At this time of year my catchphrase is cosy.
Actually, scrap that. At any time of year I like being cosy. My default mode of existence is beneath a pile of blankets, peeping out suspiciously at the cold world outside like a slightly myopic hedgehog. And what better excuse for buying and making new blankets than moving to a big, old, drafty Edwardian house?
Most of the rooms in our new house are staggeringly eclectic right now. Our furniture is a mixture of modern IKEA, ebay scores and upcycled gumtree, and none of it really fits with the existing, seriously dated decor. Our sitting room has one orange sofa, one blue/white striped sofa, and a mad mix of soft furnishings in different colours and textures. And in the mix is this squishy grey beauty, which I have added to my regular evening hedgehog mode rotation.
If it’s on this blog and it’s knitting, you know it must be Wool and the Gang. I make no apologies for being a massive WATG fangirl, because they are just that awesome. I love their products, their brand ethos, and the fact that this blanket pattern is called Koselig (Norwegian for ‘cosy’ – I know right?). I also love this pale stormy grey yarn – it may clash with the yellow wallpaper, but it looks perfect with all our other furniture!
The pattern is called ‘herringbone’ stitch, and while I was quite sceptical as the first stitches passed over the needles, I’m now completely won over by that seriously classy texture. Herringbone is quite fiddly if you’re not used to slipping stitches and scooping them back up again, but in case you’re interested there is a handy video tutorial here, and here’s the pattern…
- Cast on an even number of stitches.
- Knit one stitch, *slip one stitch, knit one, use LH needle to pick up slipped stitch back onto the LH needle, insert RH needle into the back of the picked up stitch as if making a knit stitch, knit the stitch*, repeat from * to * until there is one stitch left, knit one stitch.
- *Purl two stitches together, but don’t drop the stitches from the LH needle yet! Purl into the first stitch on the LH needle again, slip both stitches off the LH needle.* Repeat from * to * to the end of the row.
- Repeat these two rows until you have a humongous cosy blanket pile!
Now all I need is some big woolly socks and a mug of mulled wine. Bloody love winter time!
Lovely, I have been tempted to knit their cosy coat too, buts am worried about the weight and also whether it will stretch out of shape. How do you find it?
Hmmm. I have made the cross country coat, although I have to admit I didn’t end up wearing it very often so I’ve just finished re-knitting the yarn into a poncho instead! I didn’t find stretching to be too much of an issue, as the crazy sexy wool knits up into a surprisingly light fabric. But I should add that mine ended up being more of an indoor dressing gown than an outdoor coat, so it didn’t really get put through its paces that much!
Knitting and mulled wine sounds like heaven! I reeeeally want to make one of those super chunky knit blankets but the materials are a little pricey so for now I just dream about it and pin inspiration 🙂 Beautiful work. I really like the herringbone stitch.
Thank you! I ummed and ahhhed (and saved my pennies!) before buying this one – I’d been lusting after a chunky knit blanket on pinterest for ages. The price means that this will probably be the last one I make for a little while, but it was a really satisfying project.
You look so cute and cosy here!
Maria xxx
Hahaha, I am pretty warm! The sitting room gets so cold once the sun goes down that blankets are basically mandatory evening wear. xxx
Hi, I really love your blanket. I bought the pattern from WATG last week. May I ask whether you slipped your stitches knit or purl-wise? The reason I ask is that my written pattern instructions just say ‘slip 1 stitch’ and knitting reference books state that if the direction is not specified you should slip purl-wise. However, the video tutorial slips stitches knit wise.
Thank you, Liz
I am always so excited when I see the Koselig Blanket out in the wild! So glad you had fun knitting it. I adore the colour you chose too ☺ x
Oh wow, thank you so much for dropping by! I’d been wanting to make a knitted blanket for ages, and the combination of yarn and pattern was too good to pass up – Koselig is perfect for chilly nights in front of the telly with wine and knitting :). The herringbone stitch pattern is gorgeous, I’ve not knitted anything like it before and the resulting fabric is lush. xx