The OpArt baby blanket continues to grow. Being all garter stitch with very obvious markers to wake the fingers up when the four increase points are reached, it’s an autopilot project, ideal for knitting while watching subtitled movies:

Right now it’s approximately 22 inches across, and I’m not finished with the second 6-ridge (12 row) set of stripes. The pattern continues on for four more stripes, one each of 7, 8, 9, and 10 ridges, alternating colors (a larger size goes on for two more stripes of 11 and 12 ridges respectively). I’ll keep going until I either run out of yarn, or I feel the thing is big enough to be a lap/basket/car seat blanket – at least another two stripes. The jury is still out on whether or not I’ll end off with one last stripe of orange. The Record 210 yarn is holding out fine. I’m on my third skein of each color, and have at least two more of each as yet untouched. I did hit a couple of poorly plied spots in one skein of the yellow. They were bad enough to excise rather than work in, although that made even more ends.

For the record, given the vast number of ends, I’ve been finishing them off as I go rather than waiting until the knitting is complete. I strongly recommend doing it that way, unless you’ve got a “finishing party” to go to.

What subtitled movie was I watching? Sansho the Bailiff. It’s from famous Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi, made in 1954. It’s bout the development of compassion in a brutal time. In the movie the family of a noble minded official is torn apart, and the children grow up in the most wretched of circumstances, yet maintain their absent father’s ideals. An excellent film, but very affecting. Bring a box of tissues.

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