Ever since we had the Speed Knitting contest featuring the Hemlock Ring Blanket (Ravelry link), I’ve been a bit blanket-crazy.

The Hemlock Ring Blanket is based on a vintage doily pattern, but it’s sized up and knit in rustic wool yarn. When you catch the blanket bug, it’s difficult to break free – now I’ve knit a Girasole blanket (Ravelry link) in stash yarn, finished my own “hemmie” in WotA Persimmon Heather, and I just finished up this bad boy in WotA Sapphire Heather.

With just under 16 balls of WotA, I was able to make a blanket that’s over 6 feet across. The pattern is Meg Swansen’s “Super Spiral Shawl” (Ravelry link) from A Gathering of Lace. It looks complicated, but the spiral is broken up into eight sections, and you add the optional mesh pattern to every other section in order to get this effect. It’s only made up of yarn overs, k2tog, and stockinette, so it would even work as a slightly-beyond-beginner pattern (once you got past the initial circular cast on).

It’s great movie-watching knitting, since the lace pattern is only a two-row repeat and you’re knitting it on US size 10 needles. I didn’t care for the lace edging in the original pattern, but I knew that I liked the edging that I had used on my previous Girasole blanket and used that instead. It’s a little chunkier, which fits the nature of the worsted weight wool yarn I chose.

I have one more blanket that I’m planning in WotA Firecracker Heather, and then I’ll have a nice cozy collection of wool blankets that I can display together.

Pattern: Super Spiral Shawl (Ravelry link) from A Gathering of Lace
Size: as big as possible. It did take most of 3 balls of WotA just to make the edging that I substituted, so plan ahead!
Yarn: Wool of the Andes in Sapphire Heather, 16 balls.
Needles: KP Options Nickel Interchangeable needles, US size 10 <