Purl Soho Kit: The Super Easy Baby Blanket!
More than two years ago Whitney designed our Super Easy Baby Blanket, and to this day it remains one of The Purl Bee's most popular patterns. Customers love its simplicity, "super easy" means super easy!
People also love its modern, graphic sensibility, something that can often be hard to find in the world of hand knit baby blankets. We love it for its invitation to play with Alchemy's amazingly beautiful palette of colors. 
We're excited to tell you that The Super Easy Baby Blanket just got even easier because it is now available as a beautiful kit in nine different colorways! We are especially grateful to Gina and Austin of Alchemy Yarns who helped us to make this kit a reality by creating the yarn and hand dying the colors specifically for each kit.
Because Alchemy's Temple comes in so many gorgeous colors, picking just seven that work together can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're shopping online. So, to help you out, Joelle and Page put their color senses together to come up with nine beautiful combinations. They mused over each color; they tried hundreds of configurations; they debated this red over that red; they worked deep into the night, and they loved every minute of it!
The nine palettes Joelle and Page developed, starting in the upper left corner and reading each row from left to right, are: Pepper, Dahlia, and Rugby; Foxglove, River Rocks and Moss; and Meadow, Ocean and Thistle.
Each kit includes:
- Seven skeins of Alchemy's Temple, 100% superfine merino, hand dyed especially for this kit, and, yes!, machine washable.
- A high quality, full color, printed version of the Super Easy Baby Blanket pattern.
- A Shout Color Catcher (use it the first time you wash your blanket, and it will safely prevent the hand dyed colors from running into each other).
- All this arrives in an attractive, sturdy box that makes the kit itself a great gift!
You will also need a 24 or 32 inch long US size #7 circular needle, or size required by you to achieve the correct gauge (5 stitches per inch).
- You can shop for Super Easy Baby Blankets Kits right here.
- And you can view the free original pattern (with a few minor updates) right here.
October 17, 2010
Reader Comments (41)
Also, just so you know, the image above with all the blankets together makes a really great Desktop background, if you choose the tiled option (Windows).
Oh no! We're so sorry your blanket came unraveled in the wash.... Be sure that when you sew your ends in you leave a longish tail - no shorter than 4 or 5 inches.
If your gauge was loose compared to our original pattern that might explain why your blanket turned out to be so differently shaped. We actually changed the pattern to be a more loose knit because so many readers were having a similar issue.
Please let us know if you have any questions about your new blanket before, during or after knitting it.
That sounds right to us, and totally gorgeous!
Good luck!
Not a bas colour, but I really liked the original colour... As the care instructions stated machine wash I am very disappointed.. Maybe I should have washed it with only the Shout Catcher.. With no soap?
We're so sorry to hear that the yellow turned a different color when you washed your blanket. We're going to email you to get your address and send you another color catcher to wash it with again. If it solves the problem, great, if not we'll do what we can to help out.
thanks for letting us know!
We don't do custom knitting but they might have someone to recommend if you call our NYC store:
Purlsoho 212-420-8796
Thank you!
I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants one :D
Thank you very much!
Also, if I am making the blanket into an adult blanket, the above comment says that I would cast on 390 so would the size of the circular needle need to be different? And do I triple the ridges to 60 ridges? Are the ridges the amount of rows I knit?
I might not use the same yarn that y'all use, will the blanket turn out the same?
Thank you!
To use a circular needle to knit straight just treat the two ends of the needle as if they were separate straight needles. At the end of each row switch the needles in your hands just as you would with straight needles.
To make an adult size blanket triple the size you would indeed make each section 60 ridges tall. One ridge equals two rows.
The blanket will turn out the same size and shape if you use yarn that is a similar gauge (meaning size). This yarn is a sport weight so if you use something similar it should work out fine.
Thank you for your questions!
Molly
To make a blanket double the size (52 X 58-inches) you will need to cast on 260 stitches (double the original amount) and knit each color double as long. You will need 4 times the yarn so 4 of each color.
To make a blanket triple the size, (roughly 6 by 8 feet) you will need to cast on 390 stitches and knit each color 3X as long. You will need 9 times the yarn so 9 of each color.
Thank you!
Molly
This would be a good first knitting project but it's a bit of a time commitment. If you feel like you have the patience to see it through you should give it a try. Otherwise, it might be better to start with a simple (and quick) garter stitch scarf so you can have the satisfaction of finishing something. But it's really up to you.
Good luck!
Molly
I can't wait to get the yarn and needles ordered and start on my little ones blanky :) Thank you!
Yes, you can use the Blue Sky Cotton for this pattern and doubling it would be beautiful! But there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First of all, you'd want to use the needle suggested for the Chevron Blanket (a US #11) rather than the Super Easy Baby Blanket needle.
Then there is the tricky part, which is getting the blanket to be the right shape. Both blankets say to just knit a whole skein of yarn and then move on to the next color. But the Blue Sky Cotton is a totally different size and length than the Temple and the gauge of the Chevron stitch pattern is totally different than gauge of garter stitch, so you'll have to approach your blanket a little differently.
I would recommend choosing 7 colors (but you may end up only using 6). Make sure your gauge is 3 stitches to the inch in garter stitch, and for a 28 inch wide blanket, cast on 84 stitches. Knit either the whole skein or a 5 inch stripe (whichever comes first). If you get to five inches, you'll only need 6 colors, otherwise you may need 7.
So, this takes a little extemporizing and thinking, but I'm sure you'll figure it out! Please let me know if you encounter any more questions and I'll be happy to help!
Good luck!
Whitney
I am wanting to make this in a worsted weight cotton, for quickness and both parents are allergic to wool, so am assuming the child will be too. How many stitches should I cast on, and should I just knit until I have 4" in each stripe?
thanks.
This would be lovely in a worsted weight cotton! I would do a gauge swatch. Find out how many stitches you are getting to the inch and multiply that by 26. And yes, I would knit each stripe for 4 inches. Let us know how it goes!!! -Laura
If you contact our customer service department they will be happy to help you out with this:
customerservie AT purlsoho DOT com or 800-597-PURL
Or, if you're in the NYC area you could stop by our shop and they'd be happy to help you pick out the colors.
Thank you!
Molly
Thanks!
It does sound like your yarn is quite a bit thinner than the one we used. You can use it with a smaller needle, but if you follow this pattern exactly, you will end up a much smaller blanket.
So, you might want to think about casting on more stitches. To determine how many, you need to knit a swatch to find out your gauge (here's a tutorial that tells you how:http://purlbee.squarespace.com/not-too-tight-tutorial/2006/11/15/not-too-tight-tutorial.html). Once you know your gauge, multiply the number of stitches per inch by the number of inches wide you want your blanket to be and cast on that number. For example, if your gauge is 8 stitches to the inch and you want your blanket to be the same size as ours (26 inches), then you would cast on 8 x 26 = 208 stitches.
I hope this helps to get you started. Please let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!
Whitney
Probably not. The vinegar can be effective at setting hand dyed yarn that's still in a skein or that hasn't been knit with other colors, but it doesn't prevent an untreated color from bleeding onto other colors.
At this point your best bet might be a Color Catcher (made by Shout) which does purport to prevent bleeding.
Thanks for your question and good luck!
Whitney