Color Study Blanket in Daily Wool
Our free Color Study Blanket knitting pattern uses yarn like paints on a palette, creating the illusion of mixing two colors to create a third. Our machine washable Daily Wool yarn, with its wide range of luminous colors, makes this painterly play possible, and our Color Study Blanket Bundles make it easy to find your favorite perfectly balanced hues!
The Color Study Blanket plays with perception: two bold rectangles of color seem to overlap, creating a central square that looks like a blend of the two. However, it’s actually a distinct third color that’s right in between, carefully chosen to create a perfect color study!
You’ll knit this graphic color play using intarsia, a technique that lets you knit big blocks of color without carrying yarn or slipping stitches. It’s particularly simple in garter stitch, and we have a great tutorial to walk you through it!
We’ve selected seven sophisticated combinations from Daily Wool’s palette of heathered shades for our Color Study Blanket Bundles, each playing with hue, saturation, and value to evoke the layered richness of overlapping color. As you knit, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for color relationships… Watching the illusion take shape is as rewarding as the finished piece itself!
Daily Wool is a joyful and practical yarn choice for knitting blankets, its 100% superwash wool content making it machine-washable, pill-resistant, and soft enough to enjoy every day. This worsted-weight yarn has a bounce to its step and looks absolutely amazing knit up in plush garter stitch.
Choose a Color Study Blanket Bundle for a thoughtfully curated palette or select four shades of Daily Wool to embark on your own unique color exploration with this clever, easy-to-knit pattern!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
Originally designed by Purl Soho designer, Laura Ferguson, and updated by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. See even more of Hiromi’s work on her Instagram!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Want to print this pattern? On desktop, find the “print” icon in the right margin, and on mobile, scroll to the end of the pattern for it. Use the on-screen instructions to remove anything you don’t want to print!
Materials
Our Color Study Blanket Bundle includes all the yarn you’ll need for your own Crib (Throw) blanket…
- 10 (16) skeins of Purl Soho’s Daily Wool, 100% superwash wool yarn. Each skein of this worsted/aran-weight yarn is 164 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 1490 (2495) total yards required. We used the Field Thistle and Fishing Hut bundles.
- Color A: 2 (4) skeins; approximately 290 (635) total yards required
- Color B: 3 (5) skeins; approximately 490 (820) total yards required
- Color C: 3 (5) skeins; approximately 490 (820) total yards required
- Color D: 2 (2) skeins; approximately 220 (220) total yards required
You will also need…
- US 7 (4.5 mm), 40-inch circular knitting needles
Choose from 7 pretty palettes, shown above! They are…
TOP ROW
Field Thistle: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Red Violet; Color C, Super Pink; Color D, Pink Violet
Peach Wood: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Cinnamon Bark, Color C: Apple Blossom; Color D, Golden Pink
SECOND ROW
Sweet Iris: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Forget-Me-Not-Blue, Color C: Purple Petunia; Color D, Sweet Pea
Fjord: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Mountain Stream; Color C, Mica Gray; Color D, Rain Shower
BOTTOM ROW
Cornfield: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Summer Sun; Color C, Olive Tree; Color D, Chartreuse Green
Fishing Hut: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Lake Blue; Color C, Inchworm Green; Color D, Seaglass Blue
NOT PICTURED
Garnet: Color A, Heirloom White; Color B, Flame Red; Color C, Red Violet; Color D, Sour Cherry
GAUGE
19 stitches and 38 rows (19 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
NOTE: The Throw size uses almost all of Colors B and C. To avoid running short, be sure to check your gauge by swatching with Color D, and keep tails short.
SIZES
Crib (Throw)
Finished Dimensions: 39 inches wide x 30 inches tall (39 inches wide x 51 inches tall)
Samples: We knit the Crib size.
NOTES
SLIP STITCHES
Slip all slipped stitches knitwise with yarn in back.
INTARSIA
The colorwork in this project is done with a technique called “intarsia.” Each row involves either two or three balls of yarn, which is much easier than it may sound! For some tips on this technique, visit our Intarsia in Garter Stitch Tutorial.
CONSTRUCTION
CRIB
THROW
PATTERN
BEGIN WITH TWO COLORS
Using a basic Long Tail Cast On, cast 186 stitches onto needles as follows…
With Color B, cast on 124 stitches, drop Color B without cutting it; then with Color A, cast 62 stitches onto the same needle.
NOTE: At this point, the two colors are not attached to each other, but as you work intarsia they will be!
Working Intarsia (see Notes) at every color change…
Row 1 (right side): With Color A, k62; with Color B, knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): With Color B, slip 1 (see Notes), k123; with Color A, knit to end of row.
Row 3: With Color A, slip 1, k61; with Color B, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 8½ (19) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 2. [41 (90) garter ridges on right side]
Cut both yarns.
CONTINUE WITH THREE COLORS
Still working Intarsia at every color change…
Row 1 (right side): Join Color C and k62; join Color D and k62; join Color B and knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): With Color B, slip 1, k61; with Color D, k62; with Color C, knit to end of row.
Row 3: With Color C, slip 1, k61; with Color D, k62; with Color B, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 for 13 inches or until piece measures 21½ (32) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 2. [103 (152) total garter ridges on right side]
Cut Colors B and D.
CONTINUE WITH TWO COLORS
Working Intarsia at every color change…
Row 1 (right side): With Color C, slip 1, k123; join Color A and knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): With Color A, slip 1, k61; with Color C, knit to end of row.
