enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

project 24 of 26 : a checkerboard knit blanket.

Blanket1

I finished.

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And it's safe to say, this is one of my top five favorite projects ever. (Also in the top five : the headboard & the giant song lyric canvas – surprisingly, both are also black and white.)

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But really, I love it. I love that the idea came from something similar but different. I love that is huge enough to wrap up in completely. I love that it's so soft. I love that it's perfectly imperfect, but doesn't have holes in it or any serious errors. I love that it got me though January, the second toughest month of this deployment (September was bad news).

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I can't wait to show it to Paul in real life. And now on to the next – I am hoping to make my driftwood wreath this weekend.

If you'd like, you can see the start of this project here and an update here.

Dottedline

26projectslogosmallThis is project 24 of 26.

I am attempting to tackle 26 personal craft projects before I turn 27 on 02.22.12. You can follow my progress here on the blog or on pinterest.

See project 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,  20, 21, 22 & 23.

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52 responses to “project 24 of 26 : a checkerboard knit blanket.”

  1. UKjo Avatar
    UKjo

    Love this blanket, I may have to give idea a go. I’ve just finished knitting scarves for my three children and was wondering what to do next.

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  2. Rose Avatar
    Rose

    I’m adding knitting to my list of things to try this year…

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  3. Bloomingayl Avatar
    Bloomingayl

    As a master of the garter stitch – love this blanket 🙂

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  4. Kendra Avatar
    Kendra

    You are awesome, Elise. I love, love, love this blanket and am so happy you’re that much closer to reuniting with Paul!

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  5. Allison Avatar
    Allison

    Wow, I’m super impressed! I wish I had the patience for a project like this. The blanket looks awesome 🙂

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  6. Rose Avatar
    Rose

    Absolutely beautiful.

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  7. Maggie Avatar
    Maggie

    Looks great! What yarn did you use, pretty please?

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  8. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Its been fun to follow your progress and it turned out AWESOME. So happy it helped soften your January in more than one way.

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  9. Skye Avatar
    Skye

    Wow! I’m so impressed- I’m a slow knitter and tend to get bored and switch between projects, so I can’t imagine finishing a blanket in one month!

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  10. Allie Anne Avatar
    Allie Anne

    Love this project! I am loving the black and white together. It’s definitely not something I would normally pick but I find myself wanting one of my own. So, what size needles did you use?

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  11. Bella Casa Avatar
    Bella Casa

    I love black and white …I love your blanket. Looks like you are coming right along with your projects. Congratulations!
    Jan

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  12. Jenn Avatar
    Jenn

    YAY! looks so comfy. I have yet to try something that large when it comes to knitting. I only have 3 hats under my belt. Keep trucking through the rest of the deployment. Know that Paul will be getting just as anxious when the end starts to get even closer. Once you’re there for a while you get used to it and you don’t think as much about going home… you’re just plugging away at the days, but when going home is close, it becomes more real… and you start to let yourself think about it more. to see green, to see kids, to hear kids laughing, to drive a car! to eat a nice meal. to hug my dog, my friends, my man… it’s making me kinda emotional to remember how I felt. You’re in my thoughts. I can’t wait to see this driftwood mirror 🙂

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  13. camille Avatar
    camille

    i rarely comment here but… ohmygoodness elise, it’s beautiful! i’m happy for you 🙂

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  14. Karin Avatar
    Karin

    Love it! A great blanket to snuggle under together in a while, now isn’t it? Can’t wait to see your next project!

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  15. stephanie.doherty@gmail.com Avatar
    stephanie.doherty@gmail.com

    What brand of yarn did you use that is so nice and soft?

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  16. Val Avatar
    Val

    Wow congratulations on finishing this one so fast! Love it. You and Paul should cuddle under in on the beach! 🙂

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  17. Jessi Avatar
    Jessi

    It’s beautiful!!! Love love love it. So glad it got you through the month. And as always, I’m impressed with how quickly you got it done!

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  18. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    It is just lion brand wool ease. 🙂

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  19. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    size 10 us 6 mm is what they say.

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  20. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Lion Brand Wool Ease. 🙂

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  21. Allie Anne Avatar
    Allie Anne

    Thanks for letting me know. Again, it’s absolutely wonderful. I enjoy reading your blog a great deal and like watching the projects come through.

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  22. Cheryl G. Avatar
    Cheryl G.

    What an amazing job!
    It looks beautiful!
    Well done!

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  23. Megan Anderson Avatar
    Megan Anderson

    That is so amazing! Do you have any estimate on how long it took? It takes me about a whole season of How I Met Your Mother just to knit a scarf, so I can only imagine.

