On the cusp of our first frost, it couldn’t be a better time to introduce our newest yarn, big and cozy Gentle Giant, and with it, this cuddly Beautyberry Blanket!

Beautyberry Blanket | Purl Soho

We named our Beautyberry Blanket for the native bush whose bright purple berries linger through winter. In Gentle Giant’s heathered Purple Lupine and glowing Heirloom White, this blanket evokes a soft cover of berry-studded snow, one of nature’s amazing surprises.

Beautyberry Blanket | Purl Soho

A simple stitch pattern and our bulky-weight Gentle Giant make this blanket a quick and fun knit. Whip it up and be ready for frosty weather! -Laura

UPDATE: NOW A COWL IN SUPER SOFT MERINO

DECEMBER 2022

Beautyberry Blanket | Purl Soho

Same beautiful stitch pattern but now in a Super Soft Merino cowl, our Beautyberry Cowl takes is toasty warm without weighing you down! Super Soft Merino comes in over thirty colors, and it only takes three skeins for a once-around cowl or five for the double-wrap version. Pick the shades that will enliven your winter days and cast on!

Designed by Purl Soho designer, Laura Ferguson.

Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoBeautyberryBlanket, and #PurlSohoGentleGiant. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Materials

Beautyberry Blanket | Purl Soho
  • Color A: 5 (7, 13) skeins of Purl Soho’s Gentle Giant, 100% merino wool. Each skein is 48 yards/ 125 grams; approximately 240 (336, 624) yards required. We used the color Heirloom White.
  • Color B: 2 (3, 6) skeins of Gentle Giant; approximately 96 (144, 288) yards required. We used the color Purple Lupine.
  • US 19 (15 mm), 32-inch circular needles
  • Two US 17 (12 mm) double pointed needles

Gauge

4¾ stitches = 4 inches in stitch pattern

Sizes

Baby (Crib, Throw)

  • Finished dimensions: 24 x 36 (30 x 45, 40 x 60) inches

SAMPLE: We knit the Baby size.

Notes

Knitting into the Stitch Below

k1b [knit one below]: Insert the tip of the right needle into the stitch below the next stitch from front to back, knit normally (wrapping the yarn around the needle and pulling it back through the stitch below) and let the stitch above fall from the left needle.

For more information about this technique, be sure to visit our Working into the Stitch Below Tutorial!

Turn or Slide

Each row in this pattern ends with the instructions to either “turn” or “slide” the work.

  • “Turn work” means to do what you would normally do when knitting rows with a circular needle. That is to say, put the needle in your left hand into your right and the needle in your right hand into your left, and flip the work around so the opposite side is facing you.
  • “Slide work” means to keep the same side of the work facing you and to push all the stitches to the right end of the circular needle. Without turning the work, start the new row as you normally would.

You will know that you’re doing this right if the yarn you need to complete the next row is magically there waiting for you!

Pattern

UPDATE March 28, 2022: A previous version of this pattern required working into the stitch below directly into the cast-on row, but more than a couple of people found this fiddly to knit. We heard you and have added a knit row before the first stitch-pattern row. If you would like a copy of the previous version, please contact us at customerservice@purlsoho.com.

Begin

With Color A and the circular needles, cast on 27 (35, 45) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.

Row 1 (right side): Knit to end of row.

Row 2 (wrong side): With Color A, k1, *k1b (see Notes, above), k1, repeat from * to end of row, turn work (see Notes, above).

Row 3 (right side): With Color A, k2, *k1b, k1, repeat from * to last stitch, k1, turn work.

Row 4 (wrong side): With Color B, k1, *k1b, k1, repeat from * to end of row, slide work (see Notes, above).

Row 5 (wrong side): With Color A, k2, *k1b, k1, repeat from * to last stitch, k1, turn work.

Row 6 (right side): With Color A, k1, *k1b, k1, repeat from * to end of row, slide work.

Row 7 (right side): With Color B, k2, *k1b, k1, repeat from * to last stitch, k1, turn work.

Repeat Rows 2-7 until piece measures 34 ½ (43 ½  58 ½) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 5.

Work Row 6, but bind off as you go. Here’s how…

With Color A, k1, *k1b, slip first stitch over second stitch and off right needle (binding off one), k1, bind off one, repeat from * to end of row.

Cut yarn and pull it through the remaining stitch.

Finish

NOTE: I recommend weaving in the ends before working the Attached I-cord border.

With Color A and the two double pointed needles, work a 2-stitch Attached I-cord around the entire edge of the blanket. With the right side facing you, start at any point of the blanket’s edge and work counter clockwise.

For the long side edges, pick up 2 stitches for every 3 rows.

For the short bottom and top edges, pick up a stitch into every stitch. This means for the bottom row you’ll pick up one stitch for each cast-on stitch, and for the top edge you’ll pick up one stitch for each bound-off stitch.

At each corner, work one row of Attached I-cord, then a row of unattached I-cord, and then another row of Attached I-cord.

When you’ve finished working the Attached I-cord, graft or sew its two ends together.

Weave in the remaining ends and block as desired.

Beautyberry Blanket | Purl Soho