Whit's Knits: Cuddly Cotton Baby Blanket

This quick and easy baby blanket will bring joy to every baby who receives one. No itch, no allergies, and supremely cozy! Farmhouse Yarns' I Am Allergic to Wool is every baby's dream yarn. Oh, and with its hand-dyed, hand-spun scrumptiousness, you'll love it too!

Materials

• 3 skeins of Farmhouse Yarns' "I Am Allergic to Wool", 85% cotton and 15% rayon. These colors, from the top, are Marigold (Color C), Natural (Color A) and Charcoal (Color B).

• A 32 inch US #11 circular needle

• A tapestry needle

The Pattern

Gauge

9 stitches = 4 inches in garter stitch

Finished Size

28 inches x 28 inches

The First Half

With Color A, cast on 1 stitch.

Row 1 (right side): Knit into the front and back (kfb) of that stitch. (2 stitches)

Row 2 (wrong side): K1, kfb. (3 stitches)

Change to Color B.

Row 3: Knit to last stitch, kfb.

Changing colors every two rows, repeat Row 3 until piece measures 24 inches from the cast on stitch to the end of the last row. Finish with the second row of Color B.

Changing Colors

Always start the new color by bringing it up in front of the old color.

The edge will look like this:

The Second Half

With Color A,

Row 1: Knit to the last 2 stitches, ssk.

Changing colors every two rows, repeat Row 1 until 2 stitches remain, ending with the second row of Color A.

Final row: With Color A, bind off 1 stitch so that 1 stitch remains. Cut the yarn and pull it through the final stitch.

Sew in all the ends.

The Border

With Color C, cast on 3 stitches.

Knit 1 row.

Row 1:  K1, kfb, k1. (4 stitches)

Row 2: K1, kfb, k2. (5 stitches)

Row 3: K3, kfb, k1. (6 stitches)

Row 4: K1, kfb, k4. (7 stitches)

Row 5: K5, kfb, k1. (8 stitches)

Row 6: K1, kfb, k6. (9 stitches)

Row 7: K6, k2tog, k1. (8 stitches)

Row 8: K1, k2tog, k5. (7 stitches)

Row 9: K4 , k2tog, k1. (6 stitches)

Row 10: K1, k2tog, k3. (5 stitches)

Row 11: K2, k2tog, k1. (4 stitches)

Row 12: K1, k2tog, k1. (3 stitches)

Repeat Rows 1-12 seven more times (so that there are 8 "scallops").

Knit 2 rows.

Bind off and cut a long tail (about 4 feet).

Make 3 more identical border strips.

Sew in all the cast on tails.

Assembling

Thread the long tail of one border strip onto a tapestry needle. Sew the tail through the bind off edge to the opposite corner.

Now the tail is coming from the straight edge of the border strip instead of from the scalloped edge.

Sew the edge of the last 3 rows of this strip to the cast on edge of another strip.

Then, sew the tail through a corner of the blanket.

Attach the border to the edge of the blanket by sewing under the purl bumps right along the selvedges, from one side to the other.

Sew the pieces together so that the border ends at the next blanket corner. This is easiest to do with the pieces lying flat because you can better monitor that one side isn't getting "ahead" of the other.  It's also helpful to locate the halfway point of the strip and of the blanket edge and to temporarily sew them together with a piece of scrap yarn. This halves the distance that you need to worry about the edge tensions matching.

You'll probably have to occasionally sew two purl bumps of the border strip to one bump of the blanket because there are more bumps on the border than on the blanket edge.

When you reach the corner, sew in the tail.

Repeat these steps until all four border strips are attached to the four sides of the blanket.

Wrap a baby up in it, and you're finished!