POP!! a hot mod polka dot blanket

Let me be perfectly honest; as a designer it is not dignified to love Noro the way that I do.  The riotous, unabashadly wild colour combinations make my palms sweaty and get my heartbeat racing.  All this excitement while I practice the sedentary grandma-ish pursuit of KNITTING!!!

This blanket is inspired by the bright, exciting and high-contrast graphics of comic books and American Pop Art, and my love of polka dots in general.  MMMmmmm who doesn’t love a good polka dot?

I simply adore knitting with Noro: the joy and satisfaction of seeing what colour will come next never fails to please me.  This blanket has been kicking around in my box of design ideas for a good long time, but it suddenly KNOCKED on the inside of my head and DEMANDED to POP out into the world.  So here it is.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

The squares are knit one at a time, from the centre point outward.  After blocking, the squares are seamed together.  The design uses a couple of techniques that may be new to you: pinhole cast-on, and short-row shaping.  While you may struggle with the first square, once you learn these techniques, the remainder will be simple, and you will have plenty of time to practice.  I will be creating a tutorial to accompany this pattern; more details below!

PATTERN INFO

Sizing:     Blanket can be made any size desired.  When made to the gauge suggested, the squares measure approximately 6.25” square.  The sample is baby blanket size, it measures 26” x 32.5”.  Of course you can knit this pattern in any yarn and gauge that you like, but note that this will change the yardage requirements.  POP is a fabulous project for using up colourful scraps of leftover yarn.
Yarn:           1 Square = 15 yds CC (circles), 20 yds MC (white)
baby blanket size (20 squares): 300 yds CC, 400 yds MC
(I used Noro Kureyon in colours 272 and 284 for CC and Cascade Ecological Wool in colour 8010 for MC)
Needles:     US # 9 / 5.5 mm (or as required to meet gauge);  double pointed or circular needles
Gauge:         16 sts / 4” in stockinette stitch (gauge not crucial for this project)
Notions:      4 stitch markers, darning needle, crochet hook

$5 USD – Buy now on our website

Intimidated by the techniques in the POP blanket?  Click here for the how-to tutorial which will covers in detail the techniques required to knit this blanket; including the pinhole cast-on method, how to knit in the round using the magic loop technique (not required, but it makes knitting the squares more enjoyable), and how to work short rows.

So are you knitting any baby items this year?  Who are they for, and what inspired you to choose a particular project?  We love to hear from our readers, so be sure to pop us an email!

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