The large fluffy clouds are a scaling up of the small fluffy clouds and knitted in a darker blue to replicate how the sky gets darker towards the top of the photo.
I first knitted this square on the beach at Saudersfoot in Pembrokeshire, this was a lucky rainbow shot, it was beautiful looking this way, behind me was another story - it was more like the stormy blanket cloud colour!
I made the patterns in a spreadsheet before knitting up a test swatch. The bottom left photo in the collage above shows the trial patterns I went through before deciding which I liked.
General principles for square patterns:
Repeat pattern horizontally and vertically & simple to knit pattern.
36 stitches x 48 rows for main pattern as these are very divisible numbers.
An 'x' means purl on a knit row, and knit on a purl row to create the texture.
This lower chart is the format I found to be most useful to me:
White = knit row (right side), grey = purl row (wrong side).
An 'x' = purl on a knit row, and knit on a purl row
The numbers are just a handy guide to the number of stitches in each knit or purl block.
*Note* this one is not symmetrical - purl rows read from the left!
Written pattern:
See blanket pattern for required needles & yarn.
(k = knit, p=purl)
Cast on 36 stitches
Rows 1-4: st stitch (starting with a knit row)
Row 5: k6, p22, k8
Row 6: p6, k25, p5
Row 7: k4, p27, k5
Row 8: p4, k28, p4
Row 9: k4, p28, k4
Row 10: p4, k28, p4
Row 11: k5, p27, k4
Row 12: p5, k25, p6
Row 13: k8, p23, k5
Row 14: p6, k22, p8
Row 15: k9, p17, k10
Row 16: p10, k17, p9
Row 17: k10, p4, k1, p11, k10
Row 18: p11, k10, p15
Row 19: k16, p8, k12
Row 20: p13, k6, p17
Rows 21-28: st stitch
Row 29: p10, k14, p12
Row 30: k13, p11, k12
Row 31: p13, k9, p14
Row 32: k14, p8, k14
Row 33: p14, k8, p14
Row 34: k14, p8, k14
Row 35: p14, k9, p13
Row 36: k12, p11, k13
Row 37: p13, k13, p10
Row 38: k10, p14, k12
Row 39: p8, k19, p8
Row 40: k9, p19, k8
Row 41: p8, k20, p4, k1, p3
Row 42: k3, p26, k7
Row 43: p6, k28, p2
Row 44: k1, p30, k5
Rows 45-48: st stitch
Cast off
I have made these patterns available for free but they are ©Blanketscapes, the patterns are not to be copied or resold. I'm happy for you to make and sell finished blankets using these patterns for charitable, non-commercial, purposes only. Please credit @blanketscapes on Instagram or Facebook for your final creations, I'd love to see what you make.