Aug. 10/09: I’ve got oodles of little Koigu “orphans” and other leftovers of fingering weight yarns that I’ve been stashing for this project for ages. Last night, in a fit of insomnia, I found myself casting on…

Sept. 27/09: Working on little squares in between other projects, I’m up to 20 4” squares. To make the afghan I have planned, I’ll need 83 squares in total. I’m on my way!

Nov. 25/09: I do the little squares in fits and spurts. I think I’m up to about 30 by now.

Nov. 9/10: I’ve been plugging away at this in between other projects, and when I need a little portable something to take to appointments, etc. I’m up to about 65 squares now, including all of the larger ones.

Aug. 6/11: This was actually a wedding present for my sister! I embroidered the happy couple’s initials in one corner, but of course I couldn’t photograph that (or at least, share it) before the big day.

I should note my “recipe” in case I need to recreate this: With black yarn, using crochet-and-needle cast-on, CO 54 sts; K 1 row. Switch to coloured yarn, K 25, K2tog, PM, SSK, K to end. K 1 row. From here on: Row A: K to 2 sts before marker, K2tog, sl m, SSK, K to end. Row B: K across. Repeat rows A and B until 4 sts remain. Remove marker. K2tog, SSK, turn, K2tog. (This makes a 4” square; for the 8” one, CO 108 sts.)

I did the squares separately and then seamed them, to maintain portability (mitered squares are great purse projects). Also, this allowed me to tweak the layout of the final blanket once everything was knit -- I continued to get more yarn throughout the project, so I couldn’t have predicted the final colour arrangement until the end.

I did 5 rounds of half-double crochet in black to finish the blanket off, and embroidered my sister’s and her husband’s initials on one corner (not shown in the pictures on the couch).