True Stripes Blanket
Let our striking True Stripes Blanket entice you to cast on the newest addition to our family of Purl Soho yarns, with a True Stripes Blanket Bundle in Plein Air… A beautiful mix of 67% wool and 33% organically grown cotton!
Plein Air combines the best of both the animal and plant worlds. The wool lends body to the yarn so that it’s airy and lofty, while the cotton adds a pleasant weight so that your finished blanket drapes perfectly over your lap. A totally endearing yarn, it is very soft in your hands and supple on your needles!
Plein Air also knits up into a satisfyingly even fabric. Even if your stitches aren’t impeccable, once you block your blanket (which just means giving it a soak and laying it flat to dry!), your knitting will bloom into perfection. A light worsted (or DK) weight, Plein Air is on the lighter side of a medium weight yarn, not too thick and not thin, not too bulky and not too skimpy… In fact, perfect!
And Plein Air’s colors have a gorgeous heathered quality that comes from the slight difference in how the wool and cotton absorb dye. The palette of 16 colors brings to mind a raucous field of wildflowers with an easel set up on its edge, ready for some landscape painting “en plein air!” Each True Stripes Blanket Bundle uses Plein Air’s lively colors to create bold stripes against an Heirloom White background.
To make the stripes, you knit in simple garter stitch rows, switching directions between stripes to create graphic impact (and to make the knitting super fun)!
And since you attach each row as you go, there’s no sewing at the end… Just weaving in your ends and voilà!
Get started with a True Stripes Blanket Bundle. They come in six pretty, tonal palettes and are available in crib and throw sizes… A very easy way to cast on!
A bundle or your own color combo, Plein Air is a wonderful yarn for babies and adults, for sweaters and blankets, for absolutely everyone and everything. Make it your new trusty go-to… You will be totally thrilled with it!
Designed by Purl Soho designers, Gaby Bush and Gianna Mueller, and inspired by the Bright Stripes Blanket by Purl Soho founder and co-owner, Joelle Hoverson. Click here to see even more of Gianna’s designs!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoTrueStripesBlanket, and #PurlSohoPleinAir. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
Our True Stripes Blanket Bundle contains all the yarn you’ll need for a Crib (Throw) size blanket and comes in six tonal palettes. Each one includes…
- Purl Soho’s Plein Air, 67% wool and 33% organically grown cotton. Each skein is 218 yards/ 100 grams.
- Main Color (MC): 6 (9) skeins; approximately 1170 (1810) total yards required
- Contrast Color 1 (CC1): 3 (4) skeins; approximately 540 (870) total yards required
- Contrast Color 2 (CC2): 2 (3) skeins; approximately 360 (595) total yards required
Samples: We used the Red Birch + Sweet Apricot bundle for one sample and Purple Hellebore + Lavender Heath for the other.
You’ll also need…
- US 5 (3.75 mm), 32- or 40-inch circular needles, depending on size you are making
- Stitch holder or scrap yarn
Another option is to create a Plein Air palette all your own! Pick up 6 (9) skeins of the Main Color, 3 (4) skeins of Contrast Color 1, and 2 (3) skeins of Contrast Color 2.
GAUGE
21 stitches and 42 rows (21 garter ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
SIZES
Crib (Throw)
- Finished Dimensions: Approximately 36 inches wide x 46 inches long (45 inches wide x 57 inches long)
Samples: We knit both of our blankets in the Crib size.
NOTE
CONSTRUCTION
You will work the center of this blanket from Left Sash to Right Sash, knitting the Contrast Color (CC) Stripes perpendicular to the Main Color Stripes, attaching the CC Stripes as you work. To finish, you will pick up stitches to work the Top and Bottom Sashes.
PATTERN
With Main Color (MC) cast on 189 (237) stitches. We used a basic Long-Tail Cast On.
LEFT SASH
NOTE: Mark the second row with a removable stitch marker or piece of scrap yarn to indicate the right side.
With MC, knit every row for 5 (6) inches, ending with a wrong-side row.
Cut yarn.
CONTRAST COLOR STRIPE
With right side facing you and Contrast Color 1 (CC1), use a cable cast on to loosely cast on 1 stitch, place marker (pm), then loosely cast on an additional 20 (26) stitches.
Row 1 (right side): Knit to marker, slip marker, slip 1 ( the last CC stitch) purlwise with yarn in back, k1 (the first MC stitch), pass slipped CC stitch over MC stitch, turn work.
Row 2 (wrong side): Move working yarn between needles to back of work, knit to end of row, slipping marker when you come to it.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until all MC stitches have been worked, removing marker on last row and ending with a right-side row.
Next Row (wrong side): Bind off knitwise.
Cut yarn.
MAIN COLOR STRIPE
NOTE: For help with picking up stitches, please visit our tutorial and scroll down the page to the “Along A Vertical Edge: Garter Stitch, Between Ridges” video.