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  24. suzanne Avatar
    suzanne

    what a beautiful accomplishment! it’s an heirloom that your future babies will love 🙂

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  25. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    21 days… I have no idea how many hours. I probably worked on it 17 of those days for a few hours.

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  26. Call Me Cal Avatar
    Call Me Cal

    Great work!

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  27. meghan Avatar
    meghan

    How did you knit the rows together? Did you use black or white yarn to knit the rows together?

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  28. Kelsey Avatar
    Kelsey

    Love the black and white. Go Elise go!

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  29. Dunia Avatar
    Dunia

    Wow, that blanket looks really comfy 🙂
    This morning I also finished something: my first quilt!

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  30. tania willis Avatar
    tania willis

    🙂 this makes me smile SO big! did you teach yourself? if so, through a book or youtube video? i’ve wanted to make something like this for so long now, but not sure if my hands will let me (i have rheumatoid arthritis). did it cause your hands discomfort to work on it for a few hours a day all those days?

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  31. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    I used whatever color the row ended with. If you look at my in progress post (linked in this post) you can see photos of how I did it.

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  32. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Thank you! My grandma taught me how to knit then I sort of made up a plan to stitch it all together. My wrists didnt bother me this time, but in the past they have.

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  33. Erica Avatar
    Erica

    Your ability to finish enormous projects in a short amount of time never ceases to amazes me (Your quilts also come to mind). It’s perfect, great job!

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  34. Yael Avatar
    Yael

    seriously love this project! you’ve almost inspired me to take up knitting/crochet. almost ;).

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  35. Koko @ Koko Likes Avatar
    Koko @ Koko Likes

    AMAZING, looks so great Elise. Paul is going to love it!

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  36. Ali Avatar
    Ali

    I will pay you to make one of these for me 🙂

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  37. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    Omg are you serious?! I am so down. And I will be better at it now that I have made one. 🙂

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  38. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    This looks amazing! Love it.

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  39. SKUnger Avatar
    SKUnger

    You are amazing and inspiring! I can’t believe how quickly you cruise through projects!!! I can’t wait to be done my Masters (this is my last semester) so that I can get on with “my own assignments”! I have loved my learning and will use my course material over and over, but I can’t wait to set my own assignments and schedule again! It has been a long time! Thanks for sharing all your inspiration!

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  40. Jill Avatar
    Jill

    Hey Elise –
    I thought I had left this message on the post about painting the song lyric, but I think I got timed out with anti-spamming phrase piece. . . anywho, for painting the lyrics, do you have any suggestions for keeping your script natural looking after going over the letters to make them darker? I find when I’m trying to re-trace my writing with a pen, it ends up looking unnatural. But yours doesn’t. I have a phrase, canvas and paint to make something happen soon – can’t wait! Thanks – love that project!

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  41. cindy barriga Avatar
    cindy barriga

    Your blanket came out so beautiful. Fabulous job. ;D

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  42. Jenny Meyerson Avatar
    Jenny Meyerson

    I am so excited that you finished this blanket – not that I doubted the queen of finished projects for one second. It turned out beautifully and it’s one of my favorite projects that you have done. Your favorites are my exact favorite too (headboard – swoon)!
    Congrats and so excited for this next month to fly by for you and Paul.

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  43. Acompton Avatar
    Acompton

    i SO love this!!!! I can’t knit, but i do crochet, so maybe i’ll crochet a checkered blanket. I bet Paul will just love everything you have done to make your new home an actual home. You are so inspirational Elise.

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  44. Libbi M. Avatar
    Libbi M.

    absolutely gorgeous. by the way, i thought you might like to know if you want to have a photo made into a canvas, Costo has a coupon right now 2/2-2/26 for $10 off (limit 2) for any size starting at 12″x16″ to 40″x60″.

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  45. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    That looks awesome! How do you come up with all these ideas?? Can’t wait to see how the last couple turn out 😀

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  46. Laney Avatar
    Laney

    It looks awesome.

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  47. Megan Anderson Avatar
    Megan Anderson

    That’s ridiculously impressive.

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  48. Darlene Avatar
    Darlene

    Is this pattern available? If so can you tell me where I can get it? Love the Black & White

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  49. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    It is not, I just made it up. Sorry I do not have more information than what is in this post. 🙂

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  50. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    Hey Elise! I am making a similar blanket, when you stitched it all together did you alternate using black and white yarn? Or did you just use one color and stitch row by row! Help I’m not sure how to do it haha

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