Dimple Blanket. Design and photo © LizAnn Petch
Dimple Blanket by LizAnn Petch is a wonderfully creative free scrap yarn blanket knitting pattern designed to transform small amounts of leftover DK yarn into a colorful, textured throw.
Each raised “Dimple” uses only about 3 grams of DK yarn, making this an excellent stash-busting project. The dimples are shaped with short rows and joined as you knit, so the blanket grows as one piece without sewing hundreds of separate motifs together.
Dimple Blanket Pattern Details
- Designer: LizAnn Petch
- Published: May 2020
- Craft: Knitting
- Category: Throw / Afghan / Blanket
- Pattern availability: Free download
- Finished size: Approximately 130 × 150 cm (51 × 59 inches)
- Yarn weight: DK / 8 ply
- Total yardage: Approximately 3,828–4,374 yards (3,500–4,000 m)
- Contrast yarn: Approximately 100 g DK yarn for stripes and border
- Needles: 4.5 mm (US 7)
- Gauge: 20 stitches × 29 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch
- Construction: Worked flat as one continuous blanket
- Technique: Short-row shaping
- Finishing: Dimples are joined as you go — no motif seaming
- Language: English
A Perfect Scrap Yarn Blanket
If your yarn stash contains lots of small balls of leftover DK yarn, Dimple Blanket gives you a practical way to turn them into something substantial.
Each individual Dimple requires only about 3 grams of DK yarn. That means even relatively small leftovers from sweaters, hats, baby garments and other projects can become part of the finished blanket.
You can coordinate your colors carefully for a planned palette or take a true scrap-blanket approach and let each leftover yarn determine the next section.
324 Colorful Dimples
LizAnn Petch's original blanket consists of 36 rows of 9 Dimples.
That creates a total of 324 individual textured Dimples across the finished throw.
Because each one can be knitted from a small amount of yarn, the design provides plenty of opportunities to introduce different colors while retaining a consistent overall structure.
How Are the Dimples Made?
The distinctive three-dimensional shapes are created using short-row shaping.
Instead of knitting every row all the way across a section, short rows allow the fabric to be shaped locally. In Dimple Blanket, this technique produces the raised textured forms that give the design its name.
The shapes are arranged so that the Dimples fit into one another in consecutive sections, creating the unusual geometric surface of the blanket.
No Sewing Hundreds of Motifs Together
One of the best features of this design is that the Dimples do not need to be knitted as hundreds of independent pieces and sewn together at the end.
Instead, the blanket is constructed as one piece, joining the sections as you knit.
This gives you the visual appeal of a modular scrap blanket without a huge pile of separate motifs waiting to be assembled.
The designer does offer one particularly useful piece of finishing advice: weave in your yarn ends as you knit. With hundreds of color sections, leaving every end until the end of the project could create a very large finishing job.
DK Yarn Makes It Easy to Use Your Stash
Dimple Blanket is designed for DK-weight yarn. You don't need every Dimple to come from the same yarn brand.
This is exactly what makes the project so useful for leftovers: compatible DK yarns from different projects can be combined into one blanket.
When mixing yarns, consider fiber content and washing requirements as well as yarn weight. A blanket is easier to care for when the yarns you combine have reasonably compatible care instructions.
How Much Yarn Does the Dimple Blanket Need?
Although each Dimple uses only a tiny amount of yarn, the complete blanket is a substantial project.
The original pattern lists approximately 3,828–4,374 yards (3,500–4,000 metres) of DK yarn for the full-size blanket.
Think of this less as yarn you need to purchase all at once and more as an opportunity to gradually transform a large collection of DK leftovers into one finished project.
Contrast Yarn for the Stripes and Border
In addition to the yarn used for the colorful Dimples, the original design requires approximately 100 grams of contrasting DK yarn.
This contrast color is used for the garter-stitch stripes separating the Dimples and for the border.
Using one consistent contrast color is a clever way to visually connect a wide variety of scrap colors and make the finished blanket look intentional rather than random.
Finished Blanket Size
LizAnn Petch's sample blanket measures approximately 130 × 150 cm, or about 51 × 59 inches.
This creates a useful throw or afghan size for a sofa, chair or bed.
However, you don't have to make exactly the same dimensions. The designer includes information in the free pattern explaining how the size can be adjusted.
Make the Blanket Smaller or Larger
The modular nature of the design makes Dimple Blanket particularly adaptable.
The free pattern includes information about adjusting the blanket size, allowing you to use the basic Dimple construction for dimensions that better suit your project or available yarn.
This can be especially useful if you want to create a smaller lap blanket or if you have enough leftover yarn to continue beyond the dimensions of the original throw.
More Than Just a Blanket
LizAnn Petch also notes that the Dimple design can be adapted for other knitted items.
Once you understand how the short-row shapes are constructed and joined, the same textured idea can potentially become the basis for smaller accessories or other creative projects.
The full free pattern provides the designer's guidance for adapting the concept.
Needles and Gauge
The original blanket uses 4.5 mm (US 7) knitting needles.
The specified gauge is: 20 stitches and 29 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch.
Gauge can become particularly important when combining scraps from several different yarns. Two yarns may both be labelled DK but still produce noticeably different fabrics.
Try to choose scraps that work together at a reasonably consistent gauge so that the Dimples maintain a harmonious size and texture.
Skills Used in the Dimple Blanket
Useful techniques for this project include:
- Knitting and purling
- Working flat
- Garter stitch
- Stockinette stitch
- Short-row shaping
- Joining sections as you knit
- Changing colors
- Picking up stitches
- Weaving in yarn ends as you work
A Portable Long-Term Knitting Project
Large blankets can become physically cumbersome long before they are finished. The repeating Dimple sections, however, give this project natural milestones as you work through your collection of colors.
Rather than thinking about thousands of metres of yarn at once, you can concentrate on the next small Dimple and watch the blanket gradually grow.
It could make a particularly satisfying long-term project for gradually using DK scraps accumulated from other knitting.
Color Ideas for Your Dimple Blanket
There are many ways to approach the color layout.
For a true stash-buster, use scraps in the order you find them and allow the blanket to become a record of previous knitting projects.
For a more coordinated look, sort your leftovers into a limited palette, such as warm colors, cool colors, pastels or neutrals.
Whichever approach you choose, a consistent contrast color for the separating garter stripes and border can help bring the entire design together.
Why Knit the Dimple Blanket?
Dimple Blanket solves one of the most common problems for knitters: what to do with all those small amounts of good yarn that are too useful to throw away but too small for another full project.
Its combination of 3-gram scrap sections, short-row shaping, join-as-you-go construction and adjustable sizing makes it especially well suited to stash busting.
Instead of hiding leftover DK yarn in a box, you can gradually turn it into a colorful, textured blanket with a story behind every section.
Get the Free Dimple Blanket Knitting Pattern
The complete Dimple Blanket by LizAnn Petch is currently available as a free downloadable knitting pattern from the designer's Ravelry store.
Get the Free Dimple Blanket Knitting Pattern
Pattern availability was checked when this article was updated. Availability on external websites may change over time.
