The Great Kilt, feileadh mòr in Gaelic (pronounced fillamore, with emphasis on the last syllable), or belted plaid (pronounced plad) was part of traditional male Scottish Highland dress from about the end of the 16th century until 1746, when after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobites at Culloden, it was made illegal for men to wear unless part of the British army. The laws prohibiting such wearing were repealed in the 1780s, but by this time the suppression of the old clan system and of Gaelic language and culture meant that the belted plaid had fallen out of use.
Forget the modern kilt or clan tartans, which are early 19th century marketing inventions, the original garment would be made in whatever colours and checks were locally available to the weaver, and was a large piece of woven woollen cloth, about 54-60 inches wide and 4-7 yards long, which was gathered and fastened by a belt around the waist, with the lower part reaching to the knees and the upper part available to wrap around the shoulders and head, or held in position by a pin or brooch.
Anyway, that’s the history lesson, now to the knitting. This is not a Great Kilt, but it is an attempt to make checks out of knitting, by working with two strands simultaneously, one strand making vertical stripes and the other making horizontal stripes. The result is a blanket that can be used for a baby, a great granny or anyone in between, without prohibition. The fabric is a simple basketweave pattern which makes the blanket completely reversible.
Construction method: This blanket is worked flat in one piece, using yarns held double. Vertical stripes are made by changing colors every few stitches using intarsia, and horizontal stripes are made simultaneously by changing color every few rows. This gives a checked fabric without seaming.