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

Rowan Knitted with Love Knit Along – Release Three: Rose Heart Square by Martin Storey

Release Three of the Rowan Knitted with Love Knit Along (KAL) introduces the Rose Heart Square, a beautifully detailed motif square designed by Martin Storey. This downloadable PDF is part of an ongoing knit-along series and focuses on a versatile square construction that can be used to build a large blanket, a medium blanket, or a cushion — making it a wonderfully practical and decorative project for the home. The pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty, making it ideal for knitters who are comfortable with basic techniques and ready to explore colourwork and textured stitch combinations.

What Is Being Made

The central project in this release is the Rose Heart Square, a knitted motif square that forms one component of the larger Knitted with Love KAL collection. Depending on how many squares are completed and assembled, the finished project can become:

• A large blanket — worked using colours Lemon 908 (A) and White 900 (B) from Rowan's Island Blend yarn
• A medium blanket — worked using Marine 905 (A) and White 900 (B)
• A cushion — worked using Lemon 908 (A) and Leather 903 (B)

Each colourway gives the Rose Heart Square a distinct character, from fresh and bright to nautical or warm and earthy. The square format means knitters can work at their own pace, completing one square at a time before joining them into the final blanket or cushion.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern uses Rowan Island Blend, a sport weight yarn, which is the specified yarn for all three project variations. Island Blend is a lightweight yarn that produces a fabric with excellent stitch definition — ideal for showcasing both textured stitch patterns and colourwork motifs. The specific shade numbers referenced in the pattern are:

• Lemon 908
• White 900
• Marine 905
• Leather 903

As a sport weight yarn, Rowan Island Blend works up at a relatively fine gauge, producing a neat, detailed fabric that is well suited to the intricate Rose Heart motif at the centre of each square.

Construction and Techniques

The Rose Heart Square is constructed using a combination of shaping, texture, and colourwork techniques. The square begins with a small number of stitches and is increased progressively using make-one (M1) increases — referred to in the French-language instructions as augmentations intercalaires — to build the square outward from a central point or corner. This method of construction creates a neat, mitered or diagonal structure that is characteristic of many modular knitting designs.

The border and edges of each square are worked in seed stitch (known in French as point de riz), which creates a firm, non-curling edge. Seed stitch alternates knit and purl stitches across each row, producing a textured, pebbly surface that frames the central panel neatly and prevents the fabric from rolling — an important consideration when working individual squares that will later be joined.

The central panel of the square transitions into stockinette stitch (stocking stitch / jersey endroit), with seed stitch borders maintained on each side of every row. This combination of a smooth stockinette field bordered by seed stitch is a classic approach in blanket and throw design, providing both visual contrast and structural stability.

Colourwork: Fairisle Technique

The heart motif at the centre of the Rose Heart Square is worked using the Fairisle technique, as explicitly referenced in the pattern instructions. Fairisle is a traditional stranded colourwork method in which two colours are carried across the back of the work simultaneously, with the unused yarn floated or stranded behind the active stitches. This technique allows the knitter to create multi-coloured patterns — in this case, the distinctive