Rowan Knitted with Love Knit Along - Release Six - Downloadable PDF

Rowan Knitted with Love Knit Along – Release Six: Bobble & Lace Heart Square by Martin Storey

Release Six of the Rowan Knitted with Love Knit Along is a downloadable PDF pattern designed by Martin Storey for Rowan. This instalment focuses on a single, beautifully detailed square motif — the Bobble & Lace Heart Square — which contributes to the larger Knit Along project of creating finished blankets, throws, and cushions. The square format means knitters build their project one block at a time, joining completed squares to form either a large blanket, a medium blanket, or a cushion cover, making this an ideal ongoing project for intermediate knitters who enjoy structured, modular knitting.

About the Knit Along Format

The Knitted with Love KAL (Knit Along) is a series of released square patterns that are worked individually and then assembled into larger finished pieces. Release Six introduces the Bobble & Lace Heart Square as one of the building blocks of the overall design. Knitters working toward the large blanket or medium blanket will incorporate this square alongside those from other releases, while those making cushions — including Cushion 2, Cushion 4, and Cushion 5 — will use specific colourway combinations as directed. The modular, square-by-square approach makes the project manageable for intermediate-level knitters and allows for creative flexibility in how the finished pieces are assembled.

The Bobble & Lace Heart Square

The centrepiece of this release is the Bobble & Lace Heart Square, a decorative knitted square featuring a heart motif worked using a combination of textural and openwork techniques. This square is a wonderful example of how classic knitting methods can be combined to create an expressive, romantic design element. The heart shape is formed through the interplay of bobbles and lace, giving the square both dimensional texture and delicate visual interest.

Techniques and Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch (stockinette): The foundation fabric of the square, worked with knit stitches on right-side rows and purl stitches on wrong-side rows, creating a smooth, even surface.
• Reverse stocking stitch: Used as a contrast texture within the square, worked with purl stitches on right-side rows and knit stitches on wrong-side rows, producing a bumpy, textured surface that helps define the heart motif.
• Bobbles (Noppe): A classic three-dimensional knitting technique where multiple stitches are worked into a single stitch and then decreased back, creating a raised, rounded knot on the fabric surface. In this pattern, a specific bobble construction — referred to as Knot 3 — is used to build the characteristic texture of the heart design.
• Lace: Openwork stitches created through yarn-overs (Umschlag) paired with decreases, producing decorative holes that form part of the heart outline and add an airy, delicate quality to the square.
• Yarn-over (Umschlag): A fundamental lace technique where the yarn is wrapped over the needle to create a new stitch and a corresponding eyelet hole in the fabric.
• Standard right-leaning decrease (2 M re zus-str / k2tog): Two stitches knitted together to reduce stitch count and shape the lace pattern.
• Slip, slip, knit decrease (übzAbn / ssk): A left-leaning decrease used in combination with yarn-overs to maintain stitch count within the lace sections and create directional shaping.
• Double decrease (2übzAbn): A centred or directional decrease working over multiple stitches, used to shape more pronounced angles within the pattern.
• Single increase (1Mverdopp): A stitch increase technique used to add stitches where required by the pattern construction.
• Twisted knit stitch (1 M re verschr): A stitch worked through the back loop to create a tighter, neater appearance, often used as a detail stitch in textured patterns.
• 4-stitch decrease (4Abn): A compound decrease used at specific points within the pattern for shaping.