Wide Wale Blanket
In colors that have us dreaming of sandy dunes and lapping waves, our Wide Wale Blanket in cotton Serif is calling for you to relax into some simple summer knitting!
Alternating two lines each of knits and purls, it’s easy to get into your knitting groove while you make this lovely, plump fabric… Add a color-swap partway for some extra beauty, and your cushiony cotton throw will be off your needles before the tide comes in!
Serif’s unique structure, a plushy single ply wrapped with a thin cotton thread, adds extra oomph to the texture and extra fun to the knitting!
One hundred percent Pima cotton, Serif’s fiber is one of the highest grades available, with long, smooth fibers that mean this is a handknit you can really use. And if spills or smudges come your way, no worries… It’s machine washable, too!
We took a trip to the beach using Serif’s Alabaster Cream and Summer Melon (above) and Creek Blue with Blue Overalls (below), but with sixteen colors to choose from, find the palette that says summer to you!
Designed by Purl Soho designers, Hiromi Glover and Keith Foster. Click here to see even more of Hiromi’s work and here to see more of Keith’s!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoWideWaleBlanket, and #PurlSohoSerif. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 8 skeins of Purl Soho’s Serif, 100% Pima cotton. Each skein is 164 yards/ 100 grams.
- Main Color (MC): 5 skeins; approximately 820 total yards required. We used the colors Alabaster Cream and Creek Blue.
- Contrast Color (CC): 3 skeins; approximately 475 total yards required. We used Summer Melon with Alabaster Cream and Blue Overalls with Creek Blue.
- US 5 (3.75 mm), 32-inch circular needles
GAUGE
20 stitches and 42 rounds = 4 inches in stitch pattern
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: Approximately 28 inches wide x 38 inches long
NOTE
SLIPPED STITCHES
Slip all slipped stitches purlwise with yarn in front.
PATTERN
With Main Color (MC), cast on 140 stitches. We used a Long Tail Cast On.
Set-Up Row (wrong side): Slip 2 (see Notes), purl to last 2 stitches, slip 2.
Row 1 (right side): K2, purl to last 2 stitches, k2.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 2, knit to last 2 stitches, slip 2.
Row 3: Knit to end of row.
Row 4: Slip 2, purl to last 2 stitches, slip 2.
Repeat Rows 1–4 until piece measures approximately 24 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 2.
Cut MC and join Contrast Color (CC).
With CC, work Rows 3 and 4.
Continue in pattern, repeating Rows 1–4 until piece measures approximately 38 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 3.
With wrong side facing you, bind off purlwise.
Weave in the ends and gently wet block.
Could this blanket be made larger and could it be made with larger needles, larger yarn? If so, what would that be? And I would prefer organic cotton!
Hi Katie,
Thanks for reaching out. You can absolutely make this blanket with thicker yarn! Since you’re looking for an organic cotton yarn, then I’d recommend Tulip Cotton, which is worsted weight. We recommend using size US 6 or 7 needles with this yarn.
All the best,
Lili
Please give cast on and yarn requirements for a throw size. Thank you!
Hi Mindy,
The cast-on number and yardage will depend on how large you want your throw blanket to be! We generally design our throw-sized blankets at around 42 inches by 56 inches. Does that sound like about what you’re hoping for?
If so, then you’ll need 12 skeins of the main color and 7 skeins of the contrast color. Then, based on the gauge of the pattern (20 stitches and 42 rounds = 4 inches in stitch pattern), you would need to cast on 210 stitches!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you, that’s perfect! I knit so many of your throws for gifts, I appreciate your patterns and yarn.
I love this, so simple and cozy. If I’m knitting this with a yarn where I would want to alternate skeins, can I knit with one strand, slide back, knit with strand two, then flip, repeat? Does this then become NO purl?!? I’d have to think about the edges a little more, but am I thinking about the stitch pattern correctly?
Hi Amy,
I think you’re right! What a fun idea, and I hope you give it a try! The only thing I want to mention is that you will get some overlapping purl bumps between the colors on the purl rows. But I think that could look very cool!
All the best,
Lili
Will try this pattern.
Will try this pattern as I like to do new and
Interesting patterns.
hello – can you tell me how many skeins and cast on count if i wanted the blanket to be 52 w x 76 L.
Thank you
Hi Heidi,
Thanks for reaching out! Based on the yardage for and dimensions of the original size, you would need 19 skeins of the MC and 11 skeins of the CC to make a blanket that’s 52 inches wide and 76 inches long. And based on the gauge of the pattern (20 stitches and 42 rounds = 4 inches in stitch pattern), you would need to cast on 260 stitches for a 52 inch width!
All the best,
Lili
Could this blanket be made with the yarn Morning? I think I prefer the colors… some brighter blue options, which I think could work better for either a boy or a girl, since it the parents are planning for a surprise! If so, how many skeins of each color will I need?
Hi Anne,
Morning would be an absolutely lovely for this blanket! And yu’ll actually need the exact same number of skeins for each color.
As always though, we recommend knitting a gauge swatch before casting on your project, especially when you are substituting yarns. You may need to size up or down your needles in order to get the correct gauge!
All the best,
Lili
Would love to see a baby pink color option in this yarn!