By: Kate Davies Designs
knitting, Knitting Wester Ross, , , , , , , , ,

Gairloch blanket

There is a howling January wind whirling around the Mull of Kintyre this morning, and it definitely feels like a day to be inside, by the fire, with a cosy blanket. Luckily I have just the thing.

A cozy living room scene featuring a patterned blanket draped over a light gray sofa, with a lamp and a kitchen area visible in the background.

This is the Gairloch blanket, which I’ve designed for our Knitting Wester Ross club.

A cozy living room featuring a light beige couch with a purple and white checked throw blanket draped over it, accompanied by a lamp on a side table and a view into a kitchen with cabinetry and decor in the background.

I enjoy designing a large, slow, project like a blanket for our clubs and collections. My favourites include The Shieling (West Highland Way) The Birlinn blanket (Inspired by Islay), The Kerry Kyle (Argyll’s Secret Coast) and Let Glasgow Flourish (Knitting Season). All of these designs have particular connections to the Scottish places that are explored in each collection, and this blanket is no different.

Close-up of a patterned fabric featuring a diamond grid design in purple and cream colors.

The colourwork pattern that’s featured on this blanket is a scaled-up version of a motif that has been in use, since at least the early Nineteenth Century, in hand-knitted Gairloch stockings and kilt hose.

A colorful knitted sock in shades of red and blue featuring a geometric diamond pattern, displayed against a black background.
Gairloch stocking, knitted in the 1970s. © Highland Threads / Gairloch Museum

I have written a special essay exploring the history and significance of the Gairloch pattern, which Wester Ross club members will be able to read on Sunday. It’s a fascinating narrative, which really illuminates the bigger picture of hand knitting in Scotland between the 1830s and the present day.

Close-up of a patterned blanket with a purple and white plaid design, draped over a sofa.

Playing with scale and proportion is a fun thing to do as a designer, and the enlargement or shrinking of colourwork motifs to suit different kinds of fabric is a feature of other patterns in the Wester Ross collection.

Close-up of a person's back wearing a dark sweater with a patterned lower hem, standing near a calm body of water with blurred mountains in the background.

Thus, the narrow two-tone border panel that’s used in Isle Maree . . .

A person wearing a large, patterned navy and white sweater with an orange knitted hat, standing with arms outstretched, showcasing the back of the sweater. They are also wearing tan pants and red socks.

. . . appears as an allover pattern at a much larger gauge in Denys Martin.

A cozy light-colored sofa with a purple and cream plaid patterned blanket draped over one arm.

While a pair of Gairloch stockings might traditionally be worked at a gauge of between 8 and 12 stitches to inch, this blanket is worked at 3 stitches per inch. You definitely need a cosy fabric if you want a cosy blanket! We’ve achieved that larger gauge with Schiehallion held double, in shades Crowdie and Alto (a lovely deep, dark, moody purple).

A cozy living room scene featuring a patterned blanket draped over a couch. A lamp is positioned on a side table, with a light-colored kitchen area and dining table visible in the background.

The Gairloch blanket is knitted as a big tube, with a central steek. Once the tube reaches the required (square) dimensions, the steek is reinforced and cut . . .

A cozy patterned blanket draped over a couch, featuring a grid design in purple and cream colors.

. . .and a mitred garter stitch and i-cord edging is worked all around the edge.

A cozy plaid blanket draped over a beige sofa, with a table and lamp in the background, illuminated by natural light.

A knitted blanket is a long term project: a slow showpiece and a distinctive kind of creative challenge which is relished by many of our club members.

A cozy blanket with a geometric pattern draped over a couch in a modern living space, featuring a kitchen and dining area in the background.

So I hope you blanket knitters enjoy this design, with its very particular connections to the landscape and cultural history of Wester Ross!

A cozy plaid blanket draped over a light-colored sofa in a well-lit living space, with a lamp in the foreground and a kitchen visible in the background.

I’d like to say a particular thanks to Maylin, for all her hard work knitting the blanket that’s pictured here, and I should also mention that this photoshoot took place at Clarsach, a lovely property near Gairloch (where you can stay if you are visiting the area).

Close-up of a textured fabric with a checkered pattern featuring dark purple and cream colors.

There are blanket kits in the KDD shop, and if you are a Wester Ross club member, you’ll receive the pattern very shortly.

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