I was the giant great and still    
That sits upon the pillow-hill,    
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
[Robert Louis Stevenson]

I’ve shown this counterpane on my blog before. Today, I uploaded the pattern to sell for $6.50 on Ravelry.

Counterpanes are decorative bed covers. In her book, Knitting Counterpanes, Traditional Coverlet Patterns for Contemporary Knitters, Mary Walker Phillips gives a thorough history of counterpanes. She then shares a number of knitting patterns for blocks and borders.

These were often knit using white or ecru cotton or linen thread. Heirloom samples are breathtaking in their beauty. They are also very heavy and fragile.

Although this pattern was inspired by the antique counterpanes, its fiber content and techniques are different. It is knit in the round in blocks that have a selvage that makes seaming easy. It is in color. When used in class, each block is designed to allow knitters to practice basic techniques beyond simply knitting and purling.

The pattern can be ordered at this LINK