Debbie Abrahams's Design

We've had quite a lot of people buying the great Debbie Abrahams's book Blankets and Throws to Knit so I thought I'd give you another peak at her fantastic sense of style and design.

This blanket was her 2009 Mystery Blanket where participants were sent 5 squares a month, plus all of the yarns, beads, sequins and buttons you need to complete those squares. Each year's blanket has a particular theme and the 'mystery' part of the project is working out the theme of your  blanket. So, after 10 months of receiving parcels and knitting away we were left with this gorgeous blanket called 'Arabian Nights'.

This pattern is only available to people who completed the Mystery Blanket for 2009, but there are similar designs to this in her two books Blankets and Throws to Knit and More Blankets and Throws to Knit. And while it might look complicated it really isn't. Once you've learned how to knit with beads and sequins (very easy) it's pretty straightforward knitting. The best advice I've received on knitting this style of blanket is to knit a column at a time - i.e. once you've cast off one square, pick up and knit the first row of the next square into the first, that way you minimise the amount of sewing up you have to do at the end, and it adds a neater and more professional touch to the blanket.