May I Introduce...?

...the Snowflake Illusion blanket started many moons ago, and finished with a flourish of Kitchener stitching this afternoon:

I first saw illusion patterns last summer...about 10 minutes before starting this blanket. Really. It's not often I see something really new to me in knitting, and this was just fascinating. I had to try it.

So with a clever stitch pattern you can make a design show up when viewed from the side, but disappear when viewed straight on:

The reverse side is not as good looking, but you can still sort of see the snowflake design so that's pretty neat anyway.
I am so relieved to have this done. It's been a real "back-burner" project, always lowest in priority, just to be pulled out when I needed something easy or that could travel and had nothing else. But slowly progress was made, and finally this afternoon I took the time to do the last couple rows and do the finishing which had to be done at home.

I took this design from Emily Byrd's Snowflake Illusion Scarf that I found through Ravelry. (Where else?) I just knit two very short scarves, then knit the blue strip to be sewn between them. The outside garter stitch border was knit directly on by passing the last stitch over a stitch knit up from the edge of the blanket. The corners were done with short rows. The border was started in the middle of one of the sides with a provisional crochet cast on, and when I had gone all around the blanket and got back to the beginning, I stitched the two ends together with the Kitchener stitch. I know many people dread it, but I love to Kitchener. It's so sneaky!

The final size is about 25" x 30"; not big enough for a crib, but probably nice over a car seat. I have no idea where or with whom it will end up. Maybe some baby I don't know yet, or maybe some charity drive that will come along. I just made it to try out this illusion technique.

Keep exploring,

christina

[ETA: The blanket won a 2nd place ribbon at the 2009 County Fair (knitted baby afghan).]