Blankets to keep me warm

Well, I finally got some pictures of the two throw blankets that I made in January or February!

I made both from the same pattern - they each require the use of very large needles (size 50) and stitches are made holding 4 strands of thick yarn, rather than a single strand as you normally hold for a stitch.  They stretch a lot, which I actually really like.  They are stretchy because they are in stockinette stitch, and they shrink or stretch depending on how you put them down.  They are heavy in terms of weight and they are warm, but they don't get me too hot, which I really like.  When I pull one over me the weight of the blanket on itself ends up forming around me really nicely.  I enjoy them a lot!

I know that I have mentioned stockinette stitch on here before, but this is a pretty good example of it.  In stockinette all of the "V" shaped stitches are on one side of the item.  So especially in the purple one above you can see each of the little "v" stitches.  On the other side of stockinette you see little bumps or ridges.  I know it is kind of difficult to tell in the pictures below, but one side you can see the "v" shapes and the other side you can see the bumps.  The "v" side is considered the right side of a work (though depending on how you want something to look this doesn't mean that it has to be on the outside).  Naturally, the other side is the wrong side.   

 Because I had to hold 4 strands of yarn together I decided to mix the colors up.  I couldn't decide if I wanted a pink or a green or a purple blanket, so I mixed and matched and made a second blanket!  This way I have a blanket for my couch and one for my big chair and I don't have to move it back and forth, haha!

The pattern called for the short edges to be given fringe.  But, a) I don't like much fringe and b) this yarn doesn't seem like it would be good for fringe.  Instead I stopped before I completely ran out of yarn and I did two single crochet rows around the edges.  This helps them to lay flatter because stockinette stitch will always curl in on itself, especially on a flat piece - it is just the nature of the stitch.  So this helps with the curl problem.  Plus, it gives me a spot to grab on to to pull under me when I am snuggling down.  On each corner rather than just doing one stitch I did three to get all the way around without making it pinch or pull.

These are by far my largest projects in terms of finished size.  However, they went pretty quick because, as I said, I used 50mm needles to make them.  I keep meaning to get a post up here about needles and hooks and the various sizes, I need to get on that!