Crossed Diamond Blanket

Crossed Diamond Blanket by Knit Sew Make

Project Overview

The Crossed Diamond Blanket is an intermediate-level knitting project designed to create a beautiful throw blanket featuring a repeating crossed diamond lace pattern. This downloadable PDF pattern from independent designer Knit Sew Make offers three size options to suit different needs and preferences, making it versatile for various spaces and uses.

What is Being Made

This is a knitted blanket or throw featuring an elegant lace diamond motif throughout. The pattern is available in three distinct sizes:

• Small: 75cm wide by 95cm long
• Medium: 97cm wide by 125cm long
• Large: 121cm wide by 155cm long

The blanket is constructed with a garter stitch border (knit stitches on all sides) that frames the central lace pattern, providing structure and a finished appearance to the piece.

Techniques Used

The Crossed Diamond Blanket employs several fundamental and intermediate knitting techniques to achieve its distinctive appearance. The pattern utilizes yarn overs to create the openwork lace sections that form the diamond shapes. Decreases are strategically placed to balance the yarn overs and maintain consistent stitch counts throughout the blanket. The combination of these techniques creates the characteristic crossed diamond motif that repeats across the width and length of the piece.

The blanket features a garter stitch border worked on the first and last six stitches of alternating rows, which creates a neat, finished edge and helps prevent curling. The main pattern is worked in the central stitches while maintaining this border throughout the project.

Stitches Used

The pattern relies on a focused set of essential knitting stitches:

• Knit (K): The fundamental stitch that forms the base of the fabric and the garter stitch border
• Purl (P): Used in alternating rows to create the garter stitch texture in the border sections
• Yarn Forward (Yfwd): Creates deliberate holes in the fabric that form the lace pattern and contribute to the crossed diamond design
• Slip Stitch (SlSt): A stitch slipped from one needle to another without being worked, used in conjunction with decreases
• Pass Slip Stitch Over (PSSO): A decrease technique where the slipped stitch is passed over a knit stitch to create a left-leaning decrease
• Knit Two Together (K2tog): A right-leaning decrease that reduces stitch count while maintaining pattern balance

These stitches work together to create the openwork diamond pattern while maintaining the structural integrity of the blanket.

Materials Required

The Crossed Diamond Blanket is worked in Aran weight yarn, a medium-weight yarn that provides good stitch definition for lace patterns while working up at a reasonable pace. Yarn requirements vary by size:

• Small blanket: 700 meters of Aran weight yarn
• Medium blanket: 1200 meters of Aran weight yarn
• Large blanket: 1800 meters of Aran weight yarn

The pattern specifies 4.5mm knitting needles, which are appropriately sized for Aran weight yarn and will create a fabric with good drape and stitch clarity for the lace pattern. A darning needle is required for weaving in yarn ends and finishing the completed blanket.

Pattern Structure

The pattern begins with casting on between 123 and 195 stitches depending on the desired size, followed by 8 rows of garter stitch to establish a solid foundation. The main pattern then repeats across rows, with odd-numbered rows worked as knit and purl to maintain the garter stitch border, while even-numbered rows feature the crossed diamond lace motif. The pattern uses repeat instructions (indicated by asterisks and "rep from") to manage the multiple diamond repeats across the blanket width, making the pattern efficient to follow despite the blanket's large size.