theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Last summer, I designed a baby blanket for Fibre Space in Alexandria.  When I showed the finished design here, many of you liked the pattern and wanted to knit it.  I am happy to announce that it is now available for purchase.

Close up of the central castle panel:

Shown in cream:

Susan’s version:

The green blanket was knit out of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted; the cream blanket was made with Cascade’s 220 Superwash.   Susan’s was knit out of Plymouth’s Worsted Merino Superwash.

Quick facts about the pattern:

Size: Approximately 32 by 40 inches after blocking.

Gauge: 18 stitches and 28 rows over four inches.

Yarn Requirements: You will need approximately 1100 yards of worsted weight yarn. (Each of my blankets used slightly less than that, but I prefer to give a quantity that allows for gauge differences as well as swatching.)

Instructions: Provided in both chart and row-by-row format.  Two versions of the pattern are included; the bonus version omits the central castle panel.

Cost: $5.00

How to Purchase:

Sleeping Baby’s Castle is available through Ravelry .  Whether or not you are a Ravelry member, you can purchase the pattern by clicking the link below.  You will be taken directly to a purchase page; after purchase, you will receive a link to download the PDF of the pattern.

Edited to add: A couple of readers have asked about the difficulty level of this pattern.  That’s hard for me to answer because perceived difficulty is so variable.  On Ravelry, there are about 9 or 10 Castle Blankets that weren’t knitted by me or by Susan.  (The design was initially available as a kit at a local yarn store, Fibre Space, and those projects were knit from the kits sold there.)

I can’t  know what the level of expertise of each of those knitters was, but the average difficulty rating given by them was between easy and medium.  I don’t know if that helps.  The pattern has a lot of repetition, and is very pictorial, so my sense is that it looks more complicated than it is.  But each knitter is different.

Earlier this summer, I mentioned I was doing some stealth knitting.   As I said in May, Danielle at Fibre Space in Alexandria, Virginia asked me to design a baby blanket for her Bundles of Joy Club.   Club members have received their kits so I can now reveal my  Sleeping Baby’s Castle Blanket.

Here is a close up of the central castle panel:

The yarn used is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd’s Worsted in a color that was custom dyed in limited quantities for this project. It’s lovely yarn to work with and it’s machine washable. I really liked the color. (The first photo of the entire blanket is truest to the actual color of the yarn used.)

This design is exclusive to Fibre Space until early next year. There are a limited number of kits for the project — in this one of a kind color called “Astro Baby” — which you can purchase here.

From Susan — I can attest to the fact that this is a beautiful blanket and a very well-written pattern…I test knit it for Surly!  So, I have my very own that will be revealed when Sally is able to sell the pattern independently.  It is called a baby blanket, but actually fits into the “home decor” category.  I don’t have a baby in the house and I love the blanket as a throw.  Mine knit up very quickly (one week) but I do not recommend doing this — I kind of blew out my arms knitting it so fast!  But it could be done reasonably in 3-4 weeks.  My knitting peeps love the design and cannot wait until the pattern is available — but why wait?  If you love it, buy the kit now from Fibre Space and have it ready for Christmas!