String Little Waves Blanket Knitting Pattern

String Little Waves Blanket

What is Being Made

The String Little Waves Blanket is a sophisticated knitted throw designed by Kirsten Hipsky. This finished blanket is available in three sizes: 40" x 40", 47" x 47", or 54" x 54", making it versatile for use as a lap blanket, crib throw, or decorative home accent. The blanket features an elegant wave pattern that creates visual texture and movement across the finished piece.

Knitting Techniques

This blanket is constructed using a bottom-up, seamless, worked-flat approach, meaning you begin at the cast-on edge and work toward the bind-off without requiring seaming. The pattern is worked on a circular needle despite being worked flat, which provides comfortable needle length for managing the increasing width of the project. The construction method eliminates the need for finishing seams, resulting in a cleaner, more professional final product.

Stitches and Stitch Pattern

The Little Waves Blanket employs fundamental knitting stitches combined in a repeating pattern to create its signature wave effect. The pattern uses knit and purl stitches arranged in a carefully designed sequence. The main pattern repeat spans 40 rows and creates a shifting wave motif by progressively moving purl stitches across knit stitches in a diagonal direction. A 4-stitch garter stitch border (knit on every row) frames all edges, providing structure and preventing curling. The body is worked primarily in stockinette stitch (knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows) with strategic purl columns that shift position throughout the repeat to generate the wave visual effect.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

The blanket is designed to be knitted with STRING ZURICH yarn in the color smoke (200072). This luxurious blend contains 24% cashmere, 43% wool, 28% viscose, and 5% polyamide, creating a soft, breathable fabric with excellent drape and durability. The yarn provides 77 yards per 71 meters per skein. Depending on size, you will need 11 skeins (for the 40" x 40" blanket), 16 skeins (for the 47" x 47" blanket), or 20 skeins (for the 54" x 54" blanket).

Needles and Gauge

The pattern calls for US size 10.5 (6.50mm) 40" circular needles or the size needed to achieve proper gauge. Gauge is critical for this project: approximately 13 stitches equal 4 inches in stockinette stitch. Checking gauge before beginning ensures your finished blanket will be the correct dimensions and have the intended drape and texture.

Construction Overview

You begin by casting on 128 stitches (152 for the medium size, 176 for the large size). The first 8 rows are worked entirely in garter stitch (knitting every row) to create a stable, decorative edge. The main wave pattern then begins and repeats until the blanket reaches approximately 39 inches (46 inches for medium, 53 inches for large) in length, or 1 inch shorter than your desired finished length. After completing the pattern repeats, you knit 8 additional rows in garter stitch to match the beginning edge, then bind off all stitches. The final step involves weaving in loose ends and lightly blocking the blanket to even out the stitches and enhance the wave pattern definition.