A Thank-You Blanket

Lots of friends make fun of me because pretty much anywhere I go within the United States, I know somebody who lives there.

Nearly 15 years ago, I moved to the west coast. I was extremely fortunate that one of my Dad’s sisters has lived in Pasadena since before I was born, so I had family in the area as I started my Dream Job at UCLA.

We saw Janet and her family for Thanksgiving each of the eight years we were in Los Angeles, and dropped in occasionally at other times of the year. But since the Hubster and I moved back to Pittsburgh in 2007, it has been truly wonderful to have family in Pasadena.

Three of those week-long lines on the calendar in my previous post were trips to Southern California. Being able to stay with Janet on those trips allows me to take those trips and not spend every penny I make on hotels. This requires a Grade A level of thank-you. I offered a few handmade options. Janet chose a blanket.


We talked about some color options and I showed her some blanket options. Then I came home, placed an order for Harrisville Highland and got weaving.


I have come to love doubleweave (double-width) blankets, and this was my best effort so far. I should have made one small change in the warp thread order (should have broken up the green and gray), but otherwise? I did pretty great. You can’t see my fold at all!


The blanket reads blue, but looks great on the green couch where it will spend its life. It fits right in!

I didn’t take great notes on this project while I was making them, but I essentially followed the yarn requirements and warp thread counts from my first blanket, the one I did in class two summers ago.


I’m a little thin on finished project pictures for this blanket. The timeline from start to finish was a little tight. The blanket was barely dry before it was jammed in a backpack to be delivered to Janet on my April trip to California.

Here’s hoping it has a long and happy life in its new home, and that Uncle Ab and Aunt Janet appreciate this blanket half as much as I appreciate them!

Davis Doubleweave 

Thread: Harrisville Highland 

Colors (# of cones): #31 Cobalt (4 … warp and weft), #53 Silver Mist (1+), 

#33 Midnight Blue (1+), #60 Kiwi (1+) 

Width on Loom: 33” (unfolded to 66”) 

EPI: 8 (528 ends) 

Started: 16 March 2013 (first day of winding warp) 

Finished: 8 April 2013 (when it came off the loom) 

I swear I have notes for before/after wet finishing sizes, but I have no idea where they went. If I can find them, I will edit them in!

Finish Line

I know I’ve been gone from the blog for ages. Here’s why:


Every colored line on that calendar? (which, by the way, shows November 2012-October 2013) Represents an out-of-town trip. Or, if it’s a red line, an event I was working in town that took me away from home for entire days.

It’s ridiculous. In the last 12 months, I’ve been out of town for 107 days. Yes, a lot of that travel was a lot of fun (Florida! Cathedral City! UCLA! Women’s College World Series! The Mannings! The Lake! Ireland! Norway! Rhinebeck! Maryland Sheep & Wool! DePauw! Northwestern!), but seriously. I’ve been out of town for 107 of 365 days beginning November 1 of last year. That’s almost 30% of the year.

I am exhausted.

I have lots of finished knitting/weaving projects to show you.

Lots of fun experiences. Lots of time with people I love, both friends and family.

Tons of photos to edit and upload.

I’m going to do my best to hit the highlights and get back into the swing of things.

Assuming I have any readers left. Let me know if you’re reading. Maybe that will help me get back in the groove.

And, if you are still here, and still reading, thanks. I appreciate it!