Sometimes we need a knit that has literally no thought. None whatsoever. No counting stitches, no pattern to hold in your mind, no repeats, no selvedge even. And it’s great if that knit is portable, and long term, and amounts to something so much greater than the sum of its parts.
That’s where my Emergency Blanket comes in. I’ve been knitting it on and off for years, and I expect it to take me a few more yet before I finish it.
There’s no pattern for it – when it’s finished I’ll probably write up what I did, but there’s really nothing to it at this stage. Cast on 20 stitches, work 26 rows of stockinette, bind off. Use luxurious yarn. Block them, join them, maybe add a border, who knows what I’ll do when (if?) I ever decide I have enough squares.
But the lack of direction and structure is kind of the point. It’s something I can always turn to. The only decision I have to make it which colour to add in next; the only thinking I have to do is sometimes double checking how many rows I’ve done.
That’s why I call it my Emergency Blanket. The blanket itself isn’t the remedy to an emergency; the act of knitting it is. It’s for those times when your hands (and head, and heart) almost medically require the meditative calm of knitting, but the rest of you really can’t show up with any support.
Each square takes me 20-30 minutes to cast on, knit, and cast off, which is a very convenient duration for TV knitting. It’s perfect for those times when I expect to be interrupted: when I’m chatting, or parenting, or whatever. Each square is about 15cm / 6″, making it easy to carry around; even better, I’m working in chunky weight yarn, which means it’s easy enough to wind a hank by hand, meaning I can travel without the swift and winder and know I can keep going until I run out of yarn.
At the time of writing I’ve worked through 10 hanks of yarn, which has yielded 60 squares. I’ve got 1 hank left awaiting winding and knitting, which means it’s time to choose the next colour and make that order (my favourite part!). It’s about 30 hours of work, all told, mostly made in stolen time: half a square at a time waiting to pick up my daughter from school; a square or two in front of the TV in the evening; another in the car driving to visit family. Time that might otherwise be lost and wished away.
My goal is for a blanket 12 squares by 12 squares – 144 squares total. Without a border or any padding when joining, it will measure around 72″ / 183cm square. A little smaller than a double duvet, which is 200cm square. Though of course I haven’t blocked it yet, so who knows – maybe it’ll grow quite a bit!
I chose this size mostly because it was big enough to give good coverage while being a multiple of 12 squares, as I get 6 squares from each hank of yarn and I buy 2 of each colour. The idea is to make life easy and trouble-free, not to add in complications. Pick the next colour, buy 2 hanks, knit 12 squares. Repeat until big enough.
I find it comforting to know that whenever I feel the need to knit but the universe is conspiring against me, I can pick up this project and at least do a few stitches here and there. It also indulges my most favourite thing – playing with colours – and is in no danger of being finished any time soon, meaning it’s always there for me when I need it.
Using my very favourite chunky yarn (see below) means that every time I pick up the project I get to admire the yarn, the depth of the colour, the simple beauty of stockinette stitch. My growing collection of squares is wonderful fun to play with, putting different colours next to each other and seeing how they enhance each other.
Mmmm, yes. That’ll do.
Yarn Details
Dyer: Giddy Aunt Yarns
Base: Chunky (100% superwash merino)
100m per 100g hank
Colours
OOAK Navy Blue
Dusk (light purple)
Blackcurrant Jam (rich berry purple)
Grimhilde (berry pink-purple with navy)
Litha (golden yellow)
Storm (dark teal)
