So my family has a tradition. (When I say “my family” I mean me; when I say “a tradition” I mean “I decided it was going to be a tradition.” Just to be clear.) When each of my siblings got engaged I picked out a pattern and yarn and made an afghan as a wedding present. So when my cousin announced her engagement last summer I decided that I should include her in this tradition as well. (Then my brother got engaged at Christmas so that really put the knitting deadlines to the test! More on his afghan shortly…)
Alecia’s bridal shower was this weekend so I was able to present her with her Winter Cabin Throw, one of the most enjoyable projects I have made in a long time. And as you can see, she was very happy with it!
While browing patten options way back last fall when I was first starting to consider my options, the pattern for the Winter Cabin Throw immediately caught my eye and I decided right away that it was perfect. My cousin is a fan of classic and vintage designs and she loves a good cozy afternoon with book and a mug of our favorite tea. (We both share a deep love of Stash Tea’s Christmas Eve blend, which is a spearmint tea with warm spices and which I highly recommend to you if you are looking for a comforting decaffeinated option. I love it at bedtime.) This pattern calls for either worsted weight yarn held double or a bulky-weight held singly; I had already bought some Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick with this present in mind (I had a coupon!) so I was pleased to have my plan come together.
This pattern is clear and well written, with the pattern charted and written out. The cables are not terrible complex: columns of seed-stitch filled diamonds are bordered with slipped-stitch columns and fat happy twists. Since I love a good cable chart I only glanced at the written instructions and dove right in. Even better, Kalurah includes a fully charted and written swatch that includes all of the cables and ribbing used in the full project, and I was able to whip that out with no problems. So I was feeling extremely confident about this project.
Naturally, I hit a bit of a road block right away. The first row is worked on the wrong side, setting up the ribbed border, and I …had a very hard time working “backwards” off the chart. I ripped that row out four times before I finally got it to work. Then I got about six rows in, found a hideous mistake, and ended up ripping the whole thing back and casting on again. Third time ended up being the charm, and once I got the ribs completed and into the cable chart it was smooth sailing.
I made a few modifications, namely the bobbles. The pattern originally called for them to be 5 stitches. I tested both 5 and 3 stitch bobbles and decided I preferred the 3 stitch bobbles, so I worked them all a little smaller.
I also opted to knit this on US 13 circulars (9 mm) instead of the US 15 called for. I’m a pretty loose knitter so I usually go down a needle size in general but more prosaically, I put my hands on my US 13 interchangeable tips first when I went to cast on my swatch and I got gauge spot on so I just…kept going.
Finally, I ended up striping two yarns. The main color I went with was Fisherman, which is a perfect creamy-off white. But I had also found Starlight, which is the Fisherman color with an added gold tinsel wrap. (You can see it in the picture above.) I ended up alternating the yarns every other row, so the gold wrap was a little more subtle. It didn’t fight with the cable pattern at all and while it made for more ends to weave in the end result was so stunning that it was absolutely worth it.
I did run out of yarn; I was just shy of the 1100 yards that the pattern called for, for the bulky yarn, half for each of the two colors I was working with. The pattern said 1100 yards included the yarn used for the swatch so I assumed I would be fine, but then I ran out just as I was starting the last cable repeat. So things went on hold for a few weeks while I ordered another few skeins. (Cheers to Lion Brand’s website, which had them shipped and arriving very promptly!) It worked out just fine, aside from the frustration of reaching into my project bag for another ball to join and coming up empty. However, if you make this pattern using bulky I would suggest having some extra yarn on hand.
Despite that interruption, I loved this project so much that I’m considering making another one for myself, but of course with a modification: I want to try it with a single-strand worsted yarn, for a slightly lighter blanket, and with more repeats of the cable chart to make it wide enough to cover my bed with. But I’m going to hold off on that until the winter!
I’m so happy that Alecia is so pleased with her gift – her fiance also seemed happy with it, and when I left the shower they were discussing which room it should go in. I hope they enjoy many snuggly evenings together!
Winter Cabin Throw Project Data
| Pattern Name & Designer | Winter Cabin Throw (Etsy Link) by Kalurah Hudson. Also available on Ravelry here (Rav link). |
| Type | Afghan/Throw |
| Size | One Size |
| Yarn | Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman (cream) and Starlight (cream with gold tinsel wrap) |
| Needles | US 13 (9 mm) |
| Date | March - May 2021 |