Safe at Home Blanket by Margaret Holzmann of KnitWit Designs is a wonderfully imaginative knitted throw made from rows of colorful little houses. With roofs, windows, doors and contrasting backgrounds, the finished blanket looks almost like a cheerful knitted neighborhood.
The design combines simple garter stitch with color changes and intarsia, making it an interesting choice for knitters who want to move beyond basic blankets while still working with familiar knit stitches.
It is also an excellent stash-inspired project. The designer encourages knitters to follow the suggested palette or create their own combination from coordinating leftover yarns.
Design © Margaret Holzmann / KnitWit Designs.
Safe at Home Blanket Pattern Overview
- Designer: Margaret Holzmann
- Design: Safe at Home blanket
- Craft: Knitting
- Category: Blanket / Throw
- Published: April 2020
- Yarn weight: Aran
- Suggested yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Worsted
- Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
- Finished size: Approximately 55 × 55 in (140 × 140 cm)
- Yardage: Approximately 3,300–3,500 yd (3,018–3,200 m)
- Gauge: 17 stitches and 34 rows = 4 in in garter stitch
- Language: English
A Blanket Made From Colorful Knitted Houses
The feature that makes Safe at Home instantly recognizable is its collection of colorful houses. Instead of repeating one conventional all-over texture, the blanket turns individual areas of color into windows, doors, roofs and skies.
The house motif makes color selection part of the fun. You can create a coordinated palette or give every house its own personality by combining different colors from your yarn stash.
Because the basic fabric is garter stitch, much of the visual complexity comes from color placement and construction rather than from complicated textured stitch patterns.
How the Safe at Home Blanket Is Constructed
The knitted version is worked in garter-stitch strips. The completed strips are then joined together to build the main blanket.
After the central blanket is assembled, stitches are picked up and knitted around the completed edges to form the border.
This modular approach can make a large blanket feel more manageable: instead of handling the entire finished width from the beginning, you build the design in sections and assemble them as the project develops.
Intarsia and Color Changes
One of the principal techniques used in Safe at Home is intarsia. This allows separate blocks of color to appear within the same row without carrying every yarn across the entire width of the work.
If intarsia is new to you, keeping the different yarn sources organized can make the process much easier. Small balls or bobbins can help prevent the working yarns from becoming tangled while you create the different parts of each house.
Remember to manage the yarn correctly where two colors meet so the sections remain connected rather than developing holes at the color changes.
Yarn Requirements
The original pattern recommends approximately 270 yards of each of 12 colors, plus approximately 180 additional yards of the border color.
That makes Safe at Home particularly attractive for knitters with a substantial collection of compatible Aran-weight leftovers.
The original sample lists Malabrigo Yarn Worsted, but the important considerations when substituting yarn are achieving suitable gauge, creating a fabric you like and having enough yarn for the complete blanket.
Skills You'll Use
- Garter stitch
- Intarsia colorwork
- Color striping
- Changing colors cleanly
- Working separate blanket sections
- Joining knitted strips
- Picking up and knitting stitches
- Finishing and weaving in yarn ends
Tips for a Neater Finished Blanket
With a multicolor project like this, good yarn management can save a great deal of frustration. Arrange your colors before beginning each section and keep them in a consistent order whenever possible.
It is also worth paying attention to your tension at intarsia joins. Loose joins can leave visible gaps, while pulling the yarn too tightly can distort the surrounding garter-stitch fabric.
Finally, weave in ends carefully and progressively rather than leaving every strand until the very end. A blanket involving many colors can produce a considerable number of yarn tails.
Is Safe at Home a Free Knitting Pattern?
No. The exact Safe at Home blanket by Margaret Holzmann is currently a paid knitting pattern.
It may appear on older knitting websites or social posts alongside the word “free,” but we could not verify a current authorized free edition of this exact design. Amazing Knitting therefore does not label it as a free pattern or link to unofficial copies.
Pattern prices and availability can change, so check the designer's current page for the latest information.
View the Safe at Home Blanket at KnitWit Designs →
The designer's page provides information about the project and access to the current purchase options for the knitting pattern.
Why This Blanket Is Worth Knitting
Safe at Home is more than a conventional striped throw. Each house gives you another small colorwork milestone, while the repeating construction helps the overall project develop into a striking geometric composition.
It's especially appealing if you enjoy choosing colors, using yarn from your stash and watching many smaller knitted elements gradually become one substantial finished blanket.
Pattern Availability
Amazing Knitting links readers to legitimate designer or publisher sources whenever possible. Pattern prices, download locations and availability can change after an article is published.
Read Our Pattern Availability Policy →
Amazing Knitting is an independent pattern discovery and project-guide site. The Safe at Home design and pattern remain the intellectual property of Margaret Holzmann / KnitWit Designs. This guide does not reproduce the designer's row-by-row pattern instructions.