Rustic Cottage Blanket and Pillow Set

Worked in the round and steeked, this bulky weight wool blanket is a quick stranded project that works up faster than you might think. A matching pillow or two makes a great set to break out during the winter months to stay nice and toasty by the fire.

Skill Level: Intermediate 

Size: Blanket = 38 1/4” wide x 57 3/4” tall; Pillow = 17” x 17” (to fit 18” pillow form)

Gauge: 14 sts x 14 rows = 4” [10 cm] in stranded St st using larger ndls after wet blocking; 14 sts x 26 rows = 4” [10 cm] in garter stitch using smaller ndls after wet blocking

Materials

Yarn:

 Universal Yarn Deluxe Chunky (100% wool; 120 yards [110 meters]/100 grams): #31212 Red Apple (MC, 5 hanks for blanket, 2 hanks for pillow), #3700 Pulp (CC, 4 hanks for blanket, 1 hank for pillow)
Needles: US size 10½ (6.5 mm) 24” circular needles, US size 9 (5.5 mm) 24” circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
Notions: Tapestry needle, sewing machine, matching thread, hand sewing needle, 18” square pillow form, six 1” buttons

Special Stitches

Applied I-Cord: Cast on 3 sts to one dpn. * K2, k2tog (last st together with 1 st from edge of pillow), slide sts to other end of ndl; rep from *.
I-Cord: * K3, slid sts to other end of ndl; rep from *.

Pattern Notes

Work Steek sts as follows:
On the very first round of the blanket, knit all sts with MC.
On any pattern round of the blanket, work the steek sts as: [k1 MC, k1 CC] 3 times, k1 MC.
On a plain knit round when only MC is being used, work the steek sts as: [k1 MC, sl 1] 3 times, k1 MC.
On a plain knit round when only CC is being used, work the steek sts as: [sl 1, k1 CC] 3 times, sl 1.

Blanket Pattern

With MC and larger ndl, cast on 132 sts. PM and join to work in the rnd.
Rnd 1: K7 (steek sts), pm, work Row 1 of Blanket chart over 125 sts to end.
Rnd 2: Work Steek sts to m, work Row 2 of Blanket chart to end.
Cont in patt through Row 47 of chart, then rep Rows 1-47, 3 more times, then work Rows 48-52, 1 time. Bind off all sts with MC.

Steek

With sewing machine, sew a line of short stitches on either side of the center steek stitch to secure. Cut straight down the center of the steek between lines of stitching.
Wet block blanket.

Edging

With MC, smaller ndl, and RS facing, pick up and knit 190 sts across one long side of blanket, working between the first chart stitch and the first steek stitch. Knit 6 rows. Bind off all sts over the next WS row. With MC, smaller ndl, and RS facing, pick up and knit 190 sts across the other long side of blanket. Knit 6 rows. Bind off all sts. With MC, smaller ndl, and RS facing, pick up and knit 4 sts along long side edging, 125 sts across cast-on edge, and 4 sts along other long side edging. (129 sts)
Knit 6 rows. Bind off all sts. With MC, smaller ndl, and RS facing, pick up and knit 4 sts along long side edging, 125 sts across bind-ff edge, and 4 sts along other long side edging. (129 sts) Knit 6 rows. Bind off all sts.
With hand sewing ndl and thread, whipstitch cut steeks to back of blanket. Weave in ends. Block edging.

Pillow Pattern

With MC and larger ndl, cast on 124 sts. PM and join to work in the rnd.
Rnd 1: * With MC p1, work Row 1 of Pillow chart over 61 sts, pm; rep from * 1 more time.
Rnd 2: * With MC p1, work Row 2 of Pillow chart to m; rep from * 1 more time.
Rnds 3-61: Cont in patt as est’d through Row 61 of Pillow chart.
Note: On Rows 7, 14, & 30, work the p1 sts with CC.
Bind off all sts with MC.

Finishing

Block pillow. Sew bind-off edge tog.

I-Cord Edging

Using MC and smaller dpn, cast on 3 sts. Set aside.
With smaller circ ndl, pick up (do not pick up and knit, just pick up) 62 sts along purl column on one edge of Pillow from bottom (open) edge to top (closed) edge.
Slip the 3 sts from dpn to circ ndl. Work applied I-Cord along these sts.
Pick up 62 sts along top (closed) end of pillow. Work applied I-Cord along these sts.
Pick up 62 sts along other edge of Pillow along purl column. Work applied I-Cord along these sts.
Pick up 62 sts along one side of the open end of Pillow. Work applied I-Cord along these sts.
Pick up 62 sts along other side of open end of Pillow. Work applied I-Cord over 10 sts, * work 5 rows of I-Cord without attaching to Pillow (Button Loop made), work applied I-Cord over 8 sts; rep from * 4 more times, work 5 rows of I-Cord without attaching to Pillow, work applied I-Cord over rem sts.
Bind off rem 3 I-Cord sts. Weave in ends. Sew buttons to pillow underneath button loops.