Whit's Knits: Super Easy Baby Blanket
Every day at Purl at least one customer comes in looking for a really easy baby blanket pattern. It's such a basic request, and, yet, my co-workers and I have a hard time offering a basic solution. The reason is that not many knit designers bother to make patterns for simple rectangles or squares, assuming that, because it would be so easy for them to figure out, it must be easy for everyone else to figure out too!
I designed this blanket using Alchemy's new yarn, Temple a super-wash, super-soft and super-beautiful hand dyed merino wool. HERE is a baby blanket that anyone who knows how to cast on, knit and cast off can make. No picking up stitches; no counting stitches; not even any purling! It's everything people ask for, machine washable, soft, fast, and easy. You don't need to be an expert knitter to make a beautiful heirloom blanket!
I love garter stitch for a baby blanket because, besides being the same on both sides and lying flat, it is also very cushiony and cozy. My friend Roy really appreciated the cuddliness of garter stitch this weekend when the weather suddenly turned a bit chilly!- Whitney
P.S. Happy first birthday to my model and buddy, Roy!
The Materials
- 7 skeins of Alchemy Yarns' Temple, 100% superfine superwash merino wool. These colors from the top are Lantern, Citrine, Silver, Moonstone, Platinum, Topaz, and Kai's Goldfish
- A US #7 circular needle, 24 or 32 inches long.
- A tapestry needle.
The Pattern
Gauge
20 stitches and 20 ridges = 4 inches in garter stitch
Finished Size
Approximately 26 inches x 28 inches
Begin
With a US #7 needle (or size required by you to acheive the correct gauge) and the first color, loosely cast on 130 stitches.
Knit every row until there are 20 garter stitch "ridges" (1 ridge = 2 rows).
Switch to the second color at the beginning of the next row, and knit every row until there are 20 ridges.
Repeat with each color, making sure to always switch colors on the same side.
After knitting 20 ridges with the seventh color, loosely bind off.
Weave in the ends.
This yarn is superwash which means you can safely put it in the washer and dryer. However, if you've used any bright saturated colors (especially reds), you may want to add white distilled vinegar to your first wash in order to "set" the dyes. I read somewhere to add 3 cups; that seems like a lot, but it can't hurt!
May 24, 2008
Reader Comments (38)
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Is the yarn you used soft and cuddly for the little ones as their skin is quite senstitive. Wouldn't want the yarn to be harsh if you know what I mean.
I have Two Blankets to Knit soon. One for a little Boy who is the First Grandson for a dear lady friend. The other for my young neighbour. She is due in February. But we don't know if she's having a wee lad or lass as yet?
Now I must choose some colours for both the Blankets.. I love that the Blanket will be bright and cheery for the wee ones. Maybe their Blanket can be like their Security Blanke. If you recall the Snoopy cartoon characters. There was a little Boy who didn't go anywhere without his little Blanket..
Was it Linus - oh my can't remember at the moment.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us..
It's not pieced together, it's all knit in one piece! The full pattern is above.
Thank you!
Molly
The only real reason to block this blanket is if you have uneven stitches that might benefit from a little blocking. Otherwise, it's good to go!
Thanks for asking!
Whitney
Im looking for the yarn for this and cant seem to match up the yarn names? Anyone know where in Australia (if possible okay if I have to order this from the US) a complany is that sells this yarn. I've had a look and cant seem to find this anywhere.
Regards,
Kendall
We sell the yarn here:
http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/4002-Alchemy-Temple
Thank you for your question!
Molly
I made this blanket for my sister-in-law's first baby and loved it so much, I'd like to make one for myself. Being a baby blanket, it's a little small for me. :) Could you, essentially, "double" the pattern to make the blanket adult sized? The Alchemy Temple yarns are rather expensive and I didn't want to try to find out via trial and error.
Thanks!
Carianne
This is a very easy pattern to size up. If you'd like to double it just cast on twice the stitches and knit each color until you have 40 ridges instead of 20. In order to make this twice and tall and twice as wide (52 X 56) you actually need four times the yarn since you're doubling both the hight and the width. So you would need 4 of each color.
If you need help with anything else please let us know.
Best-
Molly
Yes this can be made with a circular needle, we actually recommend that you do so, but you will just use the circular needles as if they are two straight needles. The cable holding the circular needles together will be useful for holding the width of the blanket. You only need to worry about altering the pattern if you're are knitting in the round with circular needles. In this case you will be knitting straight so just follow the pattern as written.
Thank you!
Molly
I'm making this blanket for a second time. Due to the width of the blanket, you almost have to use circular needles to fit the whole thing. It should still be knit every stitch for the garter stitch. Hope that helps!
