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On Needles: The Mosaic Blanket.


I've been meaning to knit a blanket for the baby for a while now but every time I've settled on a pattern something else comes along and I change my mind. The pattern for this super cute baby blanket was only released on the Purl Bee website last Monday and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one I wanted to make. Plus it seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn a new technique as I've never done any mosaic knitting before.


I've browsed through different mosaic knitting patterns on Ravelry in the past but always put off trying the technique because I've thought it looked too complicated. To be frank I've been a bit intimidated by it believing it to be much harder than it in reality actually is. I was surprised to notice it doesn't really differ from other slip stitch techniques, for example the three-and-one tweed knitting except that here the slipped stitches form a more complex pattern than just rows and columns. 

The technique is also surprisingly fast to knit. You only knit with one color at a time slipping the stitches you want to be of the contrasting color. This way there are no long floating strands on the wrong side of the work which I think is good so that the little baby fingers won't get caught in the floats. Also the mosaic knitted fabric is less stiff and thick than a fair-isle knitted one. 



So far I've enjoyed this new technique and the pattern is really easy to follow even if you have no previous knowledge of the mosaic technique. I like how they have provided both written and charted instructions. I myself like knitting with charts as I'm a very visual person but as a beginner with this technique I might not have understood the chart without the written row-by-row instructions. However as I got the hang of it it's easier for me to understand what I'm doing next when I have the chart in front of me. Oh, and did I mention this pattern is on the Purl Bee website for free?

I'm also really excited by the "grellow" color scheme I chose for the blanket even if I was at first a bit afraid that there wouldn't be enough contrast between the colors. By the way, how cool is it that a color combo is so much loved that it has it's own Brangelina-esque name blend?

PS. Today I have exactly one month left before my due date. It's starting to get quite exciting but at the same time I'm freaking out a little bit but I guess it's all very natural to feel this way...
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Comments

  1. Mel : One Crafty MummaJuly 6, 2015 at 1:24 AM

    That's really beautiful in the yellow. A friend of mine is making this design in navy and white :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SariJuly 14, 2015 at 6:25 PM

      I actually also had navy and white in my mind as an alternative for this blanket, but had so many skeins of the yellow yarn that I decided to go with it in the end. I really like this pattern and it's always great to see other people's variations of the same pattern as well!

      Delete
  2. JulieJuly 14, 2015 at 5:51 AM

    So gorgeous, I love your grey and yellow combo! I've been totally smitten with this pattern since i saw it, I'll have to live vicariously through your gorgeous knit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SariJuly 14, 2015 at 6:26 PM

      Babies are such a perfect excuse to knit (as if I ever needed one, excuses that is, not babies, haha) so maybe you could knit one for your newcomer as well? :)

      Delete

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