Hi, I’m Kathleen Dames, and this is The Knit. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you would like to support my work, please consider a paid newsletter subscription for $5 per month or $50 annually. Thank you! Your support helps me create more knitting patterns and fun content ad-free. Thank you so much.
Today’s pattern is dear to my heart: Mother & Child Reunion is a modular lace design that can be adapted to blanket, throw, or wrap depending upon the weight of yarn you use and how you connect the individual squares you make. You could even make one and turn it into a pillow cover! The original sample was a graduation gift for my oldest daughter, and I donated the proceeds to Together Rising, which at the time was supporting family reunion efforts at the USA-Mexico border (currently Together Rising is raising money to help the tornado victims in Kentucky and surrounding states - they are a charity supporting the kinds of boots-on-the-ground charities that we may not know about but have the most direct impact on people affected by tragedy).
Bulky/chunky yarn will get you a big, cozy blanket; worsted weight is great for Welcome Blankets or throws for a baby; and I knit my wrap in some fingering yarn, configuring the squares into a long, rectangular shawl. One of the things I enjoy about this design is its portability. I made squares in the park, at the beach, and of course at home on the couch. Since each square of the original blanket ended up using a little less than one skein of yarn, I could just take a small amount of yarn, circular needle, and pattern wherever I wanted to go without being weighed down. You will learn how to start at the center of a circle/square (this is a pattern of squares, but the same technique works for circles), how to knit lace, how to join two live edges together with a three-needle bind-off, and how to work an i-cord bind-off (just like yesterday’s Manhattanhenge Gloves & Cowl - once I find a technique I like, I tend to revisit it). The beautiful leaf lace is provided in written and charted forms, so you’ve just run out of excuses.
Take 50% off the Mother & Child Reunion pattern in both of my shops using code ADVENT2021.
Happy knitting!
xxoo, Kathleen