Winter knitting project

My sister-in-law has a fine collection of knitting and craft books.  Last winter JTH and I were enjoying lovely walks through bare woods and over frozen fields with my brother and his wife followed by cosy suppers and good wine at their home.  Thrown casually over a kitchen chair was a beautiful hand knitted afghan.  So it was time to fossick around on SIL's book shelves.

The pattern came from blankets and throws to knit by Debbie Abrahams, a much more exciting book (well for knitters) than the title would suggest.  As soon as I got home  I jumped on to Amazon.  The only reason I did not begin knitting right away was that I couldn't decide on which project to begin first.

I needed a pattern suitable for my mother-in-law's stash.  Her stash is not very large, she had always been quite a frugal knitter, using up odds and ends in fair isle jumpers and hats.  But when I inherited the ottoman that contained all her crafty things I was quite excited to find a number of little balls of wool that reminded me of things she had made for my children when they were small.  So an afghan of memory squares seemed the ideal project.  I chose this one.

The pattern calls for Rowan wool cotton but I used mostly pure wool from (probably) a variety of manufacturers, using similar colours to the original design.  Gradually the pile of completed squares grew. 

I sorted the squares into piles and then into order for the great sew up.  Perhaps I should have blocked the squares but I was a little impatient to see what the finished blanket would look like.

I loved the border knitted in sturdy double moss stitch, it was just right for the style of throw, but the rows were very long.

Despite knitting on the train, in the car (as a passenger!!) and on holiday by the time I finished it was Summer...