks mostly), and it occurred to me that I might have almost enough to make a throw.

Squares on the coffee table shelf

I had 40 completed squares, so I promptly dropped everything and knit 4 more.  This is how 42 of them look together.

42 sock yarn squares

I am now thinking that 49 or 64 squares will be a great finished size.  I've even bought a few balls of Comfort Sock in gray for my assembly/edging yarn (see the two balls in the stacks photo).  These are my second stash addition for 2013.

As I was knitting my squares, I flipped through the rest of the Knitalong book where the pattern for the above squares (Barn Raising Quilt) came from.  The Spiral Blanket caught my eye.  It would use much more of my Brooks Farm yarn than the Boneyard Shawl would (unless I made the shawl HUGE), and besides, I already have a shawlette in similar colors (something that slipped my mind when I cast on the shawl).

Last night I cast on the blanket, and about 100 yards in, this is what it looks like:

Spiral blanket WIP

I think I will stick with the spiral blanket, at least for my Super Bowl knitting.