Lizard Ridge Q&A (aka Blocking with Balls)

It seems like everytime the Lizard Ridge goes out in public, it is greeted with lots of touching and even more questions. I'm finally taking the time to answer then.

How many squares are you making?

Let me first say I have elongated each "square" by 1/4. So each of my squares is really 1.25 squares long. The original pattern calls for the blanket to be 6 by 4 normal sized squares, and I will be making a much larger blanket by making it 5 by 5 with elongated squares. That means I will be making 25 instead of 24, but will end up with a significantly larger blanket.

How much does it cost to make a Lizard Ridge?

Entirely too much. I really need to win the lottery to dig myself out of a lizard-ridge sized financial hole. I will probably buy another skien or two of Cascade 220 to make the border, depending on the color I chose. I currently have a skien of royal blue and half a skien of purple. I will probably assemble it with purple and do a royal blue border. But I won't know for sure until I get there. To really answer your question, about $200.

Do you have a favorite square?

I could give you a sentimental answer and an actual answer. My favorite square will likely be the last one, seeing as I am quickly growing tired of short rows and buying Kureyon. My most sentimental square is made from the yarn my brother bought me for my birthday. It's really very beautiful. He did well.

How far in are you?

I am working on sqaure 20/25. I'm getting close...

How and when do you block the squares?

This part makes people nervous when I tell them, so I just took a picture of the last square during the blocking process.

I block them directly with an iron on the "cotton" setting so it's extra hot, extra steamy (this is starting to sound like a KY Jelly commercial) and gets done quickly. I'm not one of those people who spent more time blocking it than they do knitting it. I'm not waiting until the end to block, I typically block once a week, or after I get about 4 squares waiting for their chance to lie flat. Flat squares are much easier to drag to yarn stores to match up colors with.

How are you putting it together?

I will be crocheting the sqaures together with cascade 220 leftovers in a crochet slip stitch. This is nice and discreet and very sturdy. If you want to join in on the magic of assembly, please let me know. I'm totally up for a finishing party. I will bring tequila.

After it's all together I will do some sort of crocheted shell stitch for a border. That should be fairly simple and *fingers crossed* elegant and not overwhelming.

Any advice for people making their own?

Yes! If you haven't started already, you can very likely get 6 repeats out of one skien of Kureyon and not the 4 that the pattern calls for. Save yarn, save money and do long squares, because scrap squares really aren't all that pretty.

If you aren't one for finishing, knit it in strips. If you do this, learn to knit backwards, turning it won't be fun.

Make good friends with your LYS owner. Take them cookies and alcoholic beverages in hopes of getting discounts on Kureyon.

If you have any questions about the Lizard Ridge that went unanswered, leave a comment and I will respond in the next blog entry!