Pick Up + Knit Row: With right side facing you, orient blanket with cast-on edge at the bottom. With MC and starting at upper right hand corner of blanket, pick up and knit one stitch between each garter ridge along top CC edge. Be sure to start picking up between cable-cast-on row of CC stripe and first garter ridge and finish picking up between last garter ridge and bind-off row. [189 (237) stitches on the needles]
Still with MC, knit every row for 1½ (2) inches, ending with a wrong-side row.
Cut yarn.
CONTINUE
With Contrast Color 2 (CC2), repeat Contrast Color Stripe section.
With MC, repeat Main Color Stripe section.
Continue working CC and MC stripes, alternating between CC1 and CC2, until you have 5 stripes (not including Left Sash): three CC1 stripes; two CC2 stripes; and 4 MC stripes.
RIGHT SASH
With MC, work the Pick Up + Knit Row from Main Color Stripe section. [189 (237) stitches]
Still with MC, knit every row for 5 (6) inches, ending with a wrong-side row.
With right side facing you, bind off loosely and cut yarn.
TOP + BOTTOM SASHES
Pick Up + Knit Row: With right side facing you, orient blanket so stripes are vertical. With MC, pick up and knit one stitch between each garter ridge along selvages of Sash and Main Color Stripes sections, and one stitch for each stitch of Contrast Color Stripe sections. [189 (237) stitches]
Knit every row for 5 (6) inches, ending with a wrong-side row.
With right side facing you, bind off loosely.
Repeat at opposite end of the blanket.
FINISHING
Weave in ends and gently wet block, if desired.
Is Plein Air yarn machine washable?
Hi Peg,
Thanks for writing in! I’m afraid that Plein Air is not machine washable due to the wool fiber content. We recommend hand washing it and laying it flat to dry!
All the best,
Lili
Gorgeous blanket! Would it be easy to extend the length? My son is 6’2″ and the throw size is too short.
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for writing in! That’s a great question! You could lengthen this blanket by adding stitches to your cast on at the start of your pattern! For this blanket, we worked with a gauge of 5.25 stitches per inch. This means for each additional inch you would like to add to your length, you would multiply that number by 5.25 to figure out the additional number of stitches to add to your cast on number. Alternatively, you could lengthen the blanket by just adding rows to the top and bottom sections of the pattern as well! I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Are there baby blanket size instructions? It’s beautiful.
Hi Joyce,
Thank you so much for writing in! This pattern is written in both crib size and throw size making the smaller perfect to use as a baby blanket for your favorite little one. The finished dimensions work out to approximately 36 inches wide x 46 inches long for the crib size and 45 inches wide x 57 inches long for the throw. To follow the crib size instructions, you will want to stick to the first set of numbers before the parenthesis! I hope this helps but please let us know if you have any questions!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Hello,
I’ve just completed six inches of the left sash. The last instruction says to end with a wrong side row, then cut yarn. Do I not bind off this sash? If I don’t, when I start the contrast color stripe, my stitches will still be on my needles.
Hi Lori,
Thank you for writing in! That is correct, you will want to leave your stitches on your needle as you add the next sash to your project. You will be joining the new rows to the existing stitches you have on your needles. I hope this helps but please let me know if you have any other questions!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
I am questioning this part of the pattern too. What does it mean to “pass slipped CC stitch over MC stitch”.
Hi Micki,
Thank you for writing in! This means you will bind off a stitch to connect your sections together. So with the Contrast color stitch, you will pass it over the Main color stitch as you would for a traditional bind-off. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Great pattern but I would like to knit it in Good Wool (I have a bunch left over from another project). What would the yarn amounts be for the MC and CCs since the gauge would be different. Thx
Hi Jody,
Thank you for writing in! I would recommend knitting a gauge swatch with your Good Wool to see if you are able to get gauge to match the pattern. That way you could also use the wool you have already purchased to make your blanket and knit with the suggested yarn quantities listed. I hope this helps but please let me know if you have any more questions!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
This may be too big of an ask and if so, that’s fine. I’d like to make this blanket 36 x36. So I would cast on 144 stitches, and then just follow the instructions as they are, finishing up with 5 inches of MC when stripes are done?
Thank you!
p.s. if there is a more logical way to make this blanket smaller I’m amenable!
Hi Mary Ellen,
Thank you for writing in! This pattern is worked beginning with the center sash panels so you will want to start by reducing the size of those first! Since the top and bottom panels are each 5″ you will want to start with a 26″ strip for your left sash at the start of the pattern. The gauge of this pattern is 21 stitches and 42 rows (21 garter ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch so you will begin by casting on 136 stitches. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Hi – just to confirm – is ROW 2 where I should mark the right side, the row after the cast on or the row after the 1st row of knit after the initial cast on – I know some people count cast on as row 1 (I don’t) – thanks in advance – P
Hi Paula,
Thank you for writing in! The row knitted after the cast on is actually row 1. You will want to knit 2 rows and then add your marker to indicate the right side. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Thank you x