Amazing Log Cabin Blanket
Inspired by the process of turning traditional quilt blocks into contemporary knit designs, Anna Valles and her Amazing Log Cabin Blanket piece together a little history, a little fun, and a lot of beauty!
As with the historic quilt block, Anna starts with the center, knitting a striped square and then building new sections around it.
You add each additional block of stripes without any sewing or fuss, simply by picking up stitches or knitting across others that have been put on hold. To keep it all super tidy, check out our Picking Up Stitches tutorial for some tips!
With its tidy spin and three even plies, our Wigeon is the perfect yarn to create the sleek, graphic lines of this gorgeous blanket.
This sportweight yarn is 100% fine Falkland merino, which is hardy enough for a long-lasting, much-used blanket, but also bouncy, soft, and very satisfying to knit with!
With three new colors of Wigeon joining the team, we now have a beautiful palette of eighteen solid hues. Go bold like we did with Heirloom White and Orange Carmine, or maybe find a gentle, low-contrast pairing… Either way, your blanket is going to be amazing!
Designed for Purl Soho by Anna Valles. Anna learned to knit when she was nineteen and working at Disneyland. “Minnie Mouse” noticed she was having a hard time casting on during her break and showed her some basics! Besides knitting and designing blankets based on quilts, she enjoys reading, a little sewing, and watching movies with her husband and their dog, Friday. She also happens to be a manager at our warehouse, and it will be her 10-year anniversary at Purl Soho in April! Amazing design, Anna!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoAmazingLogCabinBlanket, and #PurlSohoWigeon. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Wigeon, 100% fine Falkland merino wool. Each ball is approximately 359 yards/ 100 grams.
- Color A: 5 (6) balls; approximately 1460 (2080) total yards required. We used Orange Carmine.
- Color B: 4 (6) balls; approximately 1400 (2000) total yards required. We used Heirloom White.
- US 6 (4 mm), 40-inch circular needles
- Spare US 4, 5, or 6, 60-inch circular needles (see Notes, below)
NOTE: If you’re knitting the Small Throw size, you may not need the 5th skein of Color A. If you don’t end up needing it, you can return unwound yarn for a refund within 30 days of purchase, or within 6 months, for store credit. Our Return Policy has all the details!
GAUGE
23 stitches and 46 rows (23 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
SIZES
Small Throw (Large Throw)
Finished Dimensions: 41 inches wide x 43½ inches long (49 inches wide x 52¼ inches long)
NOTES
GARTER RIDGE
A “garter ridge” equals two rows of garter stitch. It looks like a prominent horizontal ridge and is an easy way to count rows!
SPARE NEEDLES
Spare needles are for putting stitches on hold that you later knit. If you’d rather use scrap yarn or stitch holders, you can. Just be sure you have spare needles so that, when the time comes, you can slip the on-hold stitches onto the needles so you can knit them!
PICKING UP STITCHES
For the cleanest pick-up edge, insert the needle into the outer most bump along the edge of the garter ridge.
Visit our Picking Up Stitches tutorial and scroll down to the “Along A Vertical Edge: Garter Stitch, Into the Ridge” section to see exactly how to pick up stitches for this project.
SCHEMATIC
PATTERN
Center Block
With Color A, cast on 116 (138) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast-On.
Row 1 (right side): Knit to end of row.
Mark the right side of the fabric with scrap yarn or a removable stitch marker.
Knit every row until you have 10 (12) garter ridges (see Notes), ending with a wrong-side row.
Cut Color A.
*With Color B, knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row. [20 (24) total garter ridges]
Cut Color B.
With Color A, knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row. [30 (36) total garter ridges]
Cut Color A.
Repeat from * 3 more times, then slip all stitches onto spare needles (see Notes). [90 (108) total garter ridges; piece measures approximately 15½ (18¾) inches from cast-on edge]
Block A
With right side facing you, turn piece 90 degrees clockwise so left selvage is at top.
With Color B, pick up (see Notes) and knit 90 (108) stitches along top edge.
**Knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row.
Cut Color B.
With Color A, knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row. [20 (24) total garter ridges]
Cut Color A.
With Color B, knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row. [30 (36) total garter ridges]
Cut Color B.
With Color A, knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row. [40 (48) total garter ridges; piece measures approximately 7 (8⅜) inches from pick-up edge]***
Slip all 90 (108) stitches onto same spare needles (or scrap yarn).
