The play between light and dark (not to be confused with good and evil, which is a discussion for elsewhere!) has perplexed and inspired artists forever. Here, with yarn and needles, we humbly attempt to tackle this relationship, between the brightness and the shadow.
In our Shadow Study Throw, we’ve combined colors, as well as fibers. For the brighter outer areas, we used our Worsted Twist merino. Its smooth spin catches the light and reflects a warm glow. For the center squares, we used our Alpaca Pure. These rich, saturated colors absorb the light and act perfect “shadows” to the luminous Worsted Twist.
Newly expanded palettes of Worsted Twist and Alpaca Pure make all this color play possible. Our Shadow Study Throw Bundles are available in two color stories, but now that these yarns have solids, heathers and helix options, lots of in-depth studies are possible!
In garter stitch, the intarsia technique we used here couldn’t be simpler to learn or to master, so go on… step into the shadows! –Laura
P.S. And for a similar but smaller-scale color exploration, check out our Color Study Blanket, now available in three new palettes: Peppercorn, Moor, and Rooibos!
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Shadow Study Throw Bundle. Our Shadow Study Throw Bundle comes in two palettes. Here, we used the warm and earthy Sea Heather. Oyster Shell is a cooler take on the concept and is equally beautiful! Each one includes…
- 10 skeins of Purl Soho’s Worsted Twist, 100% merino wool
- 4 skeins of Purl Soho’s Alpaca Pure, 100% alpaca
- US 8, 32 or 40-inch circular needles
Sea Heather
- Color A: 1 skein of Worsted Twist in Ballet Pink
- Color B: 2 skeins of Worsted Twist in Honey Pink
- Color C: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Rose Granite
- Color D: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Copper Penny
- Color E: 3 skeins of Worsted Twist in Wheat Flour
- Color F: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Tabby Gray
- Color G: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Peach Stone
- Color H: 4 skeins of Worsted Twist in Lavender Moon
Oyster Shell
- Color A: 1 skein of Worsted Twist in Sea Salt
- Color B: 2 skeins of Worsted Twist in Oatmeal Gray
- Color C: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Tabby Gray
- Color D: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Salt + Pepper
- Color E: 3 skeins of Worsted Twist in Heirloom White
- Color F: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Oyster Gray
- Color G: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Trout Brown
- Color H: 4 skeins of Worsted Twist in Storm Gray
Gauge
18 stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch
Size
Finished Dimensions: 40 inches wide x 50 inches long
Notes
In this pattern, you will change colors using a technique called “intarsia.” Each row involves either two or four balls of yarn, which is much easier than it may sound! For some tips on this technique, please visit our Intarsia in Garter Stitch Tutorial.
Pattern
Begin with Two Colors
With Color B, cast on 108 stitches. Put Color B down (without cutting it). With Color A, cast 72 stitches onto the same needle. [180 total stitches] (At this point, the two colors are not attached to each other, but as you work the intarsia, they will be!)
NOTE: When you switch colors in the following rows, be sure to use the intarsia techniques described in our Intarsia in Garter Stitch Tutorial.
Row 1 (right side): With Color A, k72; with Color B, knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 knitwise; with Color B, k107; with Color A, knit to end of row.
Row 3: Slip 1 knitwise; with Color A, k71; with Color B, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 6 inches from cast-on edge, ending after working a wrong-side row (Row 2).
Cut Color B.
Continue with Four Colors
Row 1 (right side): Slip 1 knitwise; with Color A, k27; join Color C and k44; join Color D and k44; join Color B and knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 knitwise; with Color B, k63; with Color D, k44; with Color C, k44; with Color A, knit to end of row.
Row 3: Slip 1 knitwise; with Color A, k27; with Color C, k44; with Color D, k44; with Color B, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 16 inches from cast-on edge, ending after working a wrong-side row (Row 2).
Cut Colors A, B, C and D.
Continue with Four Different Colors
Row 1 (right side): Join Color E, k28; join Color F and k44; join Color G and k44; join Color H and knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 knitwise; with Color H, k63; with Color G, k44; with Color F, k44; with Color E, knit to end of row.
Row 3: Slip 1 knitwise; with Color E, k27; with Color F, k44; with Color G, k44; with Color H, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 26 inches from cast-on edge, ending after working a wrong-side row (Row 2).
Cut Colors F, G and H.
Continue with Two Colors
Row 1 (right side): Slip 1 knitwise; with Color E, k71; join Color H and knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 knitwise; with Color H, k107; with Color E, knit to end of row.
