Shift Your Blanket Perspective

Margaret Holzmann’s The New Color Work is a fresh take on both blanket making and colorwork. Timeless heirloom blankets feel modern, organic, inspired, and new in Holzmann’s hands.

By drawing inspiration from things like DNA helixes, abstract art, quilting iconography and techniques, even woven fabrics, Holzmann enables adventurous knitters to create blankets that feel interesting to them.

Chromatic

There’s great movement in all of these designs. Plus they all draw on unusual knitting techniques. Each blanket gives you a number of methods that you can use to create the end design. There is not one way to work up any of these blankets.

Wonky Walking

Sometimes blanket knitting can be repetitive—and boring. However, these blankets are constructed in ways that minimize or avoid repetition and create space to feel adventurous. You feel like you’re crafting something unique—and you absolutely are!

The varying construction techniques show Holzmann’s wide range of knowledge when it comes to construction.

Felicity

Personally, I liked (and became obsessed with) over half of the designs in this book.

The Sanguine and Sheaves designs are most appealing to me, as they feel the closest to woven blankets. I’d be very curious to see if someone uses some of these designs less as a recipe book for blankets and more of a stitch dictionary, considering the ways to construct various panels of fabric. 

The Pinwheels and the Pisces designs both lend themselves to very interesting garments. I found that the Wonky Walking design reminded me of a Gee’s Bend take on log cabin, with Plaza having a phenomenal log cabin inspiration, as well.

Refraction is a very interesting piece that is slightly repetitive. It is in that repetition that I think it is most beautiful. The congruency of the shapes produces a wonderful blanket for those of us who can accurately measure how much yarn they need in advance of casting on a project. I would not recommend this blanket as a stash buster, but you know your stash better than I do.

Refraction (and Holzmann)

The colorwork skills breakdown in the back of Holzmann’s book is comprehensive, explaining the different situations in which you would use stranded colorwork versus intarsia. She even explains a situation when it might be difficult to choose a technique. I wonder who’s adventurous enough to practice their ladderback jacquard with these motifs?

Some of these designs could be fun stash busters—and might include light sewing, depending on the different techniques that you use to build your blanket. There’s even information about how to make a knitted blanket sturdier by stitching some fabric to the back, as you would a quilt.

Many of these designs make your knitting portable, so take it on the road with you! While the patterns are highly technical, you will create some beautiful art, if you have the tenacity. Excuse me, while I cast something on myself.

Join the MDK Society 2026 now and you’ll have a lot to look forward to. Early birds join for $99 through Dec. 31—and charter members renew at only $89. (Use that member coupon code!)