Like so many of you, knitting was an essential way for me to feel grounded during all of the uncertainty of the past several months. Today, I’m releasing the first of the designs I created during lockdown.
This is the Summersweet blanket.
Gently meandering cables provide the perfect frame for leaf-inspired lace, making this blanket perfect for warm and cool days alike. I designed this blanket for a very special baby girl born earlier this Summer, but I think this pattern works just as well for boys.
Ribbed borders and garter edges provide abundant texture and ensure that the blanket lies flat.
The blanket is shown in the carriage blanket size but the pattern also includes a larger lap throw size. And because both of the ribbing and cable panel patterns are written out and charted, you can easily customize your own blanket size by just adding or removing pattern repeats.
The blanket is worked flat in one piece in an Aran-weight yarn, which makes it quicker to knit. At the same time, I think that the lace panels interspersed between the cables keep the overall effect from being too heavy.
Since the pandemic meant no yarn festivals / no yarn shops / really no shopping at all, I was fortunate that this beautiful yarn was already in my stash. It’s the 100% cormo yarn from Foxhill Farms in their Natural colorway. (You may recall that I used a similar yarn, the cormo cross yarn in a warm silver tone, from Foxhill Farms nearly 2 years ago for Oliver’s Blanket.) I think this design benefits the most from a solid or mostly solid colored yarn that is smoothly spun with lots of twist and bounce.
I’ve knit at least 3 projects now with the yarn from these folks in Massachusetts and each yarn has been outstanding. This particular cormo yarn is as soft and springy to the touch as Merino yarn. It blocks beautifully and holds the crisp texture of both cables and lace. I always stop at their booth during the NY Sheep and Wool Festival to see what goodies they’ve got on hand, so it’s bittersweet that that won’t be happening this October.
This was the first design I photographed in about 6 months and it felt especially gratifying to have such a lovely day, with my hydrangeas in full bloom, in the background. Here’s hoping that the second half of 2020 will be brighter/safer/kinder than the first half, and that this blanket, in some small way, embodies that sense of hope.
You can find the pattern here on Ravelry and here at DCD.
Happy knitting and be well, everyone!
xoxo Danielle
daniellechalson.com 