Moonstone Plaid Blanket
February is what I would call blanket season. The festive feeling of winter has usually long been forgotten and we are left with cold, dreary weather (at least in the northeast US where I am!) and still quite a ways until spring. In a typical year the desire to remain indoors would be strong, but after the year long quarantine 2020 brought us, I think a lot of us are going a little stir crazy. What better time than now for an epic blanket project to hold our attention and get us through? Introducing the Moonstone Plaid Blanket, now available as a free pattern here on my blog (scroll down!), a purchasable printer-friendly PDF (click here!), or a full kit (click here!).
I always crave blanket making this time of year, because it's so nice to hunker down with a big project, and blankets usually don't require any fancy shaping techniques or other head-scratchers, so they make the best netflix-and-chill companions. That couldn't be more true with the Moonstone Plaid Blanket, which only requires absolute beginner level skills!
When I say absolute beginner, I'm really not kidding. All you need to know how to do is cast on, knit, and bind off! Luckily I have videos for all three of those techniques if you're a complete newbie, so have no fear. I ALSO have videos for the special weaving at the end that creates the plaid effect, along with one on how to do the beautiful twisted rope fringe.
I will admit that this blanket does require a bit of a time investment since once you're finished with the knitting part you still have to do the weaving part, but I promise that the finished piece will be more than worth it!
So many of you were begging for a full blanket version of my Waterbury Plaid Blanket Scarf that I released last spring, and ever since I launched Hue + Me with Lion Brand, I knew I had to make your dreams come true! Because Hue + Me comes in 18 shades that are all totally mix-and-matchable, you can put together endless gorgeous color combos for the Moonstone Plaid Blanket!
Playing with the order of the same four colors also changes the look of the blanket so much. When I was designing the blanket, I chose four colors that I really loved together, and then I sketched out a couple possibilities of how to arrange them. Look how different the design would look if I chose Werewolf as color A instead of Haze! I absolutely love how customizable this pattern is for your own home decor. It would also make the most stunning house warming gift!
This is a beginner level knitting pattern and the techniques involved are the knit stitch and weaving.
MATERIALS:
6 skeins Lion Brand Hue + Me in Haze (617-144) for Color A
3 skeins Lion Brand Hue + Me in Shadow (617-150) for Color B
3 skeins Lion Brand Hue + Me in Werewolf (617-152) for Color C
3 skeins Lion Brand Hue + Me in Arrowwood (617-132) for Color D
Size US 15 (10mm) circular knitting needles, 32”/80cm long
Tapestry needle
FINISHED SIZE:
Width 46”/117cm
Length 56”/142cm
*note that the dimensions will be different before adding the weaving, which stretches the stitches widthwise.
GAUGE
9 sts + 16 rows = 4”/10cm in garter stitch
ABBREVIATIONS:
*All Two of Wands patterns are written in standard US terms.
CO - Cast on
K - Knit
Rep - Repeat
Sl - Slip
St(s) - Stitches
Wyif - With yarn in front
Notes: Blanket is worked flat in back and forth rows. The first stitch of each row is slipped to create a clean selvedge edge. Do not carry unused color up the side of the work. Vertical stripes are woven in after knit base is complete. Fringe is twisted using a rope technique.
Base
With color A, CO 82.
Row 1: Sl 1 purlwise wyif, K across row.
Rep row 1, changing colors as follows:
Rows 2-14: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 15-36: Color B. (22 rows)
Rows 37-50: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 51-58: Color C. (8 rows)
Rows 59-72: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 73-94: Color D. (22 rows)
Rows 95-108: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 109-116: Color C. (8 rows)
Rows 117-130: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 131-152: Color B. (22 rows)
Rows 153-166: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 167-174: Color C. (8 rows)
Rows 175-188: Color A. (14 rows)
Rows 189-210: Color D. (22 rows)
Rows 211-224: Color A. (14 rows)
Secure and weave in all ends.
Lightly block the work to stretch it and open up the garter stitch. The weaving will stretch the sts widthwise, which will reduce the length a bit.
Weaving
Long strands are now woven vertically to create the plaid effect.
Cut the following number of 86”/218.5cm lengths of each color: 80 color A, 28 color B, 24 color C, and 28 color D. The best way to do this is to pull the center end out of the ball and hold it together with the outer end so you can cut two lengths at a time.
Thread two strands of color A together onto a tapestry needle. With the cast on edge at the bottom, begin weaving vertically into the first st along the left edge (the first “v” st in from the slipped st edge), going under and over two rows at a time. Pull lengths so that they are even at either end of the blanket. Thread a second double strand onto the needle and weave into the 2nd st along the left edge, this time going under and over the opposite two rows to create a woven effect. Continue with double strands of each color, following the chart below and weaving under and over opposite double rows each time. The best way to do this is to lay the blanket flat on top of a bed so that it is spread out nicely.
Fringe
Trim all strands at each end to the same length, approx. 12”/30.5cm.
Treat each double strand as if it were one. Starting with the two leftmost double strands at one end, twist each separately in the same direction that the yarn twists until it buckles easily when you give it a little slack. Then twist the two together in the opposite direction, forming a rope. Knot at the end to secure.
Rep across entire end with two double strands at a time. Rep on other end of the blanket. Trim ends for a clean edge.
Purchase the printable, ad-free pattern here.
Purchase the kit from Lion Brand Yarn here.
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The patterns and photographs of items on this site are the property of Two of Wands and are for personal, non-commercial use only. These patterns files are protected by US copyright, and you may not distribute or sell them electronically or physically. Small batch sales of finished pieces made from these patterns are permitted, but seller must use their own photographs and credit must be given to Two of Wands as the designer.