Row 3: Slip 1 knitwise; with Color E, k71; with Color H, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 50 inches from cast-on edge, ending after working a right-side row (Row 3).
Bind Off (wrong side): With Color H, loosely bind off 108 stitches knitwise (one Color H stitch will remain on the left needle), cut Color H; with Color E, bind off remaining stitches knitwise, cut Color E and pull through remaining stitch.
Finish
Weave in the ends and block as desired.
Little Side Note: We couldn’t be more honored to have this blanket featured in the January/February 2018 issue of Martha Stewart Living!
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Hi Purl Soho Team,
I have a question. I am looking for a green-olive-gray color. Is your tabby gray in this direction or ist more gray-brown. Thanks a lot for your help!
Best,
viviane
Hi Viviane!
Our Tabby Gray is more gray/grown than green olive. Hope this helps!
-Adam
Sorry to bug you guys. I know you are busy. I have only been knitting a little over a year. Love it. I have made scarfs socks rags and enjoy it. This pattern I understand it but I have never changed colors. It is a big blanket. Should I start with something littler? I am still working on confidence. Can I go to u tube and learn color changing? Thanks for your help. I love this blanket, want to order it, just need some advice first. Thank you for your time.
Pam Kramer
Hi Pamela,
Never fear! We have a tutorial for intarsia! You can also find helpful videos on Youtube. Once you get the hang of intarsia it’s very easy. It just looks complicated. Best of luck!
-Adam
This throw is absolutely peaceful!
I would like to order the color study blanket in the sea heather. Would you wind the yarns for me. I have ordered a lot from you on the past
Hi Carol,
Thanks for writing in to us! You will have to build your own Color Study blanket by buying the individual colors on our website or by calling our store. We did not offer this colorway in the Color Study blanket because the new colors were not out when the pattern was published. We’d be glad to wind the yarns for you — just put it in the notes online or tell the associate at the store. Thanks again!
-Adam
I plan to use only 2 colors of the worsted and 2 colors of the alpaca. How many total skeins of each color?
Thanks!
Hi Janie,
Thanks for writing in! If you are only going to use 2 colors of each yarn type, you will need 5 of each color of Worsted Twist (10 skeins total) and 2 of each color of Alpaca Pure (4 skeins total).
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I would love to make this blanket and like most of the colors in the Sea Heather kit except for B (Honey Pink) and D (Copper Penny). I’m wondering whether you can suggest substitutions?
Thank you.
I’m finishing up the cashmere ombre shawl and would love to get to work on this throw if you have any color substitution ideas.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for writing in. I suggest Stillwater Blue in substitution for Copper Penny and Faded Blue in substitution for Honey Pink. Hope you like the recommendation!
-Adam
Thank you for this suggestion, Adam. I do like the blue but can’t find Stillwater Blue as an option in Alpaca Pure. Would you suggest using a different yarn? Do you think Steel Blue would be too light?
Hi Diana,
I’d go with the Stillwater Blue in Worsted Twist and the Faded Blue in Worsted Twist for that part of the blanket. Thanks!
-Adam
Adam-
I took your recommendation. The yarn just arrived and I’m excited to get started. I love the blues. Thank you.
Diana
Hello. This is beautiful, and I would love to make it for my mother; however she is allergic to wool. Do you have any yarn recommendations to substitute for the Worsted Twist in the Sea Heather palette?
Many thanks!
-Jen
Hi Jen,
Thanks for writing in! The only non-wool yarn that we carry in a similar weight is Blue Sky Worsted Cotton but this yarn doesn’t come in colors similar to Sea Heather. I’d peruse the cotton and see if you like any of the colors.
Best,
Adam
Hi there,
I have just started knitting the shadow study throw in sea heather and noticed a difference in thickness between the ballet pink and honey pink. When I checked the label, the ballet pink is worsted twist whereas the honey pink is worsted twist heather. Is that as it should be?
Hello, Marianne!
Thank you for writing in! Hmmm, there shouldn’t be a gauge difference between the Honey Pink and the Ballet Pink, they are essentially the same yarn. The only difference between the two is that the Honey Pink is heathered in color whereas the Ballet Pink is a solid color. There would be a slight difference in density regarding the Worsted Twist and the Alpaca Pure, but there shouldn’t be between the Worsted Twist and the Worsted Twist Heather.
Have you worked more on the blanket since posting this comment? Please let us know.
