Knitted chevron blanket C14

I had been saving cotton yarns for this blanket for quite some time.  When I got the yarn out I realised two things.  Firstly, although the yarns were all DK weight the colours did not look good together.  I had to omit the darker shades.  Secondly, even with the darker shades there was not enough yarn for a full sized blanket.  So I had to buy some more.

I started with the yarns intended for my Di Gilpin top.  Over the past few years I have bought the occasional additonal ball with this blanket in mind.  I was pleased to find a bag of unravelled beige Rowan Cashcotton DK which fitted perfectly.  In the Rowan sale I added some darker beige Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton (Oakapple shade).  Once I realised I needed more yarn I went out and got four balls of Wendy Supreme Cotton - luckily at half price.

Last September I finally cast on.   I wanted to knit a chevron pattern.  There are of course a number of ways that you can do chevrons.  I liked a solid fabric rather than the holes created by yarn overs so I did the increases by making one, and the columns created by knitting stitches inbetween decreases appealed to me too, so I took the pattern from a skirt pattern in a recent copy of Vogue Knitting.  I used the Rowan Purelife Cotton for the border and for two regular garterstitch rows.

There is a regularity to the striping pattern although it is perhaps not obvious.  I calculated it so that the shades would be distributed equally throughout, and so that I would not have to make decisions about which to use next.  I also planned it so that three yarns at most would be in use at any one time - plus two strands of the border yarn - with one carried on each side.  Both the garter stitch border and attaching the yarn intarsia style worked beautifully, I am pleased to say.  Unfortunately my colour scheme broke down half way through, as two very similar yarns ended up next to one another, and after that I resorted to deciding as I went along.

The knitting took a long time.  I had to take time from my standard blanket in order to see a finish to it.  I did enjoy it a lot though.  It was very pleasant working solely with cotton yarns, some more than others.  My favourite was a Katia Eco Cotton yarn, in grey and blue.  I am very pleased with the result.  I wouldn't mind doing another chevron blanket - perhaps with yarn overs in a chunky yarn.  But there are so many other patterns to try.

I did learn from this that it is no good attempting a blanket if I only have a third of the yarn needed.  I must take all, or nearly all, from the yarn store, otherwise it is self defeating.  And putting shades together from different brands is tricky.

Knitted chevron blanket C14
Yarn:  DK weight cotton yarns, total 1330 gr
Needles:  3.75 mm
Pattern: own
Size: 172 by 126 cms
Knitted: 9 September 2012 to 18 February 2013

And finally a picture of chevrons by a master - my Missoni cardigan from a charity shop.  It is the right size for me but very long and very skinny.  The colours are just right for me, but I don't like the low v-neck very much.