the blue blog archives: a real fixer-upper

No way I was gonna make it through the two-month fix-a-thon without fixing both boys' blankies. I rescued S's blankie at the start of February. B's blankie has been hanging on by a thread (literally) for a while now. He has rubbed the edges down so much that there were at least five spots that were just one snuggle away from developing into holes. Last week, I saw him stick his fingers right through the garter stitch edging and knew it was time.

Sure, I could pick up that stitch, patch up that hole, but everything around it is about to go. I'd be fixing another spot in less than a week (and even worse, just look at how thin some of the yarn is in some of the first pattern rows below the edging!). Nope, the entire edging and last pattern repeat had to go.

Of course there was no variegated Baby Merino DK to be found round here no more, but we found some in blue that B approved of.

Two days after first seeing the hole, the blanket had a new border ready for lovin'.

posted by alison at 8:49 am | in blankie blues , fixit

Comments

awww! He looks very happy to have a repaired blankie!

Posted by: Carla at March 14, 2005 8:53 AM

Oh! He's so cute! My guy's only 8 months now, so we haven't worn through anything yet--just outgrown!

Posted by: Carrie at March 14, 2005 9:23 AM

Good as new! I like the blue border. What camera are you using for your photos? It works great. Love your blog.

Posted by: Carrie at March 14, 2005 9:50 AM

What a great momma you are!!
How excellent is it that knitted goods can be repaired like that. Amazing!

Posted by: Lisa at March 14, 2005 9:58 AM

Good job on the blankie! Are you going to save all the blog entries so that you can guilt them with this later on in their lives when they are bad teenagers?

I send out my socks today! Boy, that was fun. I hope she likes them....

Posted by: Ro at March 14, 2005 11:14 AM

Happy story!

Posted by: LauraA at March 14, 2005 11:50 AM

What a happy fix! I had to do the same thing with my son's baby quilt once. He kept trying to tug it away from the sewing machine, saying "my blankie". It was heartwarming, I tell ya!

Posted by: Wendi at March 14, 2005 12:37 PM

Adorable! The approved shade of blue looks terrific!

Posted by: Mary-Heather at March 14, 2005 1:33 PM

Those poor blankets are so well loved! Glad they're ready for another few years of use :)

Posted by: Vicki at March 14, 2005 3:26 PM

Awww. What a lucky kid. :)

Posted by: Cathy at March 14, 2005 3:27 PM

Um, I have a ball of blue and yellow Baby Merino DK if you ever need to do another fix. It may be darker than yours, I can't really tell from the picture, but it's yours if you want it.

Posted by: Jo in Boston at March 14, 2005 6:06 PM

Your boys are really lucky to have you for a mom. I wish I had managed to make blankies for my kids while they were still young enough to love holes in them.

Posted by: Dani at March 14, 2005 6:12 PM

I love a blankie story with a happy ending.

A bit surprised he let you change it AT ALL, even a molecule.

(As you may have noticed, my boy is stubborn.) xoxo Kay

Posted by: Kay at March 14, 2005 6:19 PM

hey alison, you can count me in the "finished" category for sockapalooza! and the "dork" category, if you have one... i mailed my socks out last week, thinking they were supposed to be received by march 15th, not postmarked on that day. oops.

parikha =)

Posted by: parikha at March 14, 2005 7:13 PM

I went ahead & mailed my socks out last Friday. I wasn't sure if they were supposed to arrive on or be mailed on the 15th. I didn't think to include my email address but hope she emails me thru the list to let me know if they worked out!!

Posted by: Donna S. at March 14, 2005 7:36 PM

Does he have oil derricks printed on his p.j.s??? Boys always get the coolest clothes.
I thought my fix was done, but I am feeling extra perfectionist about it. If I'm taking the time to fix it, I might as well fix it once and for all!

Posted by: Emily at March 15, 2005 2:44 AM

Cute boys. Great fix. That blankie's as good as new.

Posted by: Jenny at March 15, 2005 2:57 AM

Finished my fix! And i took pictures, but they are trapped in my traditional film camera. BUT The Boy Wonder can wear the sweater to climb trees now. I had knitted the sweater HUGE (big enough to fit me) though i though I was making the 5 year old size. It was long! It was wide! So i picked up stitches and CUT 8 inches off the knitting, then reknit down. THEN I used the sewing machine to sew the side seams about 3 inches smaller on each side and then i cut the extra knit off the sides. I would never have been brave enough to do it without the KAL and Bonne Marie tutorial. One day I may be a Bad-Ass Knitter too! Thanks for the fix!

Posted by: suzanne at March 15, 2005 7:47 AM

Here is a non fixing thought: Just leave that blanket go, and unravel. Something so cool about the history of love in those loops are unraveled yarn. Then, on the first day of kindergarten you can clip a few threads to go to school in the childs pocket for extra security. That really comforted my son.

I teach knitting to pregnant teens, and bring in the raveled mess the blanket is, to show how important hand knit items can be to little people.

Posted by: christine at March 15, 2005 11:00 AM

A boy and his blankie--it's a beautiful thing.

Posted by: Kathleen at March 15, 2005 12:54 PM

Great job with the re-knit! I just hope that I have enough courage to do that one of these days. :o)

Posted by: K. Anne at March 16, 2005 11:01 AM