Row 3: With Color C, slip 1, k123; with Color A, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 for 8½ (19) inches or until piece measures 30 (51) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 3. [143 (241) total garter ridges on right side]
Bind Off (wrong side): With Color A, loosely bind off knitwise to end of Color A stitches (one Color A stitch will remain on the right needle), cut Color A; with Color C, continue to bind off knitwise to end of row, cut Color C and pull through remaining stitch.
FINISHING
Weave in the ends, closing gap between colors on cast-on row, and gently wet block as desired.
Learn About Daily Wool + All Our Beautiful Yarns
This project is incredibly soft and conveniently machine wash- and dry-able in our beautiful Daily Wool, made from 100% superwash wool yarn! Spun into 4 tidy plies, this worsted/aran-weight yarn is un-prone to pilling, with a bounce to its step and a lovely stitch definition. Daily Wool is what makes knitting fun… 24/7!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our growing collection of Daily Wool knitting patterns and cast on!
More Worsted/Aran-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of worsted/aran-weight yarn (What does worsted-weight yarn mean, really? Our guide to worsted-weight yarn will answer your questions and more!)
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fiber
- Shop machine-washable yarn
- Shop superwash wool yarn
- Shop wool yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Such a beautiful blanket, with amazing colors and an artful illusion. I love it. While complete as is, I was wondering if there was an equally creative border that could be added?
Hi Fran,
We’re so glad you love this blanket! You could absolutely add a border, and there are so many options for that. The first that comes to my mind is to work an attached I-cord around the whole thing–perhaps in the central color? I’m excited to hear about what you end up adding to your project!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you for that idea. Is there a way to do the attached ICord on all 4 sides of the blanket?
If I wanted to use Cashmerino bloom for a baby blanket in a blue/ blue or blue/green or green/green palette what colors would you recommend?
Yep, the attached I-cord can absolutely be done on all four sides! All you need to do is pick a starting point, and then continually work the attached I-cord all the way around until you get back to the starting point. And here are some color combos in Cashmere Merino Bloom that I’d recommend:
Ash Blue + Stillwater Blue = Night Blue
Deep Emerald + Icicle Blue = Vintage Jade
Golden Green + Deep Emerald = Fresh Pickle
All the best,
Lili
Thank you for those ideas for the blanket in cashmerino. I just had an idea to do this for my den, a black and grey room with red accents.
Could the illusion work in these colors?
Does cashmerino come in a red with orange, not blue undertones
And
A gray with blue, not yellow undertones?
I appreciate your color expertise and your knowledge of how this illusion works best.
Thank you.
Hi Fran,
That’s a fun idea! We do have colors like that in Cashmere Merino Bloom, and I think you could get a similar illusion with the following colors: Red Poppy + Charcoal Onyx (or Dove Gray) = Kiln Red. If you go with Charcoal Onyx for one of the overlapping colors, you could also use Dove Gray as the background color. Let me know what you think!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you for those creative ideas. I will look into those colors. As practice i am using this pattern to make a babydoll blanket to measure 22” X 27”.
How many yards of yarn will I need to make an attached icord all around the blanket?
When working the icord do I go into every border stitch on the top and the bottom and every side row on the left and right edge?
I appreciate your always good advice.
You’re very welcome! I don’t have an exact estimate for how much yardage an attached I-cord of that length would take, but definitely no more than one skein of Cashmere Merino Bloom. You’ll want to work one stitch of the I-cord into each stitch on the cast-on and bind-off edges, and then into (or between) each garter ridge on the side edges.
All the best,
Lili
Thank you. I will watch your tutorial on attached icord and then do as you indicate. On my practice doll blanket.
What other fiber yarns do you recommend ? I’d like to make this for cool spring evenings.
Hi Juanita,
Thanks for writing in! I think Morning would be a perfect for this blanket. Morning is made from a mix of cotton and yak fiber, so it has a very different texture than Daily Wool. It’s smooth and incredibly soft to the touch, and we love using it for blankets!
All the best,
Lili
Hi,
Which Morning colors would best create a similar overlap illusion?
Hi Natalie,
Here are some ideas I had for Morning:
Pink Radish + Sweet Apricot = Pink Lemonade
Cucumber Ice + Dungarees Blue = Araucana Blue
Let me know what you think, or if you had any particular color families in mind!
All the best,
Lili
Thanks for the recommendations!
Oh my goodness!! I’m IN LOVE with this blanket!! Could I use another yarn, instead of Daily Wool Superwash? Which would you recommend?
You could definitely use a different yarn for this project! The gauge is 19 stitches and 38 rows (19 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch, which will work for many worsted weight yarns as well as some DK weight yarns. Cashmere Merino Bloom, Morning, and Hedgerow are all yarns that will work great!
All the best,
Lili
Mesmerizing! Amazing how well the colors create this illusion. Were these colors in fact created just for this purpose?
Hi Natalie,
Totally!! We developed the color palette for Daily Wool separately, but they really do happen to work so perfectly with this pattern!
All the best,
Lili
If I wanted to make this in a smaller size, like a cuddle blanket as opposed to crib size, is this possible?
Hi Lolly,
That’s a great idea, and it’s definitely possible! All you’d need to do is cast on fewer stitches per color to make the width smaller, and also knit fewer rows of each section to make the length shorter.
All the best,
Lili
ciao,
vorrei provare a fare questa coperta per culla.
si potrebbe fare un bordo laterale icord?
grazie
Stefania
Hi Stefania,
Yep, you can totally add an I-cord to this blanket! I would recommend either just slipping the first three stitches on each row, or working an attached I-cord after completing the blanket. The benefit of an attached I-cord in this case is that you can easily work it all the way around the whole blanket, and you can also make the I-cord in any color(s) you want!
All the best,
Lili