Cabled sampler

by Crystal Wheeler
(Appleton, WI)

Please describe and tell us about your baby blanket.

This blanket was knit in the round, starting in the center. I added cable patterns as the rows increased, mirroring them on either side of the central cable for each quarter.



What yarn and needles did you use and where did you get them? Why did you pick this yarn?
I used a 70% pima cotton, 30% tencel blend yarn and bamboo circular and double point needles. I bought the yarn and needles at my local yarn shop, Iris Fine Yarns. I chose this yarn because it was incredibly soft, high quality, and had colors that I adored.



Tell us more about your design. Was it inspired by another pattern? Why did you pick those colors?
I was inspired by a blanket I saw online. Unfortunately, my computer crashed between the time that I saved my inspiration and now, so I can't give proper credit. The pattern I took inspiration from was a basic pattern for a square shaped baby blanket knit in the round and using paired increases at each of the corners. The original pattern I looked at suggested using various types of lace stitches and changing every so often. The father of the baby that I made this for is part Scottish, and both parents really love celtic knotwork, so I decided to use cables. I pulled out my books with cable patterns and picked a new pattern to add every few rows. The parents didn't know the gender of the baby, so I wanted to choose colors that could be gender neutral.




Did you run into any problems when knitting your baby blanket? How long did it take you to knit?
The only real problem was keeping all the cables twisting the proper direction. Because I wanted each side of each panel to mirror the other, I cabled right on one side of the main cable and cabled left on the other side. Occasionally I would lose track of which way I was supposed to cable. As for how long it took, I worked on it over a span of 2 1/2 months, but I can't tell you exactly how many hours.

Anything else you'd like to share about your baby blanket or knitting in general?
This blanket was really fun because I had a starting template, but then was able to really have fun designing exactly how I wanted my cable panels to look. A pattern like this is a nice starting point for designing your own knitwork.