Happy knitting,
Carianne
Thanks!
If you knit the blanket in Temple, then machine washing in cold on a gentle cycle will definitely not shrink your blanket! I would recommend laying it flat to dry (like you would for a sweater).
Thanks for question and I hope your sister-in-law loves her blanket!
Whitney
You could do an attached I-cord (which is what the 11th Hour Blanket's border is called). I wouldn't say it's the easiest option, mostly because it can take some fiddling to figure out how many stitches to pick up so that the edge isn't too taut (especially when it's coupled with ultra stretchy garter stitch).
The absolute simplest solution would be a crocheted slip stitch (http://www.purlbee.com/crochet-basics/). That too will take a little experimentation to make sure it's not too tight, but at least it's super duper fast. It's a good choice if you're interested in just cleaning up the edges with a nice neat finish.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks!
Whitney
Yes, that's exactly what you do! Just knit the first stitch of the new color and then go back to slipping on the next row.
I'd say you're a natural! Thanks for your question!
Whitney
Each stripe does use pretty much the whole skein.
Thanks for asking!
Whitney
The full pattern is available is here, including the list of colors used:
http://purlbee.squarespace.com/super-easy-baby-blanket/
Thank you for writing in!
Molly
The coziest cotton I know of is definitely Blue Sky's Worsted Cotton: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/721-Blue-Sky-Worsted-Cotton . It also comes in lots of beautiful colors!
Five stitches to the inch is probably a bit tight for the Worsted Cotton though, so you may want to adjust the needles and pattern so you end up with a drapey, soft blanket!
By the way, we do have a different striped baby blanket pattern that uses the Worsted Cotton. Instead of straight striping, it's a chevron pattern. It's right here: http://purlbee.squarespace.com/chevron-baby-blanket/2011/9/15/whits-knits-chevron-baby-blanket.html
Thanks for asking and good luck!
Whitney
Thank you
Anna
We don't have a cotton yarn that comes in the exact same color palette, but you could get pretty close with either Blue Sky's Worsted Cotton:http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/721-Blue-Sky-Worsted-Cotton or Cascade's Ultra Pima: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/7117-Cascade-Yarns-Ultra-Pima.
In either case you would probably need three of each color to make the dimensions you describe. Depending on which yarn you choose and how tightly knit, you would use the needle size that gives you a pleasing garter stitch. And to know how many to cast on you will have to make a gauge swatch. Once you know how many stitches you knit per inch, you'll multiply that number by 39 and cast on that number. Then you'll knit each stripe for about 6 1/2 inches.
Please let me know if I can help you further! Thanks for asking and good luck!
Whitney
The needle size on yarn labels is always just a recommendation, not a hard and fast rule. I used a bigger needle in this case so that the finished knit would be soft and drapey.
If you're using a different yarn, just make sure that you like the feeling of the stitch pattern with your needle size and your way of knitting. You may also need to make adjustments to the cast on number so that you don't end up with a blanket that is too small.
If you need help figuring out a new pattern, let me know how many stitches you're knitting per inch and I can help you out! Thanks for your question and good luck!
Whitney
I am planning to make this as my first knitting project. Because of my inexperience, I plan to use an inexpensive, worsted weight, 50/50 blend of wool/acrylic that comes in similar bright colors.
Are there any changes in needle size or otherwise that you would recommend, given that I am not using the same wool you used?
The beautiful projects on this site have inspired me to learn to knit - THANKS!
Thanks!
Welcome to knitting! First of all, you will probably need to use larger needles for your worsted weight yarn. You should experiment with a few sizes (starting with what the label recommends) until you get a swatch of garter stitch knitting whose look and feel you like.
Another consideration is that the yardage of your skeins and the amount of fabric they will knit up is most likely different than what the Temple yarn yields. This means that you may end up with a wide but not very long blanket. To hopefully avoid this fate, you'll want to cast on fewer stitches.
How many? Once you have a swatch of garter stitch that you like, you'll need to measure your gauge, i.e. how many stitches you're knitting per inch. Here's a helpful tutorial for that step: http://www.purlbee.com/not-too-tight-tutorial/. Multiply the number of stitches you get per inch (for example, 4) by the desired width of the blanket (ours is 26 inches) and cast on that number (4 x 26 = 104). Hopefully your skeins are long enough to make big enough stripes to result in a longer-than-it-is-wide blanket.
I just threw a lot of information at you, but converting to different yarn does tend to bring up a host of issues! Don't be discouraged though, we're here to help!
Thanks for your question!
Whitney