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!

Comments

[Margie]

I love the baby blanket! Thank you so much for sharing. I have a dear friend that is expecting, and this would be a perfect gift.

[Jean]

That is the cutest blanket! I love the combination of colors you chose. Great for a boy or girl.

[dorayme]

What a quick, cute and simple project, Thanks for sharing your work. I want to try this yarn now, it looks very delightful.

[mayarose]

Best blog on net, bar non.
Always new projects and lots of guidance.
YOU ARE THE BEST.

[sheri648]

this blankie is adorable and i want to make it!!! in the picture the color looks blue but it says it's charcoal and the natural i don't see but i do see ecru. please tell me exactly what colors to get to make it for a little baby boy and have it look just like this one. thank you,
sheri

[purl bee]

Hi Sheri,
The "natural" is the ecru. We are currently out of charcoal, but it is quite blue. You could get the "blue bells" and it will look very similar to Whitney's blanket, or you can email our customer service department and they'll let you know when the Charcoal arrives. You can send us an email at this link:
http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/contact

[Eileen]

Please tell what you did to get such great photos. Camera, apperature, lens. No matter what I do I can't get pics like yours. eileen Please send me a personal email to esmeltz1@yahoo.com

[Shelly]

I love this pattern. Noticed that u don't carry this yarn any longer. Do u have any alternate yarn suggestions?

[feed the beast]

I love this blanket - can it be sized up at all? I'd love to make it for a one year old and he will outgrow the size pretty quickly. Thanks for any advice you can give -
karen

[m]

@karen: You can always knit the square bigger- just keep going on the first triangle until it's the size you want and then make the second to match. Easy as pie!

[Jean]

I just finished this. It took 3 balls w/o the border, but I'm horrible at gauges. Mine is no where near square. How do you knit so perfect?

[cat]

Love the blanket! It would be a great shower gift. I notice that you don't carry the yarn anymore though. Any suggestions on another brand or type of yarn I could use? How many yards of yarn were used exactly?

[Elaine]

One skein of yarn is 150 yards-so do you need one of each color (only 300 yds) for the body of the blanket or do you need 3 skeins of each color-maybe less for the border (the marigold color)? What other yarns are you recommending-since you no longer carry this?

Thanks!

[purlbee]

Hi Elaine,

You do only need 3 skeins of the I'm Allergic To Wool, one of each color.

A great substitution would be Spud & Chloe's Outer (http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/5885-Spud-Chloe-Outer). It's machine washable and a super soft wool and organic cotton blend.

For a 100% cotton blanket, you could try doubling Blue Sky's Cotton (http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/721-Blue-Sky-Blue-Sky-Cotton) or Cascade's Luna (http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/2738-Cascade-Yarns-Luna). Both choices would probably be better on a bigger needle, like a #13 or #15. Also remember to buy twice as much yardage since you'd be using two strands. By the way, both of these cottons are very cuddly and soft!

Thanks for your questions and good luck!
Whitney