Dom's Blanket

I made this blanket for my friend Dom, who frequently crashed on my old roommate Kirston's couch when I was living there. I noticed that Dom didn't seem to have much in a way of blankets except an old sheet, so a blanket seemed the most practical knitted item to give him. I realize that's a lot to make for someone I don't know all that well, but between practicality and getting along well with Dom, I figured what the hell. I felt something of a sense of gratitude since Dom was always a sweetheart, especially compared to some of the other people who hung around my old roommate's place. In particular, there was an episode involving a batshit insane drama queen who hated my roommate for no reason, and she hated me by extension, and she stirred up a lot of trouble for both him and me for no reason at all. When I told Dom that story, he said, "Aw, throw that shit out." That is why Dom received a hand knitted blanket for Christmas that year, and nobody else got shit.

So I set about designing a pattern. I knew that Dom was in a band, Rusted Shut, so I decided to make a blanket with colors and patterns similar to those I saw in the band's art and photography. I noticed a lot of black and white and plus signs, so the black-on-white plus sign pattern emerged. I'm not actually fond of the pattern myself, but the whole point of giving gifts is what the recipient would like. Actually, I'm not sure if he would like it, but it seemed appropriate.

It was a relatively quick knit, although it took longer than I'd have liked thanks to work, gum surgery, and a commissioned project I had to finish first. The blanket was 117 stitches across on size 19 needles, worked with two strands of Lion Brand Homespun held together throughout. To avoid weaving in hundreds of loose ends, I simply stranded the black all the way across behind the white, looping the black around the white every two or three stitches, which created a crazy zig-zagging pattern across the back, shown in thumbnails below. For all I know, Dom will prefer the wrong side of the blanket.

Anyway, I mailed the blanket to Dom care of Kirston. After a couple of weeks had elapsed, my friend Nich e-mailed Dom asking if he'd received it. He replied yes and that it was absolutely beautiful. Not considering the blanket beautiful myself, I doubted Nich's veracity and messaged Dom myself. Sure enough, he'd been spending a lot of time wrapped up in the blanket. I hope it will bring him comfort for many years to come.