Clouds come in so many different shapes and sizes, especially big stormy ones. The lower middle photo makes me think of a character from Antz the movie!
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of months trying to photograph them whilst trying not to get soaked by them 😬. The one by Exeter Quay was a particularly good one to take a photo of from afar.
I have very mixed feelings about this square. The pattern is consistent with the lower clouds pattern, just taller and only 2 vertical repeats. In terms of the self-consistency of the blanket and ease of knitting, I like it, but it doesn’t begin to represent the interesting cloud shapes I’ve seen and photographed. So... ...I don’t know, but I will go with it for now.
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.
Written pattern:
See blanket pattern for required needles & yarn.
(k = knit, p=purl)
Cast on 36 stitches
Row 1: k7, p22, k7
Row 2: p5, k26, p5
Row 3:k4, p28, k4
Row 4: p4, k28, p4
Row 5: k3, p30, k3
Row 6: p3, k30, p3
Row 7: k2, p32, k2
Row 8: p2, k32, p2
Row 9: k2, p32, k2
Row 10: p2, k32, p2
Row 11: k2, p32, k2
Row 12: p3, k30, p3
Row 13: k3, p30, k3
Row 14: p4, k28, p4
Row 15: k5, p5, k2, p12, k2, p5, k5
Row 16: p13, k10, p13
Row 17: k13, p10, k13
Row 18: p15, k6, p15
Rows 19-24: st stitch
Row 25: p11, k14, p11
Row 26: k13, p10, k13
Row 27: p14, k8, p14
Row 28: k14, p8, k14
Row 29: p15, k6, p15
Row 30: k15, p6, k15
Row 31: p16, k4, p16
Row 32: k16, p4, k16
Row 33: p16, k4, p16
Row 34: k16, p4, k16
Row 35: p16, k4, p16
Row 36: k15, p6, k15
Row 37: p15, k6, p15
Row 38: k14, p8, k14
Row 39: p6, k2, p5, k10, p5, k2, p6
Row 40: k5, p26, k5
Row 41: p5, k26, p5
Row 42: k5, p26, k5
Rows 43-48: 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.