The Bertha Blanket

Print PDF of pattern here!

Instant gratification?

That’s what The Bertha Blanket is not. This handknit throw requires patience and nothing more. If you’re up for the challenge as I was, 24,000 love stitches later you’ll hold in your hands the most wonderfully, soft, luxurious blanket ever.

The is how my Bertha Blanket was born. The inspiration, my sister’s desire for a beautiful over-sized knitted throw sold through Restoration Hardware: Garment-Dyed Handknit Throw ($579).

What I used:

Knitpicks 100% Pima Cotton Yarn “Billow” Gosling.
24 skeins. Total cost around $150.
I knit two strands together throughout to make it super chunky.

Clover Takumi Bamboo Circular 36-Inch Knitting Needles, Size 13

My Gauge:
5″ x 5″ (10 x 10cm)
10 stitches x 5 rows

I cast on 125 stitches and began. No border, just a simple chunky cotton throw that grew and grew. This means the edges are rough and roll, but it also allows the cotton to move without being bound by a border, so it can be draped and shaped however you want.

Note from my sister:

“It’s super soft and comfortable, and a good weight, breathable. The only thing I would change is that the long 2 parallel edges of the throw roll up on themselves, which makes folding it so it lays flat at the end of the bed tricky. I have to sort of wrap one edge over the other to make it look like it’s laying flat, though it’s not.”

Border option:

You could choose to add a border on the long edges, So that it doesn’t roll like she says. To do that you could make the first 5 stitches and last 5 stitches of every row a garter stitch, meaning on the purl side you would knit them instead of purl them. This would create a look of a border and keep the edges from rolling.

It’s absolutely GORGEOUS. It’s so soft and luxurious…. and a good weight to it. It’s like wearing a big hug!

Finished size: Approx 60″ x 84″

I feel like I just finished a marathon.