It's June and officially summer, despite the cool, wet and windy weather of recent days. Here's some news about a finished project, a summer blanket with a coastal look in blue stripes.
Inspiration for this blanket started in February when I was introduced to a new yarn called Jeanie Denim Look from Stylecraft. I liked the shades of blue and the soft feel of this cotton yarn. There are four colours (amounts used in brackets):
Dixie #9349 (light blue x3) 100g balls
Memphis #9350 (medium blue x2)
Delta #9351 (dark blue x2)
Texas #9352 (blue grey x2)
The yarn is 60% cotton, 40% acrylic in 100g balls of 210m/230 yards. It's machine washable - I put this blanket on a hand wash cycle and it came out perfectly. There was no running of the colours which was very good as there are three darker shades combined with a lighter one.
The recommended needle size is 5mm. However, for this blanket I wanted to have a stretchy and looser texture so went for slightly larger needle size of 5.5mm.
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| Image courtesy of Stylecraft |
Initially the stripes were going to be completely small and random in colour. But after starting with lots of narrow bands I was keen to make faster progress, so opted for some wider stripes. The wider ones are worked towards the centre of the blanket. At the middle band the stripes then repeat, decreasing in the same colour/size as for the first half. Below are some basic instructions for making a similar blanket.
To make a similar Jeanie Coastal Blanket
Cast on 165 stitches in grey on 5.5mm circular needles (I used circulars to accommodate the large number of stitches). The sides have a band of 5 stitches worked continually in knit stitch back and front. To start and finish the blanket there is a band of a few garter stitches to edge and prevent curling of the stocking stitch.
The main body of the blanket is mostly in stocking stitch with the exception of the "dotted grey lines". These line patterns are worked over three rows.
Row 1: With the right side facing work a row of alternate one stitch grey and one stitch of the working colour.
Row 2: Wrong side, work a row of knit stitches in grey (they will appear as a row of purl stitches on the right side).
Row 3: With right side facing work a row of alternate one stitch grey and one stitch new colour.
Continue in new colour in stocking stitch. Work until required depth of stripe is achieved.
The finished size of the blanket is 98cm (38ins) x 126cm (50ins).
I really enjoyed working with this yarn and love the smooth feel of the cotton. Perfect for a cosy wrap on typical British, cool, wet and windy summer days.
