I am really pleased with how my Handmaiden Casbah throw is turning out:



I like the way that using the two strands blends the colors, and the mixed up 2x2 rib gives it texture without having to follow a complicated pattern.

Although the pattern is easy when you understand it, I am having trouble coming up with an easy way to explain it.  Basically, it is a 2x2 rib that is shifted over 2 spaces after a certain number of rows.  Originally, I was going to make each segment six rows long, but that looked too rigid.  Instead, I decided to use the Fibonacci sequence to determine the number of rows.  So the pattern is:

13 rows - k2p2 rib
8 rows - p2k2 rib
5 rows- k2p2 rib
3 rows - p2k2 rib
2 rows - k2p2 rib
3 rows - p2k2 rib
5 rows - k2p2 rib
8 rows -  p2k2 rib
... and then you repeat from the beginning 

I cast on 250 stitches using 2 strands on #9 needles.  That makes it very wide (about 54").  Basically, it needs to be a multiple of 4 stitches plus 10 stitches for the border sections.

The border sections are 5 stitches wide, so each row is:

Ktbl (knit through the back loop), k1p1k1p1  -- then follow the "Fibonacci rib pattern" until 5 stitches remain -- k1p1k1p1, slip the last stich with the yarn in back.

Clear as mud? 

Well, I tried to diagram the stitches, but that makes it look even more frightening.  Here is the diagram of the "Fibonacci rib":