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!
Update
Since making this pattern back in 2008, we no longer carry the Temple yarn we originally used, but we have knit Super Easy Blankets in many other yarns and sizes. In fact, Super Easy Blankets have become something of a Purl Soho institution! Explore some options…
We’ve even made a beautiful crocheted version, also Super Easy!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Whitney Van Nes.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, and #PurlSohoSuperEasyBabyBlanket. We can’t wait to see what you make!
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.
- US 7 (4.5 mm), 24 or 32-inch circular needles
- A tapestry needle
Gauge
20 stitches and 40 rows (20 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
Size
Finished Dimensions: approximately 26 inches x 28 inches
Note
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!
Pattern
With a US 7 needle (or size required by you to achieve the correct gauge) and the first color, loosely cast on 130 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Knit every row until you have knit the entire skein (which should be 18-22 garter stitch “ridges” [1 ridge = 2 rows]).
Switch to the second color at the beginning of the next row, and knit every row until you have knit the entire skein.
Repeat with each color, making sure to always switch colors on the same side.
After knitting the seventh color, loosely bind off.
Weave in the ends and you’re done! Super easy!
I have a 2 1/2 month old and would like to give him a security blanket…but it moght take me a while to finish this. How long do you think this would take and how old a baby is it for?
Gorgeous blanket, gorgeous boy. Beautiful picture!
so adorable! what are the colors used in the green combination above? I am loving the green one and the grey blue combo!
http://www.bellevett.typepad.com
Could you convert this blanket into a crochet project?
I love it. Colours are beautiful and seems like something quick to make when time is short.
I realy love it i will try to do it, thanks.
Love the blanket and we have twin grandchildren coming in November – a boy & a girl! Lots of knitting going on and this would be great for them! Thanks so much!
Oh my goodness this little colourful Baby Blanket is exactly what I can knit.
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..
how did you piece this blanket together?
Hi Tina-
It's not pieced together, it's all knit in one piece! The full pattern is above.
Thank you!
Molly
Does this blanket need top be blocked once bound off?
Hi Liz,
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
Hi,
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
Hi Kendall-
We sell the yarn here:
https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/4002-Alchemy-Temple
Thank you for your question!
Molly
Hi there,
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
Hi 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
Can this be made on circular needles, and if so (I'm new to knitting) is isn't still knit every stitch for the garter stitch? I think I remember reading that if you knit on circulars some stitch sequences are a little different. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer-
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
Hi Jennifer,
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
I am currently in the process of making this but worried about washing it before I give it to my sister in law for her new baby – should it be washed in cold water and dried on low? I'm nervous it's going to shrink.
Thanks!
HI Sarah,
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
I am knitting this blanket right now for a very good friend who is having her first baby in March. I would love to add a fast and easy border to it – do you think the border for the 11th hour blanket would work?
Hi Sarah,
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 (https://www.purlsoho.com/create/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
Silly question…since I am sl the 1st stich in every row, what do I do when changing colors? Not slip stitch that 1st row of color change? Thanks I am new to knitting.
Hi Nikki,
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
Does each stripe take the entire skein or will there be some leftover?
Hi Tori,
Each stripe does use pretty much the whole skein.
Thanks for asking!
Whitney
What specific colors are used in this baby blanket?
Hi Kim-
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
I love it – it's beautiful! Cushony and cozy. Here's mine (using sock yarn): http://bit.ly/VzIZOm
I am allergic to wool. Do you have another suggestion for yarn? The colors you have are so beautiful.
Hi Jeannine,
The coziest cotton I know of is definitely Blue Sky's Worsted Cotton: https://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
I would like to make the Funky Monkey one in cotton please. Can you suggest the colors in the cotton range please and the adjustments I should make to the needles and pattern. Also I would like to make it bigger about 39 by 45 so I would like to know how much yarn I should get for that size please.
