Brenda is a friend of mine. I recently talked to her about her amazing Mitered Square Blanket and her designs.

Brenda’s Mitered Square Blanket. 800 squares so far and counting…

What was the inspiration to start the blanket?

It was a popular project making its way around Ravelry and podcasts. I thought it looked interesting and fun! It also included a couple of techniques I was not familiar with at that time and I always like to learn new things.

What Yarn and How much?

I use sock yarn, mostly a wool blend and sometimes 100% wool. In the beginning I started out with scraps of sock yarn that I had and traded some with friends. The more I got into it, I discovered that I really liked more variegated or tonal colors rather than stripes. I also like darker colors rather than pastels.

How much yarn does each square take? And how long does it take to do one?

Each square takes 7 yards or 1.75 grams. This is for a 31 stitch mitered square with size US 2 needles. It takes me roughly 40 min.

How long have you been working on this project?

So far, I have worked on it for 5 years. However, that is fine with me. I knew this would be a long term project. I pick it up here and there as I have time or the desire to knit a square or two. That is the beauty of it really. You can knit a square and put it down or you can knit 5 squares a day. Do what you want, when you want to when you have the yarn. Nothing comes unraveled and you don’t forget where you are.

How large do you plan to make it?

I plan to make it between a queen and King size. This will be for my husband and I and used as a bedspread or blanket. Hopefully , one day and heirloom.

How do you make a mitered square?

I make my squares starting with 31 stitches. I pick up and knit 15 stitches from each perpendicular square with another stitch where the two squares meet. The wrong side rows are always knit and the right side row always has a double decrease of your choice in the middle. Ex: the first RS row after picking up my stitches, I knit 14 double decrease, knit 14. The next right side row will be knit 13, double decrease, knit 13. Continue in this manner until you use all your stitches.

How do you deal with sewing in the ends?

Before this project, I hated sewing in ends! Now, I actually enjoy sewing in the ends on garter stitch! I leave at least a 4 inch tail because I want this to stay together, and I follow the pattern of the garter stitch and sew the ends in as I complete each square or at least as I finish each time I knit on it.

When did you start crafting and designing?

I have knit and crocheted since I was a young girl. I started knitting seriously when my children were young. I was so excited to find out about good yarn and needles! I hated squeaky acrylic yarn and aluminum needles!

“I found knitting and crocheting very calming and meditative.”

I have always customized or designed items for my home or family, I like the creativity of it. Sometimes I draw things out of graphs or write them down on paper but I always have to knit it as I go so see how it really looks or works.

Finding Our Way Cowl knitted in Cotton-Silk yarn One skein is enough for two cowls

With my latest design, “Finding Our Way Cowl,” I was inspired by the recent pandemic. The quarantine and scope of the entire thing is something I have never experienced before, thankfully. However, I felt a desire to somehow mark this time in our lives, our history. I wanted to record how it felt in some way. I began thinking about how I could record this time with knitting. I decided a cowl would be a good accessory to work on. Thinking about corona, corona means crown so I started with a version of a crown stitch. As I knit, I felt there needed to be more, I needed to show that we were finding our way through this difficult time, thus the winding lace pattern between the larger crown pattern.

I think it turned out to be beautiful as well as practical. It is a relatively easy pattern but interesting enough not to be boring. I am very pleased with the outcome, and it is now for sale on Ravelry and also Lovecrafts.

Brenda is Fibertherapy on Instagram, Ravelry, and Lovecrafts.