My blanket is made with a cotton blend dk yarn which is soft but light-weight. Cotton, when knitted, tends to have less stretch and bounce than wool but any dk weight wool would work well with this pattern. The correct tension for the pattern is given below and you might find it useful to make a test swatch with your own wool to get the sizing right.

The pattern gives instructions to make a 28” square blanket which is a good size for warm nights or in the pram. The cotton is washable and should be durable enough for everyday use.

The simple repeating pattern is designed with new knitters in mind as so often a new baby is incentive to pick up the needles for the first time. The pattern is simple and, with a little practice, should be easy to judge by eye so mistakes are easy to spot. Counting your stitches is the key to spotting mistakes before they happen and I would recommend the use of a row counter to help with this.

You will need:

• 5 x 50g dk cotton yarn

• 4.5mm circular needle*

• Tapestry needle

*The circular needle is used to hold a large number of stitches, the blanket is not worked in the round.

I have used circular needles for this blanket, I tend to use them for all of my blankets as straight needles lead to dropped stitches and aching wrists! If you have not already invested in circular needles I really recommend that you do, you can find a set with lots of sizes or buy just one set in the size that you need.

Sizing & Tension

This pattern is very versatile and easy to amend to your preferred size. To make the blanket wider or narrower cast of more or fewer stitches in multiples of 26 stitches. To make the blanket longer or shorter work more or fewer repeats of the main body of the blanket pattern.

Remember, if you increase the size of the blanket you will require more wool than indicated above.

The blanket pictured is 28” (71cm) long and 28” (71cm) wide. A 2” (5cm) square of the blanket contains 10 stitches by 18 rows. If you prepare a test swatch and find that your tension is very different you can either adjust your needles to use smaller or larger needles to achieve the same tension as mine or, if you can make some calculations, adjust the number of stitches in the pattern to fit your tension to the blanket size that you would like.

Pattern

Step 1: Begin by casting on 150 stitches using the long tail method. This will create a stretchy edge for your blanket.

Step 2: Create the border for your blanket by working 12 rows of moss stitch as follows:

Row 1: (K1, P1), repeat from * to the end of the row.

Repeat this row eleven times more to give you twelve rows in total. The border should measure 1.5” (4cm).

Work the following rows to form the body of your blanket:

Step 3: The body of the blanket is worked using a repeating pattern of knit and purl stitches. The number of repeats that you work will determine the length of your blanket. Work the following rows to form the body of your blanket:

Row 1: (K1, P1) two times, K1, this forms your border, *K10, P1, K1, P1, K10, K1, P1, K1, repeat from * to the last 15 stitches, K10, (P1, K1) two times, P1.

Row 2: (P1, K1) two times, P1, *P10, K1, P1, K1, P10, P1, K1, P1, repeat from * to the last 15 st, P10, (K1, P1) two times, K1.

Row 3 - 14: Repeat rows 1 for all odd rows and repeat row 2 for all even rows.

Row 15 - 18: K1, P1, repeat to the end of the row.

Repeat these 18 rows until your blanket measures 26.5” (67cm) or until you are 1.5” (4cm) from the finished length of your blanket, ending on row 18.

Step 3: Finish the blanket with rows of moss stitch to complete your border to match the border you created in Step 1:

Row 1: K1, *P1, K1, repeat from * to the end of the row.

Repeat this row seven more times to give you twelve rows of most stitch in total.

Step 4: Bind off all stitches following the moss stitch pattern (K1, P1, …). Cut your yarn leaving a 4” (10cm) and weave in all loose ends using your tapestry needle.

Step 5: Block your blanket using the best method for your wool or yarn. For a cotton blanket I recommend wetting or washing the blanket and blocking this out to dry.

It is always important to wash a new item before introducing it to a baby’s routine and you can incorporate this into the blocking process. When washing the blanket in future remember to lay flat to dry to stop the blanket from stretching out of shape.