Have you seen this blanket?

A few weeks ago Jac and I popped* out to Seattle for the Child’s Play Dinner Auction. We’re down for just about any opportunity to get all gussied up, but this was extra special since it was our final goodbye to the 2014 Geek-A-Long Blanket.

(*In this case, “popped” means “spent 7 hours on a plane”.)

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We had an incredible night, but it was hard to say goodbye. The Geek-A-Long has become a huge part of our lives over the last year, and even as I work on the 2015 blanket it’s hard not to miss the 2014 GAL. The blanket was sold as a part of the silent auction that preceded the live auction. As a result, I don’t know who bought it or exactly how much it went for. I’d like too though. So take to the tweetys, the instant grahams, and the tumblings and let the world know that we’d love to know who wound up with the blanket! Basically, we want to appreciate them for appreciating us. :)

In addition to saying goodbye to our wooly friend, we had a crazy night rubbing elbows with the creme de la nerds.

Even the food was dressed up for the evening.

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I bid on a great big print of the magic card designed and signed by Mike and Jerry of Penny Arcade but was outbid in the final moments of the silent auction. I sat at a table with someone from Wizards of the Coast and met someone from Bungie as well. I had a wonderful chat with the warehouse manager from Penny Arcade, and she was super cool. I also managed not to shame myself fangirling all over Mike Krahulik, even though I really wanted to. I’m told by Jac that I bumped into him, but was too distracted to enjoy the moment. ;)

Of course as fun as the food, crazy auction items, and bourgeois nerdery was, the point of the evening was to support Child’s Play. So I wanted to take this moment to remind you guys that there are still a few weeks to get in your donations and help us meet our 2014 goal. We aren’t quite there yet, and need your help! Click here and show them some love if you can. Every dollar helps.

On a separate note, last week I promised that if you came back today I would show you how to edge your blanket. Once you are finished joining your squares, you’ll probably want to just stop and enjoy it, but trust me, a nice edge makes all the difference! But speaking as someone who gets to that point in a project and just wants to be done, I chose a simple fast edging. I did my whole edging in one sitting. If you are familiar with my patterns, chances are you’ve seen this technique before, because I love to put i-cords on stuff.

:::Adding An Applied I-Cord:::

An applied i-cord is added to any edge by working an i-cord as usual and knitting the last stitch of each pick up row (these are noted in the pattern and are usually every row of work, or every other row of work) together with the last stitch of the i-cord. It looks really clean and polished, and is one of the fastest ways of edging things I know.

SUPPLIES
Needles: US 7 Double Pointed Needles (DPNs)

FIRST
Choose a place to start. Pick anywhere except a corner. I chose to start at the top of the bottom right hand square, worked up along the edge then across the top, down the other side, along the bottom, and finally up that last square to where I cast on. With the right side of the blanket facing you, join your yarn (for a nice polished look use the same yarn you knit the joins with). You don’t need to fret about ends here. They can be tucked into the blanket, so don’t worry about being fancy with this. Just knot the yarn right onto the blanket where you want to start.

Note that for the edge you will work through BOTH SIDES of the blanket when you pick up. So when I tell you to “pick up a stitch” I really mean to pick up the same stitch from both the front and the back. These 2 sts are treated as one stitch, and when I tell you to knit them together with the i-cord stitch, knit through them as if they are 1 stitch. You just stab your DPN through the blanket at the desired stitch to achieve this. Don’t over think it. ;)

NEXT
CO 3 sts. PU 1 st from the blanket edge (4 on dpn, and the picked up st is the last st in the row). Using 2^nd dpn, K2, K2tog. DO NOT TURN.

THEN
* PU 1 st from the blanket edge and slide sts to right side of the dpn and bringing yarn around the back K2, K2tog. Repeat from * until you are 1 stitch away from a corner.

Note that on the vertical edges you will pick up EVERY OTHER stitch from the blanket and on the horizontal (top and bottom) edges you will pick up EVERY stitch from the blanket.

CORNER

1. When you are one stitch away from the corner: Without picking up a stitch, *slide the stitches to the right side of the needle and K3. Repeat from * twice more.
2. PU the corner stitch (skipping the stitch just before it) and slide sts to right side of the dpn, bringing yarn around the back K2, K2tog.
3. Without picking up a stitch, *slide the stitches to the right side of the needle and K3. Repeat from * twice more.
4. Skipping the stitch right after the corner, pick up the next stitch and slide sts to right side of the dpn, bringing yarn around the back K2, K2tog.

Continue working along the edges, working the corner instructions every time you reach 1 st before the corner. When you return to your cast on BO your i-cord sts leaving a long tail. Use a tapestry needle to whip stitch the bind off to the cast on.

~Megan-Anne
“You know some college kid is using that blanket for his special alone time right? He’ll say he was looking at Wonder Woman, but he was really looking at Batman.”-Mr. Cappuccino on the blanket’s new owner.