I blocked the half-blanket today, to verify that it would grow as expected. Once done, I measured it. It had achieved 60 linear inches, exactly as I'd hoped. Once it had dried, I resumed knitting on it. Alas, two and a half weeks of knitting mohair several hours per day seems to be my limit-- I wore a hole in my right index finger, putting me on the disabled list for a few days, or until I get some band-aids.

It occured to me, when I was blotting the wet blanket with an armful of towels, that one of those old-fashioned cotton "thermal" blankets would be the right thing with which to blot a big ol' woolen blanket. I don't have any; I've never liked them, as blankets. They're neither warm nor soft, but they would be suitably absorbent, and large, when one must hand-wash things too large to be blotted in a towel.