Valley Yarns Opaline Heirloom Blanket Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Opaline Heirloom Blanket

What Is Being Made

The Opaline Heirloom Blanket is a two-color stranded colorwork blanket offered in two sizes: a Baby Blanket measuring approximately 36" W x 44" L, and a larger Throw measuring approximately 56" W x 73" L. This design by Julie Turjoman is worked as a single seamless piece featuring dramatically oversized stranded colorwork motifs positioned at each end of the blanket, framed by contrasting garter stitch borders and a solid stockinette stitch center section.

Techniques Used

This intermediate-level project employs several key knitting techniques that make it an excellent practice piece for colorwork enthusiasts:

• Stranded colorwork: The blanket features deep stranded colorwork borders with two colors worked simultaneously, creating the distinctive patterned motifs at each end
• Bottom-up construction: The blanket is worked from the bottom edge upward in a continuous piece
• Worked flat: Despite using a circular needle, the blanket is worked back and forth in flat rows rather than in the round
• Seamless construction: The entire blanket is completed as one piece with no seaming required
• Float management: The pattern includes instruction for managing long stranded colorwork floats by picking them up and working them into the wrong side of the fabric approximately halfway across the run to prevent snagging
• Edge finishing: Side edges are finished by picking up stitches along the selvage edge and working additional garter stitch rows

Stitches Used

The Opaline Heirloom Blanket employs a limited but effective stitch vocabulary:

• Stockinette stitch: Forms the main body of the blanket in the center section, creating a smooth, classic fabric
• Garter stitch: Used for the contrast-color borders at the top and bottom edges, as well as for the side edge finishing, providing a textured frame for the colorwork motifs
• Stranded colorwork: The two-color patterning technique creates the oversized motifs through alternating stitches in main color and contrast color

Materials and Specifications

The Opaline Heirloom Blanket is crafted using Valley Yarns Montague, a luxuriously soft 100% organic cotton yarn. For the Baby Blanket size, you will need 8 skeins of Montague in Color 002 Natural (main color) and 4 skeins in Color 013 Fog (contrast color). The larger Throw size requires 21 skeins of the main color and 10 skeins of the contrast color. Each skein contains 50 grams and yields 110 yards.

The project is worked on US 6 (4mm) circular needles measuring 40 inches long for the Baby Blanket or 60 inches long for the Throw size. Additional materials include stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and a tapestry needle for weaving in ends. The finished gauge is 20 stitches and 26 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch when blocked, which is essential for achieving the correct finished dimensions.

Design Details

The blanket's construction begins with a stretchy cast-on in the contrast color, followed by 8 rows (or 16 rows for the larger size) of garter stitch to create the bottom border. The center section is worked in stockinette stitch until the piece measures approximately 36 inches (or 64 inches for the Throw) from the cast-on edge. The stranded colorwork borders are then introduced, featuring the oversized motifs that give this blanket its distinctive heirloom quality. After binding off, the side edges are finished by picking up approximately 3 stitches for every 4 rows along each side and working additional garter stitch rows before binding off. All ends are woven into the wrong side of the work for a polished, professional finish.