Winnie’s melody blankets

To make life a little easier for you we have two suggested patterns for using Drops Melody to make throws to keep you snug this winter.

The first is our square blanket which is knitted in strips but each strip has 5 colour blocks in it. It just means you only have to sew the strips together rather than endless squares

Winnie’s Melody Square Blanket

Materials: 6 balls of Drops Melody yarn (one of each of your 5 chosen colours + one extra ball to use for the edging.

Needles: 8mm circular needles

This blanket is knitted in 4 strips.

To make a strip: Using any colour cast on 30 stitches and knit 36 rows in stocking stitch. Change to your next choice of colour and knit 36 rows. Repeat the block of 36 rows until your strip has a “square” of each of your five colours. Cast off loosely

Repeat the directions above until you have 4 strips, making sure as you go that you don’t have two squares of the same colour in any of the strips. Vary the order you use the colours in so that you don’t end up with two squares of the same colour side by side when you sew the strips together.

Sew the strips together making sure to match the edges of the squares as you go. It is worth pinning the strips together before you sew them up to make sure that the corners of each square match up neatly.

When all four strips are sewn together pick up 120 stitches along the top of the blanket and knit 8 rows in garter stitch, increasing one stitch at the beginning of each row to form the mitre for the corner. Cast off LOOSELY

Repeat for the bottom of the blanket.

On the sides, pick up 175 stitches and knit 8 rows in garter stitch, increasing one stitch at the beginning of each row to form the mitre for the corner. Cast off LOOSELY.

Sew the mitred edges together and finish off any loose ends.

Winnie’s Melody Chevron Blanket

Materials: 6 balls of Drops Melody yarn (one of each of your 5 chosen colours + one extra ball to use for the edging.

Needles: 8mm circular needles

Using this amount of yarn you will end up with a throw approximately

Cast on 140 stitches.

Starting with the colour you bought 2 balls of, knit the following pattern until you have used roughly half the ball.

Row 1: Knit 6 stitches, *K2tog, K5, kfb x 2, K5, ssk. Repeat from * until there are 6 stitches left, K6.

Row 2: K6 stitches, purl to last 6 stitches, K6.

After using half a ball, start with the next colour and repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have used half of the ball.

Continue changing the colours as above until you have used half a ball of each colour.

Repeat the entire colour range one more time then finish by using the colour you have 2 balls of so that your throw is the same colour at the top and bottom.

Cast off loosely and finish off any loose ends.

Now sit back on your sofa, put your feet up and snuggle up under your lovely new throw. It will be so cosy you will want to start another one straight away. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Abbreviations:

K2tog = knit 2 together.

Kfb – knit into front and back of next stitch,

ssk = slip next two stitches, one at a time, knitwise to the right hand needle, insert tip of left hand needle through both and knit them together