I started this blanket many years ago (around 2007-2008 I think) time to get it done!

The yarn is 100% alpaca in a fingering weight held double.
Just got the edge triangles and the border to finish.

Well 2014 came and went with no further progress…
And 2015 came and went with no further progress…

June 19, 2016: finally took this out of hibernation, decided to make this bigger to fit our superking bed, ideally I’ll need an extra 18 squares, hopefully I’ll have enough yarn.

And hopefully I’ll actually work on it and finish it no matter how big it decides to be.

Well, that didn’t happen! 2016, 2017 and 2018 all came and went and still this blanket isn’t done :(

March 29, 2019: we no longer use the super-king bed, we’re back to just a king size so I only have 8 more squares to knit. April will see some progress (ha!)

May 15, 2019: there are now the following items to complete -

Full squares: 6
Side triangles : 8
Corner triangles: 3

June 3, 2019: there are now the following items to complete -

Full squares: 2
Side triangles : 7
Corner triangles: 3

June 6, 2019: momentous day - all the squares are done! Just the side and corner triangles to go.

Here’s what I did:

Each square is knitted flat from the outside in.

First square:
Cast on 176 using knitted cast on.
Row 1 & every following alternate row: knit
Row 2: (ssk, k40, k2tog) 4 times across the row; 168sts
Row 4: (ssk, k38, k2tog) 4 times across the row; 160sts
Row 6: (ssk, k36, k2tog) 4 times across the row; 152sts
Row 8: (ssk, k34, k2tog) 4 times across the row; 144sts
Row 10: this is the row I have my first colour change - (ssk, k32, k2tog) 4 times across the row; 136sts

Continue in this manor working 2 less sts between the decreases until there are only 8sts left on the needle. Cut yarn leaving a tail long enough for sewing the small seam. Thread the yarn through the remaining 8 sts and pull tight, secure, then neatly sew from the centre to the outer edge.

My second colour change was the row after there were 9 garter ridges of the second colour showing on the right side.

Second square
Cast on 132sts, knit across these sts and then pick up 44sts evenly across one side of square 1
Work as for first square starting from Row 2

For squares where you can join to 2 sides of squares in the previous row - begin by casting on 88sts, knit across these sts then pick up 44sts along the side of each neighbouring square.

It’s important to knit across these sts first before picking up from previous squares, this keeps the joins neat and the garter ridges all sorted and tidy.

My advice is to sew the little seam and weave in any ends as you go so you’re not faced with a huge job at the end.

It would be easy to adapt this to work each square completely in the round if wanted but I just wanted something ultra simple to remember because I knew it was going to be a long term project - and I like knitting garter stitch!