Lizard Ridge Revealed

I've been keeping you hanging on long enough. Even though I owe the blog a week's worth of photos, I present the finished Lizard Ridge:



I wanted a pretty background but it was backlit. Crummy luck. Ok, let's turn 180 degrees and try again:



There...that's a little better. Can't see all of it though, can you? That's a good looking fence over there...I'm going to try that:



Closer? Sure:



I'm on the cusp of making this the wallpaper on my computer. I feel bad replacing photos of the kids with photos of knitting.

Some thoughts:

1. This project was likely the most fun I've had knitting in a long, long time. The pattern for the squares is not so dull as to be torture and not so complicated that you can't memorize it.
   
2. The constant colour changes make the whole thing completely addictive. Despite being a girl who has trouble starting a second sock, I was overcome with joy every time I cast on a new square.
   
3. The squares are small and only take a few hours and I almost always had one with me wherever I went.
   
4. Even though it isn't a cheap project, if you buy a ball or two at a time, it feels like you haven't spent any money on it at all. A little self deception goes a long way.
   
5. Sewing it up was...I can't believe I'm going to say it...fun. A lot of fun. It pleased me to no end to see it coming together. It didn't take too long either.
   
6. I changed the crocheted edging to something plain (three rows of single crochet all around). The hardest part of the entire project was figuring out how many stitches to pick up around the edge to keep from stretching it or making ruffles. On the short end I put a single crochet in every stitch. On the long end I ended up *putting a single crochet in one stitch, skipping one stitch, putting one single crochet into each of the next two stitches, skipping one stitch, repeat from* down the side. I put three single crochets in the corners on the first two rows. On the third row I put two single crochets in stitch before the corner, three in the corner and two in the stitch after the corner. It lays flat and makes me happy.
   
7. The Ella Rae Classic was a perfect yarn for seaming and I used less than one ball for all the seams and the entire border. I obsessed over the colour but I think any colour in the universe would have worked.
   
8. The finished blanket is really nice and warm and I predict that if you are looking for me in my home after this wacky weather ends, you will find me under the blanket.
   
9. I'm not sensitive to these things anyway but to my mind, it isn't itchy. Perhaps if I was completely naked under there it would bug me but with clothes on...it's fine.
   
10. I miss knitting it.

And, since I thought this was a pretty cute photo, here's Jillian occupying herself while I took pictures:


At 15 months, it is immensely entertaining to run around in the heat with a wool hat on, stepping on the leaves to hear them crunch.