I knit the Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket by Westknits as a fun in-between projects kind of knit. It took me over a year to complete and I hurt my wrists while knitting, but despite all of that, I am super happy with my blanket. Keep reading for my rainbow jigsaw puzzle blanket knitting experience:
I first saw this Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket by l3ahkn1ts and was so inspired to knit my own. I love a rainbow and blankets are definitely one of my most used knits. This blanket was such a big project, especially because I knit two and joined them together for a mega blanket.
YARN
I wanted a full rainbow of yarn to work with so I selected 28 colors of Stylecraft Special DK:
Some of the colors looked different than they appeared online, but I was happy with my assortment. I linked to Amazon for the specific colors above, but I bought my yarn at LoveCrafts. This yarn is 100% acrylic and super affordable.
JIGSAW PUZZLE BLANKET
The Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket is a garter stitch blanket comprised of multiple geometric shapes. Each segment is knit seamlessly by attaching sections as you knit.
This blanket is meant to be a stash busting project. The pattern instructs you to marl two fingering weight yarns together as you knit each section, but of course you can knit it with DK or however you like.
According to the Ravelry page, the Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket is a good size blanket at 71″ x 41″ after blocking. However looking at the pattern and project photos, I could see that the blanket is not symmetrical.
BLANKET PLANNING
I wanted my blanket to be symmetrical and a little larger than written, so I decided to knit two blankets. I planned to knit both blankets, then invert the second blanket and seam the two together so it would be more symmetrical.
I used the color planning schematic included in the pattern (and on the Ravelry page) to help me map out my colors between both blankets. I used Procreate on my iPad to color everything in.
I was really excited to start working on my new rainbow blanket!
PUZZLE SEGMENTS
Increases + Edges
I mostly followed the Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket pattern, but I made modifications to some of the increases. I didn’t love the yarn over increases because they left too large gaps which I thought looked a little odd with all the crisp garter. I did use some yarn overs, but I tried to avoid them and use kfb, m1l or m1r instead.
I also used a sl1wyif at the end of every edge row to create a selvege stitch which I thought looked cleaner than the occasional garter edge.
Picking up stitches + Joining sections
I also was a little lax about stitch counts when picking up stitches. I’m not sure if it’s because I was using different increases, but occasionally I would have more or fewer stitches than required. I just snuck in a few decreases/increases as needed and didn’t worry about it too much.
I would occasionally have a slight issue when joining sections too; probably for the same reasons. But I would need to do a count of how many stitches I had on my needles vs how many I needed to join on the other section and make adjustments as I went. Either skipping a stitch when joining or knitting two together with the join multiple times while joining two sections.
BLANKET 1
I knit this blanket here and there as a palate cleanser between other projects. The first blanket took me 10 months to knit. When I completed it (except for the icord since I was waiting to join it together with the second blanket first), I was happy with how it turned out.
The puzzle segments build off of each other, so there were a few areas were live stitches were still on hold. I wanted to crank out the second blanket so I could reclaim all my other cables. Something about having a project on the needles for almost a year makes me feel a little antsy. Even though this had been a fun in-between project, I made a goal to finish the second blanket before the year mark.
BLANKET 2
I wanted to knit another Aurora Cabin Shawl first, and once that was complete, I was on a Jigsaw Puzzle marathon. I don’t know if it’s just me and my form, or the quantity of knitting, or the yarn, but I started having pain in my wrists and arms while knitting. 🙁
This was really scary for me because I love knitting and it’s never caused me pain before. I took a long break without knitting anything. The year mark came and went. I bought a little brace to help give me support while I took time to heal.
Finally I was able to come back to knitting and I finished the second blanket!
MATTRESS STITCH
To join the two blankets, I used the mattress stitch. I laid out both blankets and joined them with locking stitch markers, so I could map out where they should line up.
I really like using the mattress stitch for seaming because it’s invisible and easy to manage. I used a darning needle and a really long piece of yarn just to make sure I’d get through the entire blanket seam and also have some tail to weave in.
ICORD
To begin the icord, you first need to pick up all the perimeter stitches. I needed multiple cables to pick up and knit through all my stitches since my blanket was so large. I used the navy blue color to be my icord and frame all the bright colors.
I didn’t ever do the M1 increases with my pick up because all my stitches were selvege edges (from doing a sl1wyif). I was surprised how quickly I was able to finish the icord. Probably because I was just happy to be able to knit again after my injury.
FINISHING
I had been weaving in the ends as I knit throughout the entire blanket, so I didn’t have too many extras to weave in. I left longer tails to seam up any gaps/holes at the join of any sections which was helpful in some areas.
Once all the tails were secured, I trimmed them and was left with a fun little rainbow pile of yarn. I wasn’t sure how I was going to block this blanket since it was already really huge. But my washer has a rinse & spin cycle that I used and then laid out the blanket over some towels to dry.
Blocking really opened up the stitches and gave the blanket a nice drape. It feels a lot softer and cozier and I was able to make the edges a little straighter.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am really happy with my rainbow Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket; it looks so happy and fun. I love the size; it’s perfect for cuddling up on the sofa. I enjoyed working on this project in between other projects and watching it grow. I didn’t take this pattern too seriously and that made it more enjoyable for me. Rather than stress or rip out when my stitch counts didn’t line up, I made some slight modifications and enjoyed the process a lot more. I think because this is such a large project, little changes were more forgiving.
I really like the look of modular knitting and I was reminded of my excitement knitting the Marled Magic Sweater while knitting this blanket.
I have a lot of yarn left over, but I don’t have any plans for it at this time. I loved the vibrant colors, but I didn’t enjoy knitting with every color. The yarn is soft, but some of the colors were “squeaky” — like they felt inelastic and more plasticky. I am not sure if that contributed to my wrist/hand pain, but I will be avoiding this yarn for a while.
Other than that, I love my new rainbow Jigsaw Puzzle Blanket and I can’t wait to use it now that the weather is cooling down. Check out my Ravelry page to see my other projects and what I’m working on next.