Best wishes,
Kumeko
PS, I forgot to mention in my previous email that the honey pink in wortsed twist heather was in the kit I bought from Purlsoho.
Marianne,
I have noticed the same thing with the Honey Pink yarn in my kit. The other 3 worsted twist colours are all alike in weight but noticeably thicker than the Honey Pink?!?
Hi Melissa,
Thank you so much for writing to us. We are very sorry (and alarmed!) to hear that your Honey Pink is thinner than the other colors. We work hard to ensure that our yarn meets our high standards and to hear that yours isn’t is very upsetting. We are taking our Honey Pink offline right now so that we can thoroughly investigate this situation. We’re also talking to our mill about this issue and will definitely follow up to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
In the meantime, would you like to replace the skeins you have now? We are very happy to offer you either a different color, or skeins of Honey Pink from a new shipment due to arrive in late August or early September. Another option might be to add a strand of Line Weight in Honey Pink, depending on how thin your Worsted Twist is.
Please let us know what would be the best solution for you. We couldn’t be sorrier for the trouble you’re having and are very anxious to get you back on track with your Shadow Study Blanket!
Thank you again your very valuable feedback.
Best,
Cassy
Hi Marianne,
Since you wrote to us, we have more deeply investigated the discrepancy between the weight of Honey Pink and our other Worsted Twist colors and have found that you were absolutely correct. There was, indeed, an issue at the mill with the production of Honey Pink. While it does knit up to the same gauge as the other yarns in the collection, it for sure is a bit thinner.
We are very, very sorry, not only that this happened, but also that we didn’t catch the error sooner. As we wrote to Melissa, above, the quality of our yarns is absolutely paramount to us, and this episode, if nothing else, has served to keep us on our toes!
We will contact you directly to offer you either an exchange or refund for the faulty yarn you bought, and again, we can’t say enough how sorry we are for this mistake!
Best,
Cassy
I love this blanket! It’s a really lovely, modern (and easy!) pattern… and fun to make your own color palette too. Great intro to intarsia.
Do you have a recommendation for the bind-off method? Would Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Better Bind-off work well? I did a long-tail cast on and I’m always worried about messing up the whole project in the bind-off!!
Thanks for any tips 🙂
– Kelly
Hey Kelly!
Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Better Bind-off is a great method for this project, especially if you cast on using the long-tail method!
Happy knitting!
Carly
Hi purl team!
I am planning to do the throw but in stockinett stitch as I want it a bit thinner. I was wondering if I should still slip the first stitch on each side, and if so should I slip the stitch purlwise on the purl side or still knitwise?
Thanks a lot!
Hello Sara,
Thank you for writing us! To create a clean edge you will still want to slip the first stitch of every row purlwise. Because of the tendency of the stockinette stitch to curl I would also consider adding a border. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Marilla
Is the blue and cream colour bundle available
Hi Pat,
Thanks for writing in! IT looks like the Oyster Shell colorway is currently out of stock. By you can purchase the yarn separately or sign up to be notified when the item is back in stock.
Best,
Cassy
I made your first “color block study” in blues and it came out beautiful. I love intarsia so this caught my eye and now I can’t wait to make it! Thanks for all your wonderful projects and tutorials.
your color combos would make lovely scarves. you girls always amaze me.
Do you think this blanket would work in something like Gentle Giant? If so, do you have any suggestions as to number of stitches to cast on, etc? #17 needles? Thanks so much.
Hello Jenn,
Thank you for reaching out! You could certainly do this blanket in Gentle Giant on size US 17 or US 19. I would knit up a gauge swatch to figure out how many stitches per inch you are getting and then you can figure out your cast on from there.
I hope this helps and let us know how it goes!
Happy knitting,
Marilla
Hello! I’m hoping to make this bigger. Will it work if I double all the measurements/stitches?
Hi Olivia,
Thanks for writing in! This blanket should work if you double the measurements and cast on numbers. You will get a blanket that is roughly 4 times as large as the one here and will require 4 times the amount of yarn. This is the most straightforward way to may a larger version of this lovely blanket!
Best,
Cassy
Hi! This is beautiful! But $300, ouch! Is there any way to make it for half that? 😬
Hi Lynne,
We hear you! We totally understand that sometimes our yarn suggestions are more of an inspiration than a reality for many people. We are always happy to recommend less expensive (but still beautiful!) alternatives. In this case, we suggest that you try Blue Sky Worsted Cotton or Cascade 220.
Thank you so much for asking. We’re sure that lots of other readers will thank you, too!
