What sort of knitting are you doing at the moment?

I’m craving a mixture of things so simple I can’t possibly go wrong (those are famous last words of course!)… as well as projects that are a little more absorbing. I’m being a knitting butterfly and flitting between projects, doing a little of what I fancy as and when.

With my thoughts turning to a comfort blanket, I’ve been browsing patterns on Ravelry and putting together suggestions for projects you might fancy. Whether you want something simple, worked in squares for that regular sense of achievement of finishing one, or a more complex design that will engross you and keep the outside world at bay, we’ve got ideas here for you.

Whether you’re on a budget and working from resources you already have to hand, or are looking for a brand new project and yarn, I hope we have an option for you.

Vivid by Tin Can Knits

Worked in squares from the centre out (you’ll want our pinhole cast on tutorial), this blanket is an absolute winner. It uses Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight yarn and you can go as bright or as subtle as you fancy! You could of course substitute in another 4ply yarn. There are lots of options!

Tin Can Knits have a great selection of amazing blanket patterns, both worked in blocks and in one piece. Do have a browse!

Massive attack by Jimenez Joseph

Do you fancy something that will knit up quickly in one piece with very little finishing to do (if you knit your ends in as you go)? Then Massive Attack by Jimenez Joseph is the perfect option. It uses short rows (we have a video for that too) and garter stitch stripes to make this undulating throw. The pattern uses a bulky yarn, so you could experiment using strands of thinner yarn held together as the perfect stash-busting project.

Jimenez has a couple of other pretty blanket patterns in her online shop: Blankets by Jimenez Joseph

8 Baby Blanket Patterns from Noma Ndlovu

Noma Ndlovu has a brilliant ebook with 8 baby blankets (they are also available as individual patterns). I absolutely love the Double Star blanket, with its retro feel. There are options for patterns worked in blocks and some worked in one piece. The three designs shown above all use DK yarn, and I would recommend using Coop Knits Socks Yeah! DK if you’re looking for yarn in our online shop, since it’s superwash and hard-wearing, whilst also being really soft.

Noma is also a prolific blanket designer, with 21 options available in her Ravelry store! You can browse her blanket patterns by clicking this link: Noma Ndlovu’s blanket designs

Gorthleck Blanket by Emily Williams

This wonderfully bold aran-weight blanket was designed by Emily K. Williams (Flutterbyknits) for a friend’s wedding, and is available as a free pattern download on Ravelry. It is a simple knit, with each blanket square worked from corner to corner, before being joined to make this squishy blanket – big enough for two!

The pattern would require a total of 39 skeins of our Something to Knit With Aran in this generous size, but it’s easy enough to adjust for whatever size you fancy. If you’d like to splurge on Something to Knit With Aran, then use the code GORTHLECK at the checkout for a whopping 40% off when you buy more than 10 skeins. Clicking this link will take you to the page for Something to Knit With Aran and apply the code to your cart: 40% off Aran when you buy more than 10 skeins

The code is not valid in conjunction with any other offer, and will expire at the end of April 2020.

Blankets in Arnall-Culliford Knitwear books…

There are also a few blanket options among our books, so do check your shelves! Whether you fancy cables, lace or simple texture, we have a few options… Clicking on the images above will take you to the book in which the pattern is found.

I hope that among those links, you will find some inspiration for a comfort blanket of your own. A blanket worked in squares is an easy way to work with different colours, so don’t forget that you can share your progress in our Spring Into Colour Knitalong thread, and use the hashtag #SpringIntoColourKAL on Instagram.

We are still shipping orders from our online shop. To keep things manageable, we are only shipping on Mondays and Thursdays. Jim is the only person going to the office, and he can do the whole process by bicycle without having any contact with another human. He is taking full hygiene precautions before packing orders. We will of course review this regularly.

UK orders are shipping with our normal service, and free shipping now kicks in at £50 (rather than £100 as it was previously).

For international orders, we are now only shipping with a tracked service. We know that this makes orders more expensive, but it seems like the right thing to do in the face of the current situation. We have set up a discount code for free worldwide shipping when you spend over £150.00. Use the code LOVEYARN at the checkout, or click this link to apply the code to your cart: LOVEYARN

This code is not valid in conjunction with other offers (so if you are buying our Aran yarn, then check whether you are better using the code GORTHLECK or LOVEYARN). Both codes will expire at the end of April 2020.