Shortly after the holidays, I went to one of the bedroom closets for something and noticed, up on the shelf. a clear plastic bag full of knitted squares I made years ago. I hauled it out. Inside were 25 knitted squares, each a different pattern, waiting patiently for me to do something with them. Now is the time, I thought.

So for the remainder of January I have been, and will be, occupied with setting them together, deciding on a border, and finally finishing two more UFOs (unfinished objects). The squares are an uninspiring blue/green heather knitted of yarn purchased from ZCMI on sale way back when. ZCMI is now Macy’s, and a comparable wool yarn today is about $7.50 a skein, This yarn was on sale for about $2.50 a skein when I bought it, probably because of the odd color.

The squares are also knitted on size 8 needles. I didn’t know any better at the time, so I just followed the directions on the patterns, and they called for No. 8 needles. I have learned over the years that I knit with a quite loose gauge, so a size 6 needle would have been a much wiser choice. Knitted samples to check gauge? Either they weren’t called for, or I didn’t follow instructions, most probably the latter.

After placing the squares in various patterns and sequences on the dining room table, I came up with designs for two throws, comprised of 12 squares each, and alternating in sequence between solid patterns and lacy patterns. Because of the looseness of my gauge, I have been toying with the idea of fulling each throw after it is finished. Fulling is the same as felting. It makes the fabric more dense and, when taken to the utmost extreme, will hide the knitted pattern entirely.

This is where I hope that odd 25th square will come in handy. I will use it to test for how much fulling I need to do. At least that’s the plan for the moment.

Before any of that can happen, I have to set the squares together. Color is a prime consideration here, given the blah blue/green heather. And here is where being a spinner has come into play with my projects. I have baskets of yarn I have spun, and after trying many different combinations I am setting 12 of the squares together with a variegated bright blue between squares, and will do with other with variegated purple yarns.

Then, I had to decide what stitch to use to set the squares together. I am thankful that I had already crocheted around each square in single crochet, which is making the setting together quite a bit easier. Whether the looks of the final finished products are as I see them in my mind’s eye today is a matter yet to be seen.

But through these cold, cold January days, I am having fun with wool. Couldn’t ask for better.