Sometimes all you want is some easy comfort knitting: something you don’t have to think too hard about, yet you know will give you a good-looking project you’ll use for years. Garter Puzzle Blanket is just the thing: a great expanse of squishy, woolly, garter stitch warmth that comes together into a beautiful throw with a modern, geometric style. Designed for Jill Draper’s giant skeins of Empire, this pattern has different configurations to allow you to pick and choose your size. Start with two larger pieces and add 3 or 4 mitred squares depending on your chosen size. Make yours all one colour for minimalist elegance, or play around and find a colour combination that’s completely you. To make your Garter Puzzle Blanket, you will need to know how to work centred double decreases and seam.

Sizes

• A (Reading Chair): 31.5 in x 42 in/80 cm x 106.5 cm
• B (Sofa Nap): 31.5 in x 52.5 in/80 cm x 133.5 cm
• C (Blanket Fort): 42 in x 42 in/106.5 cm x 106.5 cm

Yarn

• All sizes: Jill Draper Makes Stuff Empire (100% NYS Rambouillet Wool; 1280 yds/1170 m per ~27.15 oz/ 770 g): 1 skein (skeins are dyed individually; each colour is unique)
• Versions B & C: Jill Draper Makes Stuff Mini-Empire (100 % NYS Rambouillet Wool; 213 yds/195 m per 4 oz/113 g): 1 skein each in 2 different colours (shown in Emerald and Sea Bottom)

Needles

• US 10.5/6.5 mm circular, 32 in/80 cm or longer (or size needed for correct gauge)

Gauge

• 14 sts & 28 rows = 4 in/10cm in garter stitch worked flat and blocked

Exact gauge is not essential, but differences in gauge will affect size and yarn requirements.

Notions

• yarn needle

About the yarn
Mini Empire is the same yarn as Empire, wound into 4 oz/113g skeins (vs. Empire’s 27.15 oz/770g mega skeins). Jill Draper Makes Stuff Empire is an Aran weight Rambouillet wool yarn spun from fleece raised in New York State, spun in New England, and dyed in Jill’s Hudson Valley studio. The gentle processing lets the fibre retain its woolly character, while Empire’s 4-ply construction and Rambouillet’s crimp structure make for a lively, springy yarn with excellent stitch definition. Rambouillet is a fine wool related to Merino, so while the fabric is woolly, I don’t find it at all scratchy. At the same time, this wool’s longer staple and the yarn’s multiple plies make Empire much more resistant to pilling than most Merino yarns. If you are looking to use a different yarn for this project, look for a springy, multiple ply Aran weight yarn with good stitch definition. Each large piece takes approximately 640 yds/585m; each square takes approximately 106 yds/97m.