Felted Plaid Blanket in Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool - 80302AD

Felted Plaid Blanket Knitting Pattern – Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool (Pattern 80302AD)

This free downloadable knitting pattern from Lion Brand Yarn guides crafters through creating a stunning felted plaid blanket that finishes at approximately 46 x 46 inches (117 x 117 cm) after felting. The pattern is rated Easy skill level, making it an accessible introduction to felting techniques for knitters who are comfortable with basic stitches and ready to explore the transformative art of wet felting.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a large, square plaid blanket with a rich, textured surface created through the felting process. The plaid design gives the blanket a classic, timeless aesthetic, and the combination of felted and unfelted yarns produces a visually striking contrast that makes the plaid pattern pop. At 46 x 46 inches, this is a generous throw-sized blanket suitable for home décor, gifting, or everyday use.

Techniques Used

• Horizontal stripe knitting: The base of the plaid design is created by knitting horizontal stripes directly into the blanket as it is worked.
• Duplicate stitch: After the blanket is fully knitted, vertical stripes are added using duplicate stitch embroidery. This technique involves threading yarn over already-completed knit stitches to mimic the look of knitted-in color without requiring complex colorwork during the knitting process itself.
• Wet felting: The completed blanket is felted — a process in which wool fibers are agitated in hot water, causing them to shrink, interlock, and create a dense, matted fabric. This is what gives the blanket its characteristic plush, thick texture.
• Selective felting: One of the most interesting design elements of this pattern is that only the Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool will felt during the washing process. The contrast color stripes, worked in Lion Brand Vanna's Choice® yarn (an acrylic blend), will remain unfelted. This intentional difference in fiber behavior creates a dimensional, raised plaid effect where the contrast stripes stand out against the felted wool background.

Stitches Used

• Basic knit stitch: The body of the blanket is constructed using fundamental knitting stitches appropriate for an Easy-level project.
• Duplicate stitch: Used as a finishing embroidery technique to apply the vertical plaid stripes after knitting is complete. Duplicate stitch is worked with a tapestry needle and follows the path of existing knit stitches, making it ideal for adding color detail without disrupting the knitted fabric structure.

Materials

This pattern calls for two distinct Lion Brand yarn lines, chosen specifically for their different fiber contents and how they respond — or do not respond — to the felting process:

• Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool (Color: Nature's Brown, Shade 150-126) – 3 balls: This is a 100% pure wool yarn that forms the main body of the blanket. Because it is natural wool, it will felt beautifully when washed in hot water with agitation, shrinking down to create the dense, soft base fabric.
• Lion Brand Vanna's Choice® (Color: Pea Green, Shade 860-170) – 2 balls: Used as a contrast color for the plaid stripes. As an acrylic-content yarn, it will not felt, allowing the stripes to remain soft and slightly raised against the felted background.
• Lion Brand Vanna's Choice® (Color: Purple, Shade 860-147) – 2 balls: A second contrast color for additional plaid stripes, also remaining unfelted after washing.
• Lion Brand Vanna's Choice® (Color: Dusty, Shade 860-146): A third contrast color contributing to the plaid design's palette.

About the Yarns and Felting

The pairing of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool with Lion Brand Vanna's Choice® is a deliberate and clever design choice. Fishermen's Wool is a workhorse wool yarn well known in the knitting community for its excellent felting properties — its natural fiber structure allows the scales