Impossible stitching Monkeys

Monkeys, monkeys and more monkeys... 26 monkey faces!  Whew... I'm finished with the faces, and the O's for the backing... My project is a stroller blanket.  I've put a hole in the middle for the seat belt buckle, hoping that it will be near a useable position.









The original pattern is pretty small:  24" square, and I'm doubling it so it will probably be 24" x 48".  What does that mean?  Of course, I'll need more yarn, but I had SO much left after I finished the first half...  My luck ran out though:  What I thought was another skein of background brown really was the copper that you can barely see in the O's pattern.  Knowing I would run out of background, I started to incorporate the copper (2 rows of copper to 1 row of brown) and even though they are definitely different, it works for me.  In fact, I like it so much... I wish I had the guts to do the whole monkey side with the copper/brown combination.  But that's not going to happen.

I started it a month ago, and am suddenly in a panic to complete it ASAP.  I know that stroller blanket weather will run out around the 1st of June.  And when my little one goes to the tropics... the blanket will probably remain in storage.  It's going to be super heavy too.  It's made of two layers of Lustra held together with a knitted border.  Even though I've read the directions, I'm steeling myself for the sewing/cutting of the steeks, and the binding that will hold the thing together...
The back has long running threads because the pattern says it's OK.  They will all be on the inside, and something tells me that it may snag and pull but... I'll hope for the best, again!

Here's the hole for the seat belt.  Not too easy to see since it's in the dark colors.  My photo skills are lacking;  The background really isn't this dark.

And here's the odd yarn I found in my stash because I needed something more colorful than my original purchases.  (My local yarn shop: LYS, is 60 miles away, and alas, going out of business at the end of April. Tears, please! I don't get there very often.)

I would like to finish it, maybe over the weekend, and send it off.  Or I could take my time and show it off at Knit Nite on Thursday.  That gives me a whole week.  Time's a wasting!

This is what I'll use for the border.  The red color hasn't been used at all.  The white, I have too little to make a round for the border, so three colors it is!