Cassy
Thanks Cassy!
Can I run my color choices & quantities by you before I place my order? I’m going with your suggestions…cascade 220 – 1 skein each of walnut heather & river rock, Vashon island heather & aspen heather, charcoal gray & silver gray – then Blue Sky Worsted Cotton – 1 skein each of pumpkin & dandelion. What do you think? :-}
Hi Lynne,
Thanks for writing back! Your color combination sounds lovely! I am not sure how well Cascade 220 and Blue Sky Worsted will work together. While they are both worsted weights, Cascade 220 is a bit thinner. In general, they will knit up at a similar enough gauge but here it may be that you will be able to easily see the difference between the two when combined in one project. Additionally, wool and cotton behave in quite different fashions. Wool has a memory and will bounce back after blocking and cotton tends to grow a bit over time and blocking will not aid in the bouncing back of the fabric. In the end, it is just something to keep in mind when selecting your yarn!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Is the stitch gauge for the shadow study throw correct at 18 stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch? I’m not sure if 36 rows could only equal 4 inches?
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for writing in! The gauge for this lovely blanket is given in garter which is a good deal shorter than standard stockinette. That is to say that if you were to knit the same yarn on the same needles in stockinette and then in garter, you stockinette section would be much taller than your garter section!
I hope that this clears things up!
Cassy
Hi, I’ve just started the Shadow Study Throw and want to use just 4 colors. I have started with Worsted Twist in Heirloom White and Stillwater blue. I want to use Faded Blue and a gray. Which gray do you think would go the best with these colors, Storm or Ash Gray? Or do you have a suggestion that would be better. One more question, how many skeins of Worsted Twist would the 2 smaller sections take, using just 2 colors?
Thanks again for all the great patterns and all the help!
Tamara
Hello Tamarah,
Thank you for reaching out! I think that, with the white and Stillwater Blue, Faded blue would be beautiful. What a fantastic color palette!
Are you using two colors for the outer part of the blanket and two for the inner? I believe you will still need a total 4 skeins (two for each section) for the middle, but you will have a lot left over of your second skien.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Dear ones:
I’m making the shadow study blanket and am ready for the four color part. I’m noticing that my yarn for yarn C is called peach stone (1262/197935) rather than rose granite. From the picture it looks like it should work, and from laying the yarns next to each other, it looks fine to me, but if this is going to look terrible somehow, I’d rather know it now before I begin working with the peach stone.
Thanks,
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thanks for reaching out! In the kit for this lovely blanket you will have 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Peach Stone and 1 skein in Rose Granite! You will use Rose Granite for color C and Peach Stone for color G!
I hope that this clears things up!
Cassy
Thanks, just didn’t look far enough,
Mary
I would love to make this in a baby/crib blanket size, would you help size it down and yarn recs?
Hi Annie,
Thanks for reaching out! The easiest way to change the size of a blanket like this would be to switch to a lighter weight yarn. Our Cotton Pure is an excellent easy care option for baby blankets, and at a gauge of 5-6 stitches per inch should result in a blanket measuring about 32″ wide, which is pretty standard for a baby blanket. Although it is hard to estimate exact yardage when changing gauge, you should be fine with one skein each of colors A, B, C, D, F and G, two skeins of color E, and three skeins of Color H.
I hope that helps, and please let us know how your Cotton Pure version turns out!
Best,
Julianna
Hi🤩
I’m an average to fast knitter (mostly average) and I have purchased yarn for this lovely blanket. Can you project a ball park time frame that this blanket might be knitted? I’m sure that’s a difficult request but I’m not trying to get a general idea. It would help me get situated in beginning!
Thanks in advance!
Brenda🤩
Hi Brenda,
Thanks for writing in! The amount of time it takes to knit something varies greatly from person to person and depends on a lot of your level of comfort and speed with the techniques used, so it really is impossible to say how long it might take! The only way to find out would be to start and keep track of how long it takes you to finish a few inches. You can then use that information to calculate how long it will take you to finish based on the final blanket length of 50 inches.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Thanks.
Tough question.
Reasonable answer!
Will do as you say🤩
Brenda
Just wondering if you can recommend cooler colors for this beautiful blanket. I’d like to knit one up for my son to take to college and colors that are just a little cooler will make him happy. Thanks very much.
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for reaching out! For a cooler toned blanket, I would try the following color palette:
Color A: 1 skein of Worsted Twist in Raindrop Blue
Color B: 2 skeins of Worsted Twist in Ash Gray
Color C: 1 skein of Worsted Twist in Stillwater Blue
Color D: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Trout Brown
Color E: 3 skeins of Worsted Twist in Artemesia Green
Color F: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Steel Blue
Color G: 1 skein of Alpaca Pure in Tabby Gray
Color H: 4 skeins of Worsted Twist in Oatmeal Gray
Happy knitting, and please do let us know how it turns out!
Julianna
Thanks very much Julianna!
So just 3 skeins of alpaca then and use one skein of worsted in place of the 4th skein of alpaca? Or can you suggest one more color of alpaca that would work…Thanks!
Hi Ruth,
Yes, to maximize the cool and blue tones in the blanket, I did select to substitute Worsted Twist for one of the center squares. Unfortunately Alpaca Pure does not come in Stillwater Blue or any other blues that aren’t already included, but it does work up at the same gauge as Worsted Twist, so they substitute for each other quite well!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
I’m knitting the color-blocked blanket but cannot figure out a smooth way to add in the additional colors after doing well with colors 1 + 2 and joining them with Russian join. How should I do this?
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for reaching out! When joining a new color in intarsia, it is completely normal and not a problem to have a hole at this point. Although you can twist the tails together in subsequent rows, you can’t in the first row, but the problem is easily fixed when weaving in your ends. Simply twist the tails together to mimic the twist in the other rows and weave them in to secure them!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi,
I love, love, love your patterns and yarns, and find them incredibly inspirational to look at and to fill my Pinterest knitting project file with. So much lovely eye candy here! But….how can regular folks like me afford it? Alas, I’ll have to add this blanket, along with so many of your other fabulous projects, to my “when a box of money falls out of the sky” list.
Hi Niki,
We hear you! We totally understand that sometimes our yarn suggestions are more of an inspiration than a reality for many people. We are always happy to recommend less expensive (but still beautiful!) alternatives. In this case, we suggest that you try Cascade 220. The color palette include quite a few colors that are all in the same families so you can recreate the color shadow effect of the original blanket.
Thank you so much for asking. We’re sure that lots of other readers will thank you, too!
Best,
Julianna
Thanks so much for your recommendation Julianna. I’ll check the Cascade 220 out!
I would like to make this pattern a little larger, perhaps one and a half times as large. I saw the question and answer about doubling the cast-ons and all the measurements but that would make this 4 times as large which is way larger than I have in mind. Can you advise as to how to make this pattern just a little larger but not 4 times as large? Thank you.
Hello Donne,
Thank you for reaching out! To make this blanket one and a half times its size you will be adding a quarter of the original measurements to the width and length of your blanket making it 50×62.5. This means you will need to figure out your measurements for each section. For example the original size of the outside edges of section H is 24″x 34″ so you will increases that to 30″ x 42.5 because .25×24 = 6 and 24 + 6 = 30 for the width and .25×34=8.5 and 34+8.5=42.5. I would reccomend drawing out a diagram, like we did above, and plug in all of your numbers.
To figure out your cast on and how many stitches should be in each section you will use your gauge. For example if you are on gauge you will be getting 4.5 stitches per inch so section H will have a cast on of 135 stitches because 30×4.5 =135.
I hope this helps and let us know if you have any further questions!
Happy knitting,
Marilla
Thank you, Marilla! That is very helpful. I was thinking that would do it but I wasn’t sure. I will start my calculations now. Can you help me figure out how much more yarn I would need? Would it be one and a half times as much? I appreciate your response.
Donna Kaniss
Hi Donna,
Thanks for writing in! Since you will be increasing both the length and width of the blanket, you will actually need about 65% more yarn for each color. This comes out to about:
Color A: 271 yards
Color B: 541 yards
Color C: 180 yards
Color D: 180 yards
Color E: 812 yards
Color F: 180 yards
Color G: 180 yards
Color H: 1,082 yards
Best,
Julianna
Thank you, Juliana. I would have calculated the amount needed wrong if I had just figured 50% more yarn needed. This is very helpful.
Hi – just wondering if this could be made using Posy. I’d like to make a blanket for my son to take to college but he’ll definitely need to machine wash NOT dry clean it. What do you think? Thanks so much!
Hello ruth,
Thank you for reaching out! This blanket was knit using a worsted weight yarn so Posy would be to thin, unfortunately. I would check out our Color Wash Blanket which would knit up beautifully in Posy as well as our Muhuroosa Blanket which is knit up with Posy held double.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla