Learn to Knit -- Hurdle Stitch

The Cherry Berry Preemie Oddball blanket is now complete and George the mailman picked it up today to deliver it to the generous lady who will wash, block and deliver all the Preemie Oddball blankets. You may be wondering why I have been spending so much time lately on these oddball blankets. Well, here's how it happened...I read in the charity knitting forum a while back that a few more blankets were being started, so I volunteered myself to be the last knitter and also to crochet the borders on some of the new blankets. Little did I know that they would all be coming my way at just about the same time! Each knitter is given two weeks to work on a blanket before it should be forwarded on to the next knitter, so it actually makes sense that they would all be ready for me at just about the same time as each other. That thought never occurred to me! Brilliant! But that's ok because I rather enjoy working on these blankets and it gives me the opportunity to try out some new stitches and make up some new border designs.

The other day you saw the completed Tutti Frutti blanket along with a video of how to do the scallop border. So now on to Cherry Berry.


Here it is after all the knitting was complete. Don't you just love the variety of pink yarns used in this blanket? Not one yarn is the same as another. The yarn used in the middle section actually has some red in it and you'll see in a future post that the border is also in red. The knitted section that I did is at the top of the picture. I used the same pink yarn for this as for my section on Tutti Frutti which was Bernat Softee Baby in Pink Marls.


The stitch I used is called Hurdle Stitch which I first saw in another oddball blanket. I asked the knitter for the instructions on the stitch and I also found it online. I'll share it with you below. The above picture shows what nice texture the stitch has, and the next picture shows what a pretty design it makes.


I have always had a preference for crocheted blankets over knitted, but this stitch is one that I might consider for a knitted blanket. It is thick and soft, almost like a double layer of stitching. It also seems to be more substantial than other knit stitches, not loose and stretchy. I really enjoyed knitting my section of Cherry Berry with the Hurdle Stitch and I know it will be a stitch I will use often on future blankets.

Here's the stitch pattern if you would like to try it yourself:

Hurdle Stitch

Work over an even number of stitches.
Rows 1 and 2: Knit
Rows 3 and 4: (K1, P1) across
Repeat rows 1 - 4.

I just don't think it could be any easier to get such a pretty design with such nice texture in a knit stitch! Try it and see what you think! I'll show the border I crocheted on this blanket shortly along with a video of how to work it.

Happy Stitching!

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