Thursday, March 7, 2019

Easy Knitted Baby Blanket



I am not a very good knitter.  There, I've said it.  But despite that fact, I love to knit.   I learned to knit from my mother when I was in grade school.  Since my mom is left handed and I'm right-handed, it was a challenge for both of us.  She's a fabulous knitter!  I have a whole drawer full of her hand-knit socks.  I knit mostly blankets, dishcloths, and scarves using simple patterns.

Pictured above is one of my favorite knitting projects.  I've made about a dozen of these over the years.  The pattern is easy.  You only need to pay attention to the first few stitches in each row and then it is mindless knitting across the blanket.  This is a perfect project for car trips or while watching a movie.  

The blue/green blanket, pictured, is made using Bernat Baby Blanket yarn.  The pink blanket is knit with Red Heart Baby Clouds.  Unfortunately, the Baby Clouds yarn is now discontinued.  

The blankets are knit on the diagonal.  Repeat the increase row until the blanket is the desired size.  I make mine about 36" square.  Each blanket takes me about 40 hours to complete.  I often make a matching baby hat with leftover yarn using the Knifty Knitter.  Perfect baby gifts!

Supplies:
Yarn: Boucle for a summer weight blanket or a Chunky baby yarn such as Bernat Baby Blanket
Circular knitting needles, an appropriate size for the yarn weight
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Blue & Pink: Red Heart Baby Clouds Yarn 
The bottom blanket is knit with boucle yarn.
If you are familiar with the Grandmother's favorite dishcloth pattern, this is the same thing only upsized with thicker yarn and sized to wrap a baby. 

Pattern:
Increase:
Cast on 4 stitches
Row 1: Knit across row
Increase Row: Knit 2, yarn over, knit across row.
Repeat row 2 until the blanket is the desired size

Decrease:
Once the blanket is the desired size, use the following to decrease by one stitch each row.
Decrease Row: Knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit across.
Repeat decrease row until 3 stitches remain.  Cast off.
    Weave in ends and trim off excess yarn.

    Place this in your Ravelry Queue

    Another blanket using Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn
     Happy Crafting!
    💗 Grandma Duck 💗

    13 comments:

    1. How much yarn to make the blanket with baby blanket yarn

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      Replies
      1. I usually use six small skeins. Increase for the first 3, decrease for the second three skeins.

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    2. I don't understand how the decrease works. If I knit 2 together, and yarn over, I don't decrease the row. Shouldn't I knit together, or knit 2 together twice? Maybe near the end of the row?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. The row should say:
        Decrease Row: Knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit across.

        Sorry about the typo!

        Delete
    3. HELP! My blanket turned out looking more like a kite than a square. I'm sure I followed the pattern (it was easy).

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Me too! Same thing. I did knit 1, knit 2 tog, yo, k2 tog. Didn’t come out square.

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    4. If there's a typo in the pattern, has it been revised in raverly?

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    5. Help! My rows increased instead of decreasing!! I followed the directions!

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. In the decrease row you knit two together twice. Once before the yo and once after. Let me know if this helps.

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    6. I have ripped it out and seriously tried it 3 times. Something is wrong once I start the decease row. It never is a square. The second side never decreases evenly! I wish I could see you do a small video. I’m in love with this type of blanket. I may have to give up.

      ReplyDelete
    7. I made the blue/green/white baby blanket in the photo using the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn which is discontinued, but I have one full skein plus a little more. My grandson always loved his blanket but he is bigger now, so I would like to make the blanket longer. I'm not sure how to pick up stitches and add to both ends? Also how many rows should be added to each end?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. I've never tried to increase a finished blanket, sorry.

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