Bo Peep Pure Botanical Garden Blanket KAL - Sunflower in West Yorkshire Spinners - WYSKAL08S - Downloadable PDF

Bo Peep Pure Botanical Garden Blanket KAL – Sunflower: Knitting Pattern Summary

About This Pattern

This is part eight of the Botanical Garden Colourwork Blanket KAL, a knit-along series designed by Rosee Woodland and published by West Yorkshire Spinners. This instalment focuses on the Sunflower panel, one of a series of botanical-themed colourwork squares that together form a stunning finished blanket. The pattern is available as a free downloadable PDF and is rated as intermediate in difficulty, making it well suited to knitters who are comfortable with colourwork techniques and ready to develop their skills further.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a large knitted colourwork blanket measuring 85cm wide by 83cm tall after blocking. It is constructed from individual panels, each measuring 20cm wide by 19.5cm tall after blocking, which are joined together and finished with a knitted edging approximately 2.5cm wide. The Sunflower design forms one of these panels, contributing its bold botanical motif to the overall patchwork-style composition of the blanket.

Techniques Used

• Stranded colourwork: A traditional technique in which two or more yarn colours are carried across the back of the work, creating floats, while only one colour is knitted at a time. This produces a dense, warm fabric ideal for blankets.
• Strandtarsia colourwork: A hybrid technique combining elements of intarsia (working separate yarn sections for distinct colour blocks) with stranded colourwork. This allows for larger isolated colour areas without excessively long floats on the reverse.
• Circular knitting for edging: The blanket edging is worked on a circular needle, allowing the knitter to pick up stitches around the entire perimeter of the joined panels and work a neat, continuous border.
• Blocking: An essential finishing step for colourwork knitting, blocking with water or steam evens out stitches, opens up the colourwork motifs, and brings the panels to their correct measurements.
• Optional backing: The pattern references the option of attaching a cotton jersey backing using matching polyester sewing thread, adding durability and a polished finish to the completed blanket.

Stitches Used

• Stranded colourwork stitches worked in the round or flat, following a charted Sunflower motif
• Strandtarsia colourwork stitches for sections requiring isolated colour placement within the panel design
• Edging stitches worked on circular needles to create the blanket border

Tension

Achieving the correct tension is particularly important in this pattern, as the individual panels must match in size before joining. Two tension specifications are given:

• Stranded colourwork tension: 26 stitches and 26 rows to 10cm before blocking, and 24 stitches and 24 rows to 10cm after blocking, both measured over stranded colourwork using 4mm needles.
• Strandtarsia colourwork tension: 26 stitches and 27 rows to 10cm before blocking, measured over strandtarsia colourwork using 4mm needles.

Materials – Yarn, Needles, and Notions

• Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Bo Peep Pure DK – a high-quality DK weight yarn used for the blanket panels. The Bo Peep Pure range is known for its softness and stitch definition, making it an excellent choice for detailed colourwork motifs.
• Needles for panels: A pair of 4mm (UK8 / US6) knitting needles
• Circular needle for edging: A 3.25mm (UK10 / US3) circular knitting needle, either 120cm or 150cm in length
• Stitch markers: Eight hinged stitch markers for the edging, plus one contrast colour stitch marker for the edging