Thank you
Anna
I'm quite new to knitting and thus attracted to the simplicity and beauty of this blanket 🙂 I'm a bit confused about the gauge and needle size and the suggested yarn. For the yarn a US 5 needle is recommended on your website, yet a US 7 needle is recommended in the pattern. When I bought yarn comparable to yours the store keeper insisted that a 7 needle would be much to big. Can you help me understand this? Thank you in advance!
Hi 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:https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/721-Blue-Sky-Worsted-Cotton or Cascade's Ultra Pima: https://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
HI Astrid,
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
Hi, there!
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!
Hi Debbie,
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: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/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
Any tips on unraveling and knitting the other way?? I have made significant progress on my blanket but the first block of color is way shorter than the rest (due to my super tight gague when I first started the blanket). Is there any way that I can rip it out and knit in the other direction?
HI Sarah M.,
Yes, you can rip out and knit the other way. Actually, you cut out! To do this, first insert your needle into the every stitch of the row where you want to start knitting. Carefully cut off the knitting you're getting rid of a row or two below the needle. Unravel until you are left with just live stitches on the needle and a tail that's ready to go!
Let us know if you run into any snags and good luck!
Whitney
Hi! I am knitting this blanket in blue sky worsted cotton. I used size 10 needles and got 4 stitches per inch on my gauge swatch and it feels squishy and soft. So I think I should cast on 104…. but at 150 yards per skein, how do I know if I will have enough to make the 20 ridges per color, or if I need to add a color to get the 28 in length? Thanks!
Mary
Hi Mary,
Generally, this kind of situation is difficult to predict, but having a lot of experience with Blue Sky Worsted Cotton, I'm almost positive you'll be all set with 7 colors!
Great job figuring out the needle, gauge and cast on, by the way! And thanks for your question!
Whitney
Hi,
I'm very new to knitting (have only ever made a scarf in one colour before). I would love to make this blanket but have what is probably a stupid question- how do you switch to a new colour?
Thanks!
Hi Katharine,
Not a stupid question! In this case, when you're switching colors at the beginning of the row, you simply cut the old yarn (leaving at least an 8-inch tail) and start knitting the next row with the new yarn. To do this, you insert the right needle into the first stitch as usual, then wrap the new yarn around the tip of the right needle just as you do for any knit stitch and go! Make sure that you also leave at least an 8-inch tail of the new yarn.
Note that there is no knot involved! Instead of tying the tails together, you will later weave them into your knitting. Here's a tutorial on how: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/weaving-in-ends-tutorial/2011/7/14/weaving-in-your-ends.html
I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions and good luck!
Whitney
Hi. Is this blanket reversible, same on each side? When I added the second colorI I realize on the back side both colors are visible. Is there a way to add the new color in a way to make it reversible. Please let me know ASAP as I have a limited time to complete this gift. .Thank you
Hi SG,
No, the blanket is not identical on both sides. On one side you will inevitably see a two-colored row where the colors shift (you can see a few examples in the first photo).
There's really nothing to do about this without changing the stitch pattern. Having worked with garter stitch for so many years, my eye just accepts this limitation; hopefully, yours will too!
Thanks for asking and please let us know if you have any more questions!
Whitney
Hi there,
I'm thinking about making this for a friend but was reading all of the posts and comments and tried the link you provided for the Chevron blanket pattern and it said "Page not found" was wondering if it still exists?
Also if I did do this one, in theory could you just switch between 2 colors like a blue and white instead of doing 7 different?
Thanks
Marcie
Hi Marcie-
Here is the new link to the Chevron Blanket: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/the-purl-bee/2008/5/24/whits-knits-super-easy-baby-blanket.html
And yes, you could certainly use 2 colors instead of 7. You just need to buy 7 skeins all together.
Thank you!
Molly
Where in the process do you use the tapestry needle? Thanks!
Sharon-
You use the tapestry needle to weave in the ends at the end of the project.
Thank you!
Molly