Peony Blanket in Rowan Cotton Wool - RB003-00001-ENP - Downloadable PDF

Peony Blanket in Rowan Cotton Wool – Pattern Summary (RB003-00001-ENP)

The Peony Blanket is an original knitting design by Georgia Farrell, published by Rowan as a downloadable PDF pattern (reference RB003-00001-ENP). It is rated intermediate in difficulty and produces a beautifully colourful patchwork blanket or throw constructed from individually knitted squares joined together. The pattern offers two size options — a smaller blanket and a larger blanket — making it adaptable for different projects, from a baby or lap blanket to a more generous throw.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a patchwork-style knitted blanket or throw built up from a series of basic squares. Each square is knitted individually using a mitred or bias construction method, beginning from a corner and increasing to a central point before decreasing back down to a point. The squares are then assembled following a layout diagram included in the pattern. The smaller blanket calls for 70 basic squares, and the larger blanket requires a greater number. The multi-coloured palette gives the finished blanket a fresh, contemporary feel reminiscent of a peony garden in bloom.

Design Details and Construction

Each basic square is worked in two colours. The construction is elegant in its simplicity:

• Stitches are cast on at one corner — just 3 stitches — and the work increases outward on every right-side row to form the first half of the square.
• The first colour is worked through the increase section, building the square up to 31 stitches at the widest point.
• The second colour is then joined and the work decreases symmetrically back down to 3 stitches, completing the square.
• The squares are cast off and later assembled according to a layout diagram provided in the pattern.

This modular, corner-to-corner approach means each square is a manageable, portable knit — ideal for working in short sessions and building up the blanket gradually over time.

Techniques Used

• Modular / mitred square construction — each square is built from a corner point, increased to its widest row, then decreased back to a point, creating a neat diamond or square shape.
• Increasing — yarn-forward (yfwd) increases are used on right-side rows to add stitches symmetrically on either side of the work.
• Decreasing — K2tog (knit two together) is used on right-side rows during the second half of each square to reduce stitches evenly.
• Colour changing — each square uses two colours, with the yarn broken and a new colour joined at the midpoint of the square.
• Twisted stitch selvedge — on wrong-side rows, K1 tbl (knit one through the back loop) is worked at the edges to create a neat, firm border on each square.
• Assembly — the individual squares are joined following a colour layout diagram to create the full blanket.

Stitches Used

• Garter stitch (g st) — the entire blanket is worked in garter stitch throughout, meaning every row is knitted. This creates a reversible, squishy fabric with good structure and no curling edges — ideal for a blanket.
• Yarn forward (yfwd) — used as an increase stitch on right-side rows.
• K2tog — a right-leaning decrease used on right-side rows during the shaping-down phase of each square.
• K1 tbl — knit one through the back loop, worked on wrong-side rows at the selvedge positions to close the yarn-forward loops neatly and add edge definition.

Materials – Yarn

The pattern is written specifically for Rowan Cotton Wool, a DK weight yarn sold in 50g balls. This yarn is a cotton-wool blend, offering the softness and warmth of wool combined with the breathability and stitch definition of cotton — qualities that make it particularly well suited