Fisherman's Blanket

So, Walmart had a yarn sale.  Before you get all glassy-eyed, my knitting and crocheting cronies... this is not a good thing.  They were having the sale because they were reducing the yarn section of the store by TWO THIRDS.  Making way for fabric or some such nonsense.

 (Yes, I realize this is a wonderful thing for those of you who sew... but I'm sulking, so we'll go with it being a bad thing.)

Notice there is no Aspen tweed here...
This is a photo of my SECOND trip...
I know, it's a sickness.
But I'll die happy! : D

... Where was I?  Oh yes, so, yarn sale... I bought pretty much all the super bulky yarn they had left because it was a dollar a skein.  Not a bad deal, but I've never really had much success with bulky yarn.





So I searched through Ravelry's site for patterns using bulky yarn.  Can I just say what a wonderful thing Ravelry.com is?  Seriously, a wealth of information and ideas... but I digress. Yarn sale-- Of the yarn I bought, 8 skeins were Lion Brand Hometown Aspen Tweed.



I found a wonderful blanket pattern and set to work.  I did have to order three more skeins to finish the blanket, but thanks to the site to store option on Walmart.com, I got that yarn in just a couple of days.



Here is the pattern I used:


5 1/2 hour Throw from Lion Brand 
And darned if it didn't just take under 6 hours to make.


Here's a trick for the tassels.  Find a piece of cardboard that measures 11" and wrap your yarn around it in a single layer, then cut the yarn at the same end that you began so you have yarn pieces that measure 22" long.



Here, pictures make more sense to me too:

Sturdy Cardboard 11 inches long

Wrap in a single layer.

Wrap yarn LOOSELY
around cardboard.

Cut the yarn at the same end
that you started wrapping.

    Now, certainly you will want to wrap it several more times than I did in the picture.  I just did these as an example.  I used five strands for each tassel, folded in half and looped through the end of the blanket.

Yesterday, I got a call from a local business man who happened across my card at the coffee shop that sells my cozies.  He was collecting items for a silent auction to benefit our Showboat Theater.  Now, the Showboat is a favorite place of mine, so it was an easy yes from me.  And with the river-type theme, how could I not donate this wonderful Fisherman's Blanket??  So look for it to go up for auction this coming August. (2013) :)


 If you like my stuff... be sure to like my facebook page :)

Loops A Daisies