Cut Color A.
Block B
With right side facing you, turn piece 180 degrees clockwise so Center Block right selvage is at top.
With Color B, pick up (see Notes) and knit 90 (108) stitches along top edge.
Repeat from ** to *** of Block A instructions.
Slip all 90 (108) stitches onto same spare needles (or scrap yarn).
Cut Color A.
Block C
With right side facing you, turn piece 90 degrees clockwise so on-hold stitches from Center Block are at top.
With Color B, pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block B selvage, then with same working needles and yarn, knit across 116 (138) on-hold Center Block stitches, then pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block A selvage. [196 (234) total stitches]
Repeat from ** to *** of Block A instructions.
Slip all 196 (234) stitches onto same spare needles (or scrap yarn).
Cut Color A.
Block D
With right side facing you, turn piece 180 degrees clockwise so cast-on stitches from Center Block are at top.
With Color B, pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block A selvage, then with same working needles and yarn, pick up and knit 116 (138) stitches along Center Block cast-on edge, then pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block B selvage. [196 (234) total stitches]
Repeat from ** to *** of Block A instructions.
Slip all 196 (234) stitches onto same spare needles (or scrap yarn).
Cut Color A.
Block E
With right side facing you, turn piece 90 degrees clockwise so on-hold Block B stitches are at top.
With Color B, pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block D selvage, then with same working needles and yarn, knit across 90 (108) on-hold Block B stitches, then pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block C selvage. [170 (204) total stitches]
**Knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row.
Cut Color B.
With Color A, knit every row for 10 (12) garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row. [20 (24) total garter ridges total; piece measures approximately 3½ (4⅛) inches from pick-up edge]
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise.
Cut Color A.***
Block F
With right side facing you, turn piece 180 degrees clockwise so on-hold Block A stitches are at top.
With Color B, pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block C selvage, then with same working needles and yarn, knit across 90 (108) on-hold Block A stitches, then pick up and knit 40 (48) stitches along Block D selvage. [170 (204) total stitches]
Repeat from ** to *** of Block E instructions.
Block G
With right side facing you, turn piece 90 degrees clockwise so on-hold Block D stitches are at top.
Repeat from ** to *** of Block A instructions.
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise.
Cut Color A.
Block H
With right side facing you, turn piece 180 degrees clockwise so on-hold Block C stitches are at top.
With Color B, pick up and knit 20 (24) stitches along Block E selvage, then with same working needles and yarn, knit across 196 (234) on-hold Block C stitches, then pick up and knit 20 (24) stitches along Block F selvage. [236 (282) total stitches]
Repeat from ** to *** of Block A instructions.
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise.
Cut Color A.
FINISHING
Weave in all ends and gently wet block.
This is stunning!
Is widget yarn machine washable and dry??
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for reaching out! Wigeon is not machine washable, since it’s non-superwash wool. We recommend hand washing it in cold water and laying it flat to dry!
All the best,
Lili
Hello Purl Soho:
Once again, you’ve created a very beautiful blanket that I would love, love to make. But to use this yarn (which is so gorgeous) for the full sized blanket would cost $282. That’s a little steep for me. Could you recommend a slightly less expensive yarn that you carry that would work for this pattern?
Many thanks,
Susan
Hi Susan,
Thanks for reaching out! 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 Good Wool, which is another sportweight yarn and will be perfect for this pattern!
Thank you again for asking. We’re sure that lots of other readers will thank you, too!
All the best,
Lili
Great suggestion. Much appreciated!
I understand all the numbers of pick ups on the selvedge edges, but in the tutorial, it says to pick up 3 out of 4 – if I do that, I won’t have the correct number of stitches and if I pick up all required stitches, it will most likely bunch?
thanks, Audrey
Hi Audrey,
Thanks for writing in! It sounds like the tutorial you’re looking at is describing how to pick up stitches along the vertical edge of a stockinette fabric. The reason that the 3:4 ratio works for stockinette stitch is because the ratio of stitches to rows in the gauge of this stitch pattern is generally about 3 to 4. However, in garter stitch, the row gauge is typically exactly double the stitch gauge! That means that you’ll need to pick up 1 stitch for every 2 rows–or, 1 stitch per garter ridge–when picking up stitches along a vertical edge. Hope this helps clarify things!
All the